Good Mornings (straight leg)
Bodyweight Strength - Good mornings are a classic exercise that you don't hardly ever see being performed in gym anymore. The old time strongmen who were masters of bodyweight strength utilized Good Mornings as a staple part of their routine. Even today, so of the world's strongest lifters swear by Good Mornings as the primary reason for their huge Back Squat or Deadlift...and yet you could easily work out at a popular mega-gym for years and literally never see Good Mornings performed by anyone at all.
This is unfortunate, but it is also understandable. Very few people actually know how to perform Good Mornings properly and thus they consider them dangerous; and rightly so...any exercise that you do not know how to perform properly is dangerous until you learn the proper technique. Good Mornings are an exercise that either requires a highly qualified professional to teach to you. If you are highly observant of your own movement and are willing to spend alot of time addressing your own personal technique weak points etc, then you can probably do it yourself with the help of the video and description here. But, again, we recommend utilizing someone in person who is well qualified to assist you in mastering your technique of Good Mornings for your own safety.
Good Mornings strengthen the abdominal muscles, the hamstrings, and the spinal erectors. They also train each of these muscle to do their role properly without jumping in and trying to take of the role of the other muscles as well. This is a crucial point and is one of the biggest reasons many people injure their lower backs when lifting weights. If your spinal erectors are trying to act as "lifters" rather than "stabilizers" in the weight room then you are highly likely to overload them, fial to stabilize your spine with your core abdominal muscles, and set yourself up for serious injury.
For this reason, it is crucial that you develop a good level of abdominal strength, hamstring flexibility, and hamstring stregth before even attempting Good Mornings. Not only that, but when you do attempt them, start with a light bar or even a broomstick instead of a heavy loaded barbell. Master the technique with a broomstick and then move to the light bar. Master the technique with the light bar and then move to the full size bar. Master the technique with the full size bar and then start steadily (slowly) adding weight to it as you gain strength and coordination for the movement pattern of this exercise.
To develop the base level of abdominal strength for Good Mornings make sure that you have mastered Weighted Crunches, Hanging Knee Raises, Reverse Crunches, Pushup Position, and Plank.
To develop the base level of hamstring development for Good Mornings make sure that you have performed Leg Curls and the Leg Up Hamstring Stretch for several weeks and have gained significant flexibility, strength, endurance, and coordination in the hamstring muscle.
To develop the base level of hip and glute strength, coordination, and flexibility for Good Mornings make sure that you have rolled your hips and glutes on a ball consistently for several weeks to loosen them up and make sure that you have performed Hip Thrusts for several weeks with a barbell and that you have mastered the motion of "pushing" with your hips/glutes/hamstrings.
Once all of these prerequisites have been achieved and you are ready to attempt Good Mornings, the proper exercise technique is as follows:
Place a barbell on a squat rack at about shoulder height and step up under it (placing it on the back of your shoulders exactly as you would if you were about to perform a Back Squat) and then step back from the rack a couple of feet to give yourself sufficient space to perform the exercise. Place your feet at about a shoulder width stance and make sure that your knees are not locked back. Do not place a significant bend in them, but maintain a very slight bend in them to prevent them from being locked back. Once you have chosen their position however, maintain that position throughout the entire exercise. Do not increase or decrease the bend in the knee during your motion of the exercise. If you are wanting to bend the knees further than the slight bend mentioned, you can perform Bent Knee Good Mornings instead of Straight Leg Good Mornings.
Once you are in position, before initiating the exercise, go through the following mental checklist to get in the proper position:
As you begin to push your butt back, make sure that your entire back stays arched and the barbell stays centered over your feet. Pushing your butt back is allowing the weight of the load on the barbell to be centered and supported by your hamstring muscles rather than putting pressure on your lower back. This way of moving allows you to maintain proper leverage . If you leaned to the front with your torso (rather than pushing your butt back) then the bar would no longer be over your feet and you would lose your leverage over it (and consequently your ability to control it properly with your hamstrings and core/abdominal muscles).
