Rediscover Good Mornings
A closer look at a valuable addition to your exercise toolbox
By Strength Sensei CP
The good morning exercise is rarely prescribed by strength coaches today, and that’s a shame. The standing and seated good morning variations are big bang-for-your buck exercises for the posterior chain. However, there are a few variations I do not endorse.
First, any discussion about the good morning should acknowledge the accomplishments of Bruce Randall. At a height of 6-feet-2, Randall added 203 pounds to his frame in 19 months to tip the scales at 401 pounds. The added bulk enabled him to perform a standing good morning with 685 pounds, along with other amazing feats of strength, including a 228-pound biceps curl. Oh, and I should mention that by 1959 Randall had reduced down to 222 pounds and won the NABBA Mr. Universe title!
To impress the judges, a bodybuilder needs to have a back that is not just wide but thick. Good mornings are an effective exercise for developing that thickness. (Miloš Šarčev photo)
With that background, there are two types of good mornings I avoid. The first is a rounded-back good morning. Flexing the spine with heavy weights places harmful shear (horizontal) forces on the lumbar vertebrae. I could see the value of performing it with an empty bar as a stretch, but it’s certainly not an exercise that should be performed with heavy weights. For more on shear forces, a valuable reference is Stuart McGill’s Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation.
Another variation is the seated good morning with the barbell held on the chest. A trainer who attended one of my seminars said he often prescribed the seated good morning, a variation I like for developing the erector spinae muscles of the back. When he was away for a week (attending one of my seminars!), he asked one of his colleagues to show one of his clients the exercise.
Rather than placing the barbell on his shoulders, the trainer had the client hold the bar on his clavicles, supposedly to reduce stress on the shoulders. Not a good idea. The problem here is that this variation places enormous strain on the rotator cuff and rhomboids, such that gravity often wins out and the bar will fall on the legs.
Many strength coaches prefer the Romanian deadlift over good mornings, but I think this is because they simply do not know how to teach it. Yes, the Romanian deadlift is an excellent exercise, but good mornings are a valuable posterior chain exercise that should not be forgotten. (SS)
