Good Mornings

So I tried out good mornings for the first time today and I think that they are an awesome exercise. Just a few questions on them though:

Stiff legged or knees slightly bent? I did them with my knees bent today as I could get a slightly better ROM, still felt a stretch in my hamstrings though

What stance should I use? My squat stance or my deadlift stance? I imagine that with my legs in a deadlift stance I wouldn't get the same ROM as a wider stance but is that important? I did them in a squat stance today

Is it worthwhile wearing a belt for my top set?

Thanks as always

They can be a great exercise. Don't take this the wrong way but with the weights your lifting they are not needed yet.

If you are going to do them do high reps 8-10 and low weight. No one cares what your 1RM goodmorning is and at heavy weight they turn into a retarded squat morning anyway.

Bazza20 said:

They can be a great exercise. Don't take this the wrong way but with the weights your lifting they are not needed yet.

If you are going to do them do high reps 8-10 and low weight. No one cares what your 1RM goodmorning is and at heavy weight they turn into a retarded squat morning anyway.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I worked up to 6 reps at 60kg today and I guesstimate my 1RM to be about 80kg from how hard it was. I understand from what I've read about them to get "more out of less" and do them with perfect form. As for sets and reps, I tend to respond better to lower reps, especially with lower body exercises. I was thinking of doing either 5x6 or 6x6 after squatting.

Got any answers about what stance and knee position I should be using

You can use any stance you want but i would go with moderate stance and a bit of give in the knees not straight leg.

Like I said though you would probably be better off just doing more squats.

Ok, thanks again. I'll do these for now then in a month or so switch them out for more squats as you are suggesting. I am unwilling to push squatting volume at the moment due to the hip strain I only just recovered from. I don't see why in 2 months time I can't up my volume though

My Lord Wendler extolling the virtues of GMs recently...

T NATION | Training Lab LiVESPILL
World's Best Deadlift Assistance Exercise
by Jim Wendler - 08/25/2011

Wake up to a bigger deadlift.

The good morning is probably my favorite accessory exercise for the squat and deadlift. You can do all the straight leg deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts you want in place of them but that’s like trying to leg press in place of squatting. The biggest drawback with the GM is form – what is acceptable and what makes you look like a candy cane

A great lesson that Dave Tate taught me when doing GM’s is to get the most out of 135 as you can. He learned this from an older lifters and passed it down; what this means is that make 135 (or whatever weight you choose) work like a heavier weight. The take home lesson of this is NOT to do one weight all the time or to just use 135lb. It’s to get more out of a little less weight so that you don’t sacrifice form for weight.

Remember that there are no meets featuring the good morning. This won’t be “on the final” so make sure you understand that the reason you are doing the exercise is to get a bigger squat and deadlift.

There is a lot of debate on what is good form on the GM. Some want you to keep your arch the entire time; this may limit the movement quite a bit for many people. The truth is that everyone starts with an arch and holds it as long as they can, but have seen most lifters round a bit at the bottom. Probably not what everyone wants to hear but it’s the truth. The key is for it NOT to be excessive.

There are a myriad of bars one can use when doing the GM – safety squat bar, cambered squat bar, buffalo bar and the regular straight bar. Most people only have access to the straight bar so let’s go over some points on how to do a GM.

• After quite a bit of experimentation, I like to put the bar in a high bar position when doing GM’s. This can vary from lifter to lifter; some people feel like it rolls up on the neck but the lower the position on my back the worse my shoulders and elbows feel. Also, the lower position seems to cause the bar to roll DOWN and stress them even more.

• Stance – I’ve used a wide and narrow (like a conventional DL stance) for GM’s. The narrow is much more comfortable for me but the wide stance really stresses the hips. This would be great for those who need to strengthen this area.

• Like a squat, arch your lower back and upper back. Push your hips back, slightly bend the knees (slight bend) and descend until you feel uncomfortable. You should really feel this in your hamstrings and low back.

• How far you go down is going to be determined on your flexibility and how comfortable you feel. I don’t go down until my back is parallel to the ground but I try.

• If your hips shift forward and you have to use your legs to raise the weight, you are doing it wrong. THIS IS IMPORTANT. This is not a leg movement. Remember this.

The reps can fall anywhere between 5-10 but I leave a lot in the tank after a set. When I don’t, the form suffers greatly and I lose the effectiveness of the exercise.

I get asked all the time what the best exercises are for increasing the deadlift. Combine GM’s, squats, abdominal work and some Kroc rows and you are setting yourself up for success. Push all these exercises; make them strong. There are no secrets out there to pull a big weight just a lot of hard work on some fairly unpopular movements.

Excellent thanks, perhaps the extra hip work gained from a wider stance will do me some good