Day 3 drops the levels and changes shape. Two blocks, each for 3 sets with 30 seconds of rest: 20 bridges followed by a 20-count hold at the top, then 20 knee rolls. This is the recovery day, and it lands every third day from here to the end of the program.
The first two days loaded the front of your body - crunches on the floor, then everything hanging from your hips. Bridges answer both. Lying on your back with your feet planted and your arms flat at your sides, you drive the hips up until the body makes a line from knees to shoulders, putting the glutes and lower back to work through hip extension. The 20-count hold keeps you at the top so the position becomes something you maintain rather than something you pass through. Knee rolls then finish flat on your back with the arms spread wide and the knees drawn up, lowering both knees to one side and then the other while the shoulders stay pinned - rotation for the spine and a slow release for the lower back.
Drive through your heels on every bridge and finish with a squeeze rather than an arch; the height should come from your glutes, not your lumbar spine. Hold the top at the same height your best rep reached, and keep breathing across the count. On knee rolls, let the knees fall only as far as the shoulders will permit, and take the return just as slowly as the descent.
The bar hangs you from your hips - this is the day that looks after them.
Make it Harder: A recovery day does not go up a gear - take the bridge hold to 30 counts and slow the rolls right down instead.
Make it Easier: Rest a full minute between blocks and take the hold to 10 counts.