If you do this properly, as you continue to push your but back and you torso gets lower and lower (while still maintaining a strong arch in the back), at a certain point you will feel a slight stretch your hamstring muscles. Do not go even a centimeter beyond this point. If you continue to lower you torso at this point to attempt to get a deeper stretch, you will invariably round your lower back and put yourself at risk of injury. This is crucial. Listen to your body. The moment you feel a stretch, go no further. With patience, your body will develop a tremendous level of flexibility on this exercise over the course of time. Trying to rush the process by pushing the stretch further will not speed up the rate at which you gain flexibility; it will only put you are risk of injury.
Once you feel the initial stretch, go through the following mental checklist to initiate the proper movement for lifting the bar back to the full upright starting position:
After you have arrived back at the starting upright position, start over again at the top of the first mental checklist for the next rep.
Learning to do Good Mornings properly will serve as a strong foundation for many of the most important and functional total body exercises that contribute most to overall bodyweight strength. Deadlifts of all types, Cleans of all types, Back Squats, Front Squats, Overhead Squats, Sprints of all types, etc, etc.
The mental checklist stated above should be utilized on all of the following exercises as well: Stiff Leg Deadlifts of all types, Horizontal Hyper Extensions, 45 Degree Hyperextensions, and Deadlifts of all types. At first this mental checklist will seem like a nuisance and may be difficult to perform properly, but with a few weeks of practice it will soon become easy. After a few months, it should become so natural that you no longer even need to think of it because the habits will be firmly ingrained in your movement patterns at that point.
The beautiful thing (and the horrid thing) about habits is that they are self maintaining. Good habits will self maintain and bad habits will self maintain. If you are like 99% of the rest of the population, you probably currently have bad habits regarding lifting things from the floor, leaning over, utilizing you hamstrings and core properly, etc. By practicing the above mentioned mental checklists repeatedly you will override your old bad habits through conscious practice and eventually complete replace them with these new, proper habits that allow you to maintain safety through utilizing proper leverage and muscular control in motion.
For those who like to understand the why of things, a further explanation regarding the why's of the mental checklists are below:
First mental checklist (the one utilized when lowering the bar on the initial phase of the exercise)
Once you feel the initial stretch, go through the following mental checklist to initiate the proper movement for lifting the bar back to the full upright starting position:
Disclaimer - We do not recommend performing any exercise without the supervision of a highly qualified bodyweight strength professional present with you. This detailed exercise description is for informational purposes only. Consult your physician before attempting any strength training program or attempting this exercise or any of the other exercises on www.bodyweight-strength.com
This is unfortunate, but it is also understandable. Very few people actually know how to perform Good Mornings properly and thus they consider them dangerous; and rightly so...any exercise that you do not know how to perform properly is dangerous until you learn the proper technique. Good Mornings are an exercise that either requires a highly qualified professional to teach to you. If you are highly observant of your own movement and are willing to spend alot of time addressing your own personal technique weak points etc, then you can probably do it yourself with the help of the video and description here. But, again, we recommend utilizing someone in person who is well qualified to assist you in mastering your technique of Good Mornings for your own safety.
Good Mornings strengthen the abdominal muscles, the hamstrings, and the spinal erectors. They also train each of these muscle to do their role properly without jumping in and trying to take of the role of the other muscles as well. This is a crucial point and is one of the biggest reasons many people injure their lower backs when lifting weights. If your spinal erectors are trying to act as "lifters" rather than "stabilizers" in the weight room then you are highly likely to overload them, fial to stabilize your spine with your core abdominal muscles, and set yourself up for serious injury.
For this reason, it is crucial that you develop a good level of abdominal strength, hamstring flexibility, and hamstring stregth before even attempting Good Mornings. Not only that, but when you do attempt them, start with a light bar or even a broomstick instead of a heavy loaded barbell. Master the technique with a broomstick and then move to the light bar. Master the technique with the light bar and then move to the full size bar. Master the technique with the full size bar and then start steadily (slowly) adding weight to it as you gain strength and coordination for the movement pattern of this exercise.
To develop the base level of abdominal strength for Good Mornings make sure that you have mastered Weighted Crunches, Hanging Knee Raises, Reverse Crunches, Pushup Position, and Plank.
