Exercise Proper Form: Good Mornings Exercise Movement

Warmup Perform a general warmup of five to 10 minutes of aerobic exercise at 40 to 50 percent of your maximum heart rate, followed by hamstring and lower-back stretches. It's also very effective to perform a specific warmup for this exercise. Do one set of 15 reps using an empty bar, then one set with 40 percent of your one-rep maximum before moving on to your training sets.

Performance

Take a wide grip on a barbell and place it across your shoulders. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, keeping your legs and back straight. Bend forward slowly from the hips until your upper body is parallel to the floor. Using only hip action, slowly return to the starting position. Inhale as you lower your body and exhale as you come up.

Kinesiological Analysis

This exercise with the weird name directly stresses the erector spinae and hamstrings, with a secondary stress on the upper-back muscles. When performing good mornings for the first time, bend your knees and use a light weight or no weight at all so you can perfect your form. Stiff-legged good mornings, performed with only a slight bend in the knees, are for advanced trainees only.

The key to performing this exercise safely is to reverse the movement as soon as your torso reaches a parallel position to the floor. There's no need to go beyond parallel. Also, if the bar cuts into your neck vertebrae, pad the bar.

Spotting

If you're spotting someone by yourself on this exercise, stand 18 to 24 inches in front of the lifter, As the bar comes toward you, place your hands palms up under it to help guide it up, if needed. If two spotters are used, one should stand at each end of the bar, gripping the bar at the ends to assist, as needed.

Do's and Don't

» Do pause for one second at the top and bottom of the movement.

» Do keep your knees slightly bent.

» Do place the bar on your upper back, splitting the traps and resting on top of your delts.

» Don't wear a lifting belt.

» Don't use heavy weights.

» Don't go beyond parallel to the floor.