Anyone have experience doing Goodmornings?

ballennonstop · Mar 20, 2010

I hit a plateau recently and have decided to change up my workouts a lot more, i.e. different exercises, higher/lower reps, higher/lower total # of sets per muscle group, etc. I have also changed up my split routine. Yesterday I did Goodmornings on lower back/leg day and they torched my Lower Back and Hams. Do any of you guys do these on a regular basis? If so, what do you think of them? I used very light weight on the bb and still got a hell of a burn. They also seem like they would be great at increasing flexibilty (similar to DLs) in your legs and core. My weakest muscle group is by far my lower back and I am looking to improve my posture as well to help avoid future back problems. I've been doing a lot more DLs, both straight leg and bent. I'm looking for more exercises to improves lower back but I get the feeling that Deadlifts are the bread and butter.

SantiagoMuscle · Mar 20, 2010

Kaladryn · Mar 20, 2010

Your spine isn't a joint, it's designed to hold a static position while other muscles do the work. When doing a goodmorning, your back should be straight or arched the entire time, your low back is only doing support, the exercise itself is all hamstrings and a tinny bit of glute.

Personally I don't think the goodmorning is a good exercise, I feel the romanian deadlift hits the same muscles in a more safe and mechanically correct way.

With either of these exercises, your low back may be stressed, it may even get pumped, but your hamstrings should be the primary mover, maybe the glutes if you bend the knees more than 20%. The low back should never be actually lifting the weight, only holding the spine in a rigid position.

If your goal is to work the spinal erectors, the deadlift is your exercise, rack deads would do the trick too.

KillerStack · Mar 20, 2010

It's an amazing movement and I have benefited greatly from it as far as getting stronger on deadlifts. I train for strength since I have very poor bb genetics. For a year and a half I did them 2-3 times weekly.

Now once a week.

I used to do them standing up. Now do seated mostly. They hit the hams and glutes real hard as well even in seated position. I hit a PB of 4 reps with 440lbs yesterday bending over as far as I could without rounding back too much.

No low back problems really, knock on wood. I remember Mike Francois saying he blew out his back doing seated GM's at Louie Simmon's gym.

The only negative is that I now have a fatty bulge on my neck.

JeffD · Mar 21, 2010

GMs are an excellent exercise. Not to mention it takes a big sack of swingin' heavies to do them heavy and correctly. They have tremendous carryover for deadlifts and squats. There's no other exercise like them, here's a pretty good list of different types of GMs.

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ballennonstop · Mar 21, 2010

I appreciate the responses-they have all been very informative. KillerStack 440 lbs on GMs is absurd

I'm sure you know what your doing but be careful bro. It does seem like a very good exercise but also an exercise that would be very easy to throw your back out on.

Jeff that article was great. I didnt realize that I should be shooting for much lower reps on them than what I was doing (3 reps not 12). Appreciate the post.

Caldryn I have never done Romanian Deads but now I'm going to have to look into them. How do they differ from BL/SL Deads?

Also, when you guys do Hyperextensions how much weight do you hold and how many reps do you shoot for? I see some guys with 4 45lb weights doing 5 reps and others not using weight and doing 50 reps. I usually grab a 45 and do 15-20 reps 3-4 sets.

Tom · Mar 21, 2010

Romanian Deadlift: How To

YouTube - Romanian Deadlift form tutorial RDL

jrs · Mar 21, 2010

no offense but when some of you guys avoid pushing yourself and straining a little bit with heavier weights.. i mean really pushing to be solid and rock hard throughout a huge lift.. at least once in a while... you're really missing out on a large amount of size/strength

unless rehabbing an injury of some sort, you should always try to get stronger, especially on core movements

for good mornings to be safe, remember to stick your hips back first, like you should in a squat.. oh there's much to learn. it makes me smile

JeffD · Mar 21, 2010

ballennonstop said:
Also, when you guys do Hyperextensions how much weight do you hold and how many reps do you shoot for? I see some guys with 4 45lb weights doing 5 reps and others not using weight and doing 50 reps. I usually grab a 45 and do 15-20 reps 3-4 sets.