To develop the base level of hamstring development for Good Mornings make sure that you have performed Leg Curls and the Leg Up Hamstring Stretch for several weeks and have gained significant flexibility, strength, endurance, and coordination in the hamstring muscle.
To develop the base level of hip and glute strength, coordination, and flexibility for Good Mornings make sure that you have rolled your hips and glutes on a ball consistently for several weeks to loosen them up and make sure that you have performed Hip Thrusts for several weeks with a barbell and that you have mastered the motion of "pushing" with your hips/glutes/hamstrings.
Once all of these prerequisites have been achieved and you are ready to attempt Good Mornings, the proper exercise technique is as follows:
Place a barbell on a squat rack at about shoulder height and step up under it (placing it on the back of your shoulders exactly as you would if you were about to perform a Back Squat) and then step back from the rack a couple of feet to give yourself sufficient space to perform the exercise. Place your feet at about a shoulder width stance and make sure that your knees are not locked back. Do not place a significant bend in them, but maintain a very slight bend in them to prevent them from being locked back. Once you have chosen their position however, maintain that position throughout the entire exercise. Do not increase or decrease the bend in the knee during your motion of the exercise. If you are wanting to bend the knees further than the slight bend mentioned, you can perform Bent Knee Good Mornings instead of Straight Leg Good Mornings.
Once you are in position, before initiating the exercise, go through the following mental checklist to get in the proper position:
- Head up - look upward slightly.
- Chest out - stick your chest out excessively.
- Shoulders back - pull your shoulders back as your stick your chest out to create a good solid arch in your mid and upper back.
- Butt out - start pushing your butt backward, allowing your body to pivot at your hip joint.
As you begin to push your butt back, make sure that your entire back stays arched and the barbell stays centered over your feet. Pushing your butt back is allowing the weight of the load on the barbell to be centered and supported by your hamstring muscles rather than putting pressure on your lower back. This way of moving allows you to maintain proper leverage . If you leaned to the front with your torso (rather than pushing your butt back) then the bar would no longer be over your feet and you would lose your leverage over it (and consequently your ability to control it properly with your hamstrings and core/abdominal muscles).
If you do this properly, as you continue to push your but back and you torso gets lower and lower (while still maintaining a strong arch in the back), at a certain point you will feel a slight stretch your hamstring muscles. Do not go even a centimeter beyond this point. If you continue to lower you torso at this point to attempt to get a deeper stretch, you will invariably round your lower back and put yourself at risk of injury. This is crucial. Listen to your body. The moment you feel a stretch, go no further. With patience, your body will develop a tremendous level of flexibility on this exercise over the course of time. Trying to rush the process by pushing the stretch further will not speed up the rate at which you gain flexibility; it will only put you are risk of injury.
Once you feel the initial stretch, go through the following mental checklist to initiate the proper movement for lifting the bar back to the full upright starting position:
- Tuck chin - lower your chin back to a neutral position (rather than looking up). DO NOT round your neck though. Simply keep you neck in alignment with your spine.
- Tighten core - tighten your entire abdominal area in the way that you would if someone was about to punch you in the stomach (simply brace the core as tightly as possible).
- Drive hips forward - push your hips forward by flexing your hamstrings, glutes, and hips (without un-arching your back) until you are standing completely upright again.
After you have arrived back at the starting upright position, start over again at the top of the first mental checklist for the next rep.
Learning to do Good Mornings properly will serve as a strong foundation for many of the most important and functional total body exercises that contribute most to overall bodyweight strength. Deadlifts of all types, Cleans of all types, Back Squats, Front Squats, Overhead Squats, Sprints of all types, etc, etc.
The mental checklist stated above should be utilized on all of the following exercises as well: Stiff Leg Deadlifts of all types, Horizontal Hyper Extensions, 45 Degree Hyperextensions, and Deadlifts of all types. At first this mental checklist will seem like a nuisance and may be difficult to perform properly, but with a few weeks of practice it will soon become easy. After a few months, it should become so natural that you no longer even need to think of it because the habits will be firmly ingrained in your movement patterns at that point.
