I’ve been weight training for several years now but yesterday was the first time I ever did a goodmorning. Yesterday was week 1, day 1 of the AOW program (pretty intense so far btw).
Anyways…I’ve got the form down and I think I kind of like the movement but I’m wondering…isn’t the stiff legged deadlift a more effective, not to mention safer (provided proper form is used) exercise?
Can goodmornings be replaced with stiff legged deadlifts? Another thing to consider, I’ll be doing power cleans on day 5 of this workout.
Or are goodmornings an indispensable proponent to working the hams and lower back?
[quote]FFB4Life wrote:
I’ve been weight training for several years now but yesterday was the first time I ever did a goodmorning. Yesterday was week 1, day 1 of the AOW program (pretty intense so far btw).
Anyways…I’ve got the form down and I think I kind of like the movement but I’m wondering…isn’t the stiff legged deadlift a more effective, not to mention safer (provided proper form is used) exercise?
Can goodmornings be replaced with stiff legged deadlifts? Another thing to consider, I’ll be doing power cleans on day 5 of this workout.
Or are goodmornings an indispensable proponent to working the hams and lower back?
Thanks all.[/quote]
I do both. Romanian (sldl) deads on leg day, and good mornings on back day.
My focus with Romanians is in the hamstrings and glutes, making sure I feel a stretch at the bottom of the movement and contracting when I come back up.
For Good Mornings, I feel for the stretch in my lower back and squeeze it on my way back up. I’m sure there’s some crossover between the two, but I like using them separately for the body parts mentioned above.
In my opinion, (and this is just me, I’m not a PT or certified in anything) having the bar accross my shoulders seems to put more focus on my lower back as I come up from the bottom of the movement. At the top my shoulders are arched back as my hips lock in, thus making me “feel” it more in my lower back.
Hell who knows maybe I’m just doing it wrong, but that’s my experience with the two movements you asked about. As for power cleans, I don’t see either of the two movements as a detriment to doing power cleans, in fact they may be beneficial…
Well, I’d try to keep both in there. I’ve found sldl/rdl to really help increase my deadlift. While Good Mournings I’ve found to really help increase my squat. If your worried about the safety of good mournings, then do them of pins in the power rack.
I don’t know if one is safer than the other. The movement of your hip joint is the same in both. As is the isometric contraction of your spinal erectors. The largest difference I see is with SLDL you’re working more muscles. And because your center of gravity is lower with SLDL, you can probably use more weight than with GM’s.
I agree with Zarro. Goodmornings definitely helped increase my Squat poundage. And the way to really feel them in your Hamstrings is by keeping your entire body supertight and not go too heavy. Mentally work the Hams. If you want to isolate the lower back through GMs, simply perform them while seated on a bench.
Three advantages of GMs over SLDLs:
With GMs, you start the move by pushing your butt way back. This puts less or no strain behind the knees.
Getting used to holding a heavy barbell on your upper back while bending over helps develop the capability to recover if a Back Squat goes bad (which, in turn, develops the confidence to go heavier on the Squat).
Saves wear and tear on your hands. You can always develop grip strength through deadlifting or chinning or farmer’s walks.
Having said that, if you still like holding a barbell in your hands, Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) are better than SLDLs.
Personally I like doing GMs (or RDLs) on those days I do Front Squats. The Front Squat doesn’t tax my lower back as much as the Back Squat. So my lower back is only warm by the time I get to the GMs, whereas with Back Squats my lower back gets so “achy” that I prefer not doing anything after.
On back day, I concentrate only on rowing and pulling (no “bending” work).
[quote]getgopi1 wrote:
I agree with Zarro. Goodmornings definitely helped increase my Squat poundage. And the way to really feel them in your Hamstrings is by keeping your entire body supertight and not go too heavy. Mentally work the Hams. If you want to isolate the lower back through GMs, simply perform them while seated on a bench.
Three advantages of GMs over SLDLs:
With GMs, you start the move by pushing your butt way back. This puts less or no strain behind the knees.
Getting used to holding a heavy barbell on your upper back while bending over helps develop the capability to recover if a Back Squat goes bad (which, in turn, develops the confidence to go heavier on the Squat).
Saves wear and tear on your hands. You can always develop grip strength through deadlifting or chinning or farmer’s walks.
Having said that, if you still like holding a barbell in your hands, Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) are better than SLDLs.
Personally I like doing GMs (or RDLs) on those days I do Front Squats. The Front Squat doesn’t tax my lower back as much as the Back Squat. So my lower back is only warm by the time I get to the GMs, whereas with Back Squats my lower back gets so “achy” that I prefer not doing anything after.
On back day, I concentrate only on rowing and pulling (no “bending” work).[/quote]
I like good moarnings, I’ve been doing them for awhile, and it has helped my squat go up some ( even while on my cut ). I dont go real heavy on them, well not yet anyway.