Cross Ankle Release Bridge and Flexibility tips
From my wonderful instructor Annie:
In CAR Bridge not only the arms do all the work. The hips need to push up, and the feet down.
In overhead grabs, of the pole in CAR bridge or the foot in gymnastics scorpion and the likes, keep the arms close to the ear. When you grab the foot, the elbow need to be close to the body and remain that way while you move it forward to change to overhead grab. In CAR Bridge, the more spread out the elbows are, the more flexibility of the shoulders required and the less push you get. This tip got me my first successful scorpion!
Even if you are not interested in deep backbending and crazy oversplits, working on flexibility along with strength training is important to conserve your range of motion as the muscles grow and even prevent injury.
Good exercises for shoulder flexibility are the kitten stretch up the wall, and overheard pole grab.