The beautiful thing (and the horrid thing) about habits is that they are self maintaining. Good habits will self maintain and bad habits will self maintain. If you are like 99% of the rest of the population, you probably currently have bad habits regarding lifting things from the floor, leaning over, utilizing you hamstrings and core properly, etc. By practicing the above mentioned mental checklists repeatedly you will override your old bad habits through conscious practice and eventually complete replace them with these new, proper habits that allow you to maintain safety through utilizing proper leverage and muscular control in motion.
For those who like to understand the why of things, a further explanation regarding the why's of the mental checklists are below:
First mental checklist (the one utilized when lowering the bar on the initial phase of the exercise)
- Head up - look upward slightly. - The reason for this is that when the head is up, the back has a tendency to arch almost automatically. Looking up neurologically turns your spinal erectors muscles "on" (the muscles that assist in arching your back). When you are lowering the weight downwards during this exercise, it is crucial that you maintain a good solid arch in your back. Rounding your back with a load on it is extremely dangerous.
- Chest out - stick your chest out excessively. - The reason for this almost the same as above. Sticking your chest out assists your mid and upper back areas in arching which helps maintain a balanced arch throughout the back (rather than forcing the lower back to dangerously attempt to compensate for the roundness of the mid and upper back area).
- Shoulders back - pull your shoulders back as your stick your chest out to create a good solid arch in your mid and upper back. -This merely reinforces the mid and upper back arching achieved by sticking the chest out. If you mentally keep in mind that your shoulders need to be back, it helps keep the chest out and the mid/upper back arched strongly.
- Butt out - start pushing your butt backward, allowing your body to pivot at your hip joint. - By initiating the exercise by pushing the butt back, you prevent the common mistake of attempting to initiate the exercise by leaning forward. To the untrained eye, watching someone performing Good Mornings, it will appear that they are leaning forward, when in actuality they are pushing their butt back and the bar is staying centered over the feet throughout the entire exercise.
Once you feel the initial stretch, go through the following mental checklist to initiate the proper movement for lifting the bar back to the full upright starting position:
- Tuck chin - lower your chin back to a neutral position (rather than looking up). DO NOT round your neck though. Simply keep you neck in alignment with your spine. - When you lift your chin, neurologically your abdominal and hamstring muscles will be inhibited and your spinal erectors will be highly activated. This helps maintain a proper back arch as we lower the weight, however when its time to lift the weight back up, it is important that we fully utilize the crucial hamstrings and abdominal muscles. When we tuck the chin back to neutral, we are "turning them back on" so that you can lift the weight properly by using those muscles, rather than accidentally attempting to lift the weight using the spinal erectors (which is not good - the spinal erectors are made to stabilize the spine and arch the back...they are not made to the be the "lifters" of the exercise...the hamstrings, glutes, and hips are some of the strongest muscles in the body and they are made to be the lifters, while the spinal erectors and abdominal muscles are designed to be the core/spine stabilizers).
- Tighten core - tighten your entire abdominal area in the way that you would if someone was about to punch you in the stomach (simply brace the core as tightly as possible). - This braces the core/spine and stabilizes this area strongly as the powerful hamstrings, glutes, and hips lift the weight.
- Drive hips forward - push your hips forward by flexing your hamstrings, glutes, and hips (without un-arching your back) until you are standing completely upright again. - It is important to mentally think of pushing your hips forward rather than lifting your torso back up. Thinking of lifting your torso will most likely cause you to attempt to pull yourself up with your spinal erectors which is inefficient, dangerous, and will place the pivot point in you back. Thinking of pushing your hips forward however will engage the strong hamstring, glute, and hip muscles and will focus the pivot point in the big, stable, strong hip joints. Approaching the lift this way (while simultaneously allowing the abdominal muscles and spinal erectors to stabilize the spine) will teach all of the muscles to work together properly and in conjunction with one another. This creates an environment in which maximum efficiency and safety is achieve by working with the natural roles that each muscles was designed to perform.
Disclaimer - We do not recommend performing any exercise without the supervision of a highly qualified bodyweight strength professional present with you. This detailed exercise description is for informational purposes only. Consult your physician before attempting any strength training program or attempting this exercise or any of the other exercises on www.bodyweight-strength.com