“You’re as stiff as an iron dog, but not as strong.”

That’s what the legendary professional wrestler, Karl Gotch, used to say when I was training with him back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Most of the time I wasn’t the person he was referring to as stiff, but when it came to my back bridge, he was.

At 36 years of age, despite all my years of high school and collegiate wrestling, I couldn’t come close to touching my nose to the mat in a bridge. My neck and upper thoracic vertebrae had no give in them, so I couldn’t go farther backward than the top of my head.

If I were to blame genetics, I had one hell of an excuse that many people, including professional fitness trainers and yoga instructors would agree with.

Nevertheless, I practiced bridging every day per Karl’s instructions, even when doing so appeared hopeless.

It took six months before I was able to touch my nose to the mat in a bridge. What helped was the slow and controlled rocking motion I covered for you in Combat Conditioning.

Later on Karl told me to deepen my breathing and concentrate my mind upon the air going into my body as I bridged. As a result of doing this, after another three months, I was able to hold my nose to the mat for three-straight minutes, albeit with my heels elevated.

Some months later, I could hold the bridge for three minutes with my heels flat. Then things got interesting when Karl told me the next mile marker was to go past the nose-down position, and put my chin on the mat.

I thought he had to be joking as I assumed this was impossible, especially for me. Yet, he was as serious as his pit bull, Django.

When I was finally able to get my chin down, which came much faster than I had imagined, Karl taught me to slowly count to 200 (which would take around three minutes) while keeping track of how many breaths I took. I was astonished when I held the back bridge for three minutes and twelve seconds, and only took seven-and-a-half breaths.

The training advancements didn’t stop there, though, as I would later learn to fall into a bridge from my feet with no hand support, kick over and back, and to have two people sit on my chest as I supported them.

As I stated a couple days ago, I have trained people who could do a damn near perfect back bridge the first day they came in to train with me; two of which could put their heels on the back of their head in the bridge.

Those two people were most likely genetically predisposed to being flexible, whereas I cannot make such a claim.

The only genetic traits I may have, aside from male-pattern baldness, are the stubborn refusal to give up and the ongoing desire to look for and find the easiest methods to accomplish what once looked impossible.

And that, my friend, is what I bring to the table with my Combat Stretching course. Easier, quicker, and iron-dog proof ways to limber up your spine and your limbs, not to mention increasing the blood flow, improving athleticism and enjoying an overall feeling of well-being – even if you’re as stiff as an iron dog.

Want some? Then click the link shown above.

Matt Furey