The Good Morning:

By Joel Watson.

An indepth review of a FANTASTIC exercise

Primary Muscle:

• Hamstrings

Secondary Muscles:

• Lower Back, Glutes

Mechanics Type:

Compound

Equipment Needed:

Squat rack, Power Rack, Olympic barbell
Depending of variation, bands, chains and
different styles of barbells can be used.

Info:

In my last article on training junior athletes I discussed the importance of developing the Hamstrings, lower back and Glutes. As I said conventional exercises for the hams, glutes such as leg curls just don’t cut it when it comes to targeting the areas a athlete needs for developing power, strength and explosiveness for on field performance and also for in the gym performance for such exercises as the squat and deadlift. You will need an a assistance exercise that will help you increase the strength in your Hamstrings, Glues and lower back...this is where the Good Morning comes into play! 

In my years training in gyms and also working in gyms I have only ever seen a handful of people doing good mornings consistently which is somewhat annoying for me because everyone who trains will benefit from this exercise, and I try and stress this to my clients. So many people have bad lower back due to a weak core which effects the lower back of course  and then effects the hamstrings which effects the quads – so I really can’t stress enough how important these assistance exercises are not only for athletes looking for that extra edge but also everyday gym goers. During my training to become a “fitness professional” we weren’t even taught or shown how to do a good morning! My simple question to these people is, why?

Anyway back to the point! As I said above I will give this exercise to all my athletes 1. To help them increase there strength in glutes, hams, and lower back for overall performance but also to help 2.to help increase their deadlift and squat. In the squat and deadlift, the hamstrings and glutes act to extend the hip as the erectors work to extend the spine. So it is important that athletes find assistance exercises that will use those three muscle groups in much the same fashion. As we all know if we can improve these 2 movements then we will even more so increase performance on the field, so it all ties in together.

For my athletes I will use 3 different kinds of good mornings, I will use the conventional movements – i.e Olympic barbell Arched back good morning, bent-over or round back good morning or seated good morning – these are the ones I will cover today –or I will use a variation of the conventional movements which will include, bands, chains, weight releasers, straight legs, bent legs, wide stance, close stance different kinds of barbells such as safety squat bar, cambered bar etc. I will always rotate the movement every 2-3 weeks.

The Arched Back Good Morning:

If an athlete has never done a Good Morning in his or her life I will start them on the style of movement. It’s the same set up as a normal squat, same bar position, normal stance (wider stance than shoulder width is the norm), feet straight and your knees forced out-ward. Stick your chest out/up and have an arch in your back. Bend your legs slightly, push your glutes back and lean forward. One thing I want to stress is stick your glutes out – as soon as a coach points this out then the trainee will normally correct their form people will naturally want to lower their ass which will put them into a bad squatting form, and not a good good morning form so really stress to stick your glutes right out and keep those knees only slightly bent. You should be feeling the movement mainly in your erectors and some what in your glutes and hamstrings. Do not drop those shoulders or bring that chest in or your back will round and could lead to injury! Keep everything tight!

To begin with start with the bar to learn proper form and then work up to anywhere from 50% to 75% of your max squat in the rep range between 3-5.

Bent-over or round back good morning:

This movement will isolate the lower back more so than the Arched Good Morning. Same set up as the Arched Good Morning but bring your feet/leg position in. You can either do the movement with a straight knee or bent knee. Pretty much the straighter the knee the more emphasis you will put on the erectors and once you bend the knee the more you will feel it through the hamstrings.

This movement is done with a rounded back, so lean forward as far as possible, you can pause slightly and then accelerate back to the top.

As I said above this movement will target/isolate the lower back more so than the Arched back Good Morning so I would suggest lowering the weight slightly and working in a rep range of around 8-12, with about the 40% - 60% of your max dead.

Seated Goodmorning:

I really like this movement but I really wouldn’t suggest it for a beginner its more of an advanced movement and when you 1st start take it light!

This form of Good Morning will be done seated on a bench/or box squat box. The movement will take out the hamstrings and glutes and really isolate the erectors. I would suggest (as I said above) take a light weight squat down to your bench or box squat box, really keep your body tight, lean forward as far as possible, pause slightly and return to the starting position. Your shoulders and back will stay rounded, like the rounded/bent-over Good Morning.

Again start light with this movement, work in around the 12 rep range and work your way up in weight.

As with all exercises, it is extremely important to use proper form and slowly work up to heavy weights. I would suggest that you start very light and eventually work up to 3 sets of 5 reps with about 65% to 75% of your best squat. I feel that this exercise is one of the most effective assistance exercises for building strength in the squat and deadlift.

So they are the 3 conventional styles of Good Morning I like to use with my athletes. As I said I like to start with the arched back Good Morning – I know some people are different but that’s the one I like to start with. I would normally give the arched back movement to an athlete who is just starting for around a month and then start using variations of it by using bands, chains. After I feel confident that the athlete has a good understanding of the movement I will move them onto more advanced movements such as the seated Good Mornings. As I said I will use a rotation system of different variations of the Good Morning and change every 2-3 weeks but depending on the athlete that could even be a change1-2 weeks.

I would suggest if you have never done a Good Morning before then seek advice from someone who knows how to do them – much like you would with a deadlift, squat or bench press.

As I have said Good Mornings will help increase your lower back, hamstring and Glute strength – which will in turn help you perform better at your given sport and also in the gym.