good mornings

[vikingsfan247]

Which variation of the good morning works abs and erectors the most standing straight leg, standing bent leg, or seated?

[AnimalNation]

Which variation of the good morning works abs and erectors the most standing straight leg, standing bent leg, or seated?

If you are doing them standing, you should lean back into the descent which will make you bend your legs a little, a lot like a SLDL.

The seated variety is a replication of a back extension machine (Hyper Extension).

In saying all this the GM should be viewed as a HAMSTRING exercise, not a lower back exercise. You are supposed to power out of the hole with hip drive which mainly causes your glutes and hamstrings to move the weight. If you want to focus on your erectors, then do the seated GMs or back extensions.

Abs are just antagonists in the movement and aren't hit hard enough to be consider GMs an ab exercise.

[Curlers]

If you are doing them standing, you should lean back into the descent which will make you bend your legs a little, a lot like a SLDL.

The seated variety is a replication of a back extension machine (Hyper Extension).

In saying all this the GM should be viewed as a HAMSTRING exercise, not a lower back exercise. You are supposed to power out of the hole with hip drive which mainly causes your glutes and hamstrings to move the weight. If you want to focus on your erectors, then do the seated GMs or back extensions.

Abs are just antagonists in the movement and aren't hit hard enough to be consider GMs an ab exercise.

good post. i think il rep you myself for that

[RainingBlood]

If you are doing them standing, you should lean back into the descent which will make you bend your legs a little, a lot like a SLDL.

The seated variety is a replication of a back extension machine (Hyper Extension).

In saying all this the GM should be viewed as a HAMSTRING exercise, not a lower back exercise. You are supposed to power out of the hole with hip drive which mainly causes your glutes and hamstrings to move the weight. If you want to focus on your erectors, then do the seated GMs or back extensions.

Abs are just antagonists in the movement and aren't hit hard enough to be consider GMs an ab exercise.

Sorry to jack this thread, but is the good morning essentially the same movement as an RDL, except the bar is on the back?

[Curlers]

Sorry to jack this thread, but is the good morning essentially the same movement as an RDL, except the bar is on the back?

i couldnt say for definite, but i would say yes all the same. all these movements where you have to follow through with the hips work the glutes / hamstrings to a higher degree..

RDL
good mornings
pull throughs
glute bridge.

they all have a 'similar' feel to them. i think your guess is right, but youd probably be better off with the RDL if any. the exercise has more benefits.

[RainingBlood]

i couldnt say for definite, but i would say yes all the same. all these movements where you have to follow through with the hips work the glutes / hamstrings to a higher degree..

RDL
good mornings
pull throughs
glute bridge.

they all have a 'similar' feel to them. i think your guess is right, but youd probably be better off with the RDL if any. the exercise has more benefits.

I've got a larger ROM on the RDL then GM -_-.

[PeterGibbons316]

If you really want to target the erectors, just get your back as close to parallel to the ground as you can. You can even do GMs with a rounded back to hit the ES even harder. It's one of the few lifts that I don't care about my back rounding on. I'm not using heavy weight or going to failure either though.

[Tyciol]

Which variation of the good morning works abs and erectors the most standing straight leg, standing bent leg, or seated?

All variations strengthen the erectors by preventing spine flexion.

While the abs engage somewhat as stabilizers, I think if anyone is getting an ab workout from a good morning, the RA's probably really weak compared to their erectors.

Deadlifts and back squats and good mornings are erector spinae things, not ab things. Abs get used, but ugh, not to the same extent.

[AnimalNation]

Sorry to jack this thread, but is the good morning essentially the same movement as an RDL, except the bar is on the back?

Very similar, but not quite the same. The RDL's should be a lot safer on your back and shoulders.

If you use a low bar position on the GMs (mind you I got no clue how people manage this!) then you should be able to keep your chest high easily, however your shoulders may be put under large strain. If you use a high position - easier on the shoulders, more difficult on the lower back.

GMs are really an exercise you want to keep LIGHT with moderate to high reps. If you want to put some weight on your hamstrings, then use the RDL. I know Layne uses a tonne of weight on GMs, more power to him if he can keep safe, but for the vast majority of trainees this isn't a healthy option.

Edit : As for "light" Jim Wendler claims to never go beyond 135.

[chazzy1864]

How do people do a decent good morning with a high bar?

As your torso leans over to anywhere near parallel, the bar will be on your neck. I don't know about you all, but I don't like the bar on my neck. Low bar allows me to keep the bar on my muscles and in a fixed position.


IMO, the two main variations of GM is stiff-legged or w/ knee-flexion. They all work the same muscles overall, but emphasis gets swayed. Keeping the legs stiff will keep more effort on the hams and glutes while bending the knees throughout the lift forces more load on the low back. Why? Not entirely I just have see that it does. My guess would have to do with the longer stretch of the hams on the stiff-legged version (your ROM is dictated by how far your hips go back).

Doing the SL version, I <3 doing heavy w/ low reps. My SL GM is very close in weight to my back squat (granted my back squat sucks and my GMs are good, but whatever).

[AnimalNation]

How do people do a decent good morning with a high bar?

As your torso leans over to anywhere near parallel, the bar will be on your neck. I don't know about you all, but I don't like the bar on my neck. Low bar allows me to keep the bar on my muscles and in a fixed position.

I press my hands against the inside of the plates as I do them, pulling the bar firmly into my traps.

The reason why I hold the plates is because I found it engages my upper back more, pulling my shoulders back which keeps my chest up as I go near parallel So the bar is mostly supported at that insertion point where the traps meet the neck. Doesn't put any strain at all on my neck albeit I don't use very much weight with the movement.

[chazzy1864]

I press my hands against the inside of the plates as I do them, pulling the bar firmly into my traps.

The reason why I hold the plates is because I found it engages my upper back more, pulling my shoulders back which keeps my chest up as I go near parallel So the bar is mostly supported at that insertion point where the traps meet the neck. Doesn't put any strain at all on my neck albeit I don't use very much weight with the movement.

Ahh gotcha. Yeah, I tend to use far more weight (generally my rep sets were 225) and on high bar it would quickly roll to my neck as I approached parallel. With low bar, I just keep my fingers over the bar .As I lean over I "roll" the bar slightly back and when I lean up, my hands roll it slightly back forward. So it maintains the same positioning on my back.

[AnimalNation]

Ahh gotcha. Yeah, I tend to use far more weight (generally my rep sets were 225) and on high bar it would quickly roll to my neck as I approached parallel. With low bar, I just keep my fingers over the bar .As I lean over I "roll" the bar slightly back and when I lean up, my hands roll it slightly back forward. So it maintains the same positioning on my back.

I like that idea. Might give that a whirl on Friday. Last time I tried low bar the bar rolled down to my elbows. Had to do some homo emu jump to get it up on my shoulders again.