Depends on why you're doing them. Sometimes I just do 4x25 with BW to get some blood flowing and for recovery purposes. If I'm using them as a low back/hamstring accessory movement, I'll use 1 or 2 45s in the 6-10 rep range fro 4 or 5 sets.

ballennonstop · Mar 21, 2010

jrs said:
no offense but when some of you guys avoid pushing yourself and straining a little bit with heavier weights.. i mean really pushing to be solid and rock hard throughout a huge lift.. at least once in a while... you're really missing out on a large amount of size/strength

unless rehabbing an injury of some sort, you should always try to get stronger, especially on core movements

for good mornings to be safe, remember to stick your hips back first, like you should in a squat.. oh there's much to learn. it makes me smile

I think you have a valid point and I respect your opinion but you have to think that not everyone is training towards bulky muscle mass. I surf year round and am striving more towards a physique of Michael Phelps than Jay Cutler LOOLLL

; however, your point is well taken and I agree I need to push myself a little more especially on my core to build it stronger. Okay maybe a combination of the two

HUGEME · Mar 21, 2010

Good Mornings are my favorite exercise due to the insane pump I get.. I can't even stand after my fourth set and then getting into the car is a pain in the ass... I've been doing thm for around three years and they are incredible.. I do standing goodmornings and use 210lbs... I've never seen anyone do over that or near it with standing. They are great for your lower back.. Mine is thick as hell.. Do em for a while but be very careful. You'll learn to love them.

Druss · Mar 21, 2010

Good morning are very popular in japan, they go on their roofs at 5 am and do a couple thousand reps of good mornings with a broom stick, and then go do a couple thousand squats, takes them 10 min, then they eat breakfast.

UGAthlete · Mar 21, 2010

ballennonstop said:
I think you have a valid point and I respect your opinion but you have to think that not everyone is training towards bulky muscle mass. I surf year round and am striving more towards a physique of Michael Phelps than Jay Cutler LOOLLL ; however, your point is well taken and I agree I need to push myself a little more especially on my core to build it stronger. Okay maybe a combination of the two

Hahahaha you do realize the name and purpose of this site, right?

ballennonstop · Mar 21, 2010

Update: two days after doing GMs my legs and lower back are fried. Seriously, I can hardly walk which sucks for me because im working valet while I'm back in school finishing my PTA degree.

My hams are so soar that when I went to pick something up on the floor I had to squat down like a bitch. I'm doing them every other Lower Back/Leg workout from now on.

210 standing GMs isn't too shabby especially if you do them without bending your knees. That's how I'm doing them but we won't discuss how heavy I went. I don't want to make you guys look bad

awsumkid13 · Mar 22, 2010

I usually go good morning every week on my hamstring days, they give a good stretch almost similar to a stiff leg deadlift. Only difference to me is I feel these more in my back. Low weight and stress form!

brutus · Mar 22, 2010

so how far should you bend forward on standing good mornings and how far should you stop from standing straight up?

awsumkid13 · Mar 23, 2010

I bend at the waist so that my upper body goes just past parallel with the ground. Keep your legs in the same position as you would with a stiff leg dead. Also, on the negative, I come up to a completely upright position.

mulbemurphy · Mar 24, 2010

windmills

I cant do deads or goodmornings but have found an excellent exercise.
Windmills, look them up on youtube I do them with kettlebells, have worked up a lot more strength on this exercise. It can also be done with db's. Check out some Steve Cotter demos. Windmills benefits have allowed me to no longer have the need for any pain medication for my low back injury.

Sesshomaru · Mar 24, 2010

brutus said:
so how far should you bend forward on standing good mornings and how far should you stop from standing straight up?

For a standard goodmorning, you should go until your trunk is parallel with the floor WHILE maintaining a neutral or arched spine. Because of inflexibility, most people wont get that far and thats ok. Just gradually add weight and let the weight push you down.

Do not round your back while doing goodmornings and make sure you take a deep breath while bending. You can have SLIGHTLY bent legs while performing the movement as well.

I love goodmornings, theyre a great way to work the lower back when you are plateauing in the squat or deadlift.