dw wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 4:03 pmCurrently up for consideration are good mornings. Opinions on these? Can they be done as more of a lower back exercise than a hamstring exercise?
I tried them with the bar and very much felt it in my hamstrings, which is not what I want. But then I started adding weight (and shortening my ROM) and I felt it more in my back.
Are partial GMs a thing? Also what about seated GMs?
Good mornings are at least worth trying out to see how much you care for them. I tend to look at them like standing back extensions. If back extensions weren't such a pain in the ass to set up in my home gym, I'd give them an earnest try for a spell.
I've never heard of partial good mornings, but I've seen people set the safeties to stop themselves from going down "too deep," so maybe that counts. I try to push my hips back as far as I can; once my hips stop moving, that's the end of my hamstring/glute ROM. Going down any further than that means I'm using my back at that point, the contraction shifts from isometric to eccentric, and shit can get dicey if I tire out (and didn't set the safeties).
I've tried them seated before; didn't much care for it, but my hip mobility was worse back then, and I was likely compensating somehow for the lack of gluteal stretch. I'd like to revisit it again, but I use good mornings as a hamstring accessory, primarily. I've heard of Olympic lifters using this variation for flexibility ("pancake good mornings"), but you might be better off with a standard back extension otherwise.
Anyway, with the standing version, the more you bend your knees, the more glute involvement you get; one could argue that this means less hamstring involvement, but it also makes it easier to finish the movement if you fuck up and go too deep (or if you load up relatively heavy).
They will also work the living shit out of your erectors. I've had a few sustained runs with them that resulted in my erectors looking pretty angry.
Personally, I'm a fan of them, but I focus more on volume accumulation rather than intensity. I normally use them if I want a lighter load for a hamstring/hip-hinge accessory (as opposed to deadlift variations).
Go down slowly, control the descent to get a good stretch, then pop your hips forward on the way up to come up quickly.
DCR wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 4:15 pm
@dw, good mornings scare me. I don’t know why any non-competitive powerlifter does them. Just seems like risk/reward doesn’t work out at all.
I've heard people tout them as a good skill-builder for saving a shitty squat if you pitch forward. I can't attest to that particular use, as my squat ain't that heavy, but if you set the safeties, you can probably save yourself some grief if something goes wrong.
You could also do banded good mornings and just see how they feel.