Re: Good mornings form

Hugh Beyer <[email hidden]> wrote in
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Quoted message said:

monto888 <monto888(at)gmail.com> wrote in
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Quoted message said:

Having done squats and SLDLs for some time, I thought good mornings
would be neat to try out and substitute for SLDLs as I've noticed my
lower back giving out for heavier squats. Reading and watching
various animations, GMs seem rather similar in form to SLDLs, with
bending of the knees at the end of eccentric downwards portion going
only to parallel, all the while keeping the back straight (well, with
the natural curve in the lower back). I feel some pull in the
hamstrings, a la the SLDL, but more emphasis in the lower back, as
expected. A few hours after the workout, however, I notice some
soreness/pain that I usually never experience unless by accident
(occasionally I'll perform a standing shoulder press incorrectly and
tweak the lower back for a few hours of joyful pain, but I'm
relatively free of any back problems).

I'm assuming there's something in the form I'm missing, as this pain
doesn't feel like super early DOMS. I warm up with the bar for a
solid 10- 15 reps then do working reps of 3x8-10, and my head is
forward/facing upward throughout the lift, for the most part,
identical to SLDL form... what might I be doing wrong? Although the
pain goes away in a few hours after a night's sleep, it repeats every
time I'm doing GMs (last 3 sessions).

My understanding of the form is that you allow the legs to bend just a
bit-- so your knees aren't locked--and all the rest of the movement is
in the hips--think butt moving backwards as opposed to shoulders
bowing forward. I'm doing them to work my lower back so I stop
tweaking it in DLs and I've been keeping as stiff an arch in my back
as I can--I go down until I get a stretch in my hams and stop there.

I find my hamstrings are relatively flexible, so I pretty much have to
reach parallel to feel the stretch in my hamstrings with both GMs and
SLDLs. One thing I've thought of is that for squat form, I read one
should fill the belly with air to solidfy the core throughout the lift,
and I've been bringing that to GMs, is the proper thing to do?

Quoted message said:

Your problem sounds like you're stressing the lower back one way or
another. Sounds like you're keeping your back locked in, though you
might want to get someone else to check. What weight are you using
relative to squats and SLDLs? Could you just be overdoing it?

I could try lighter weights, but even the first week, I was doing longer
reps to get the form down (or so I thought) with 15+ reps of 55lbs, and I
recall feeling the back pain. I've been doing 3x8-10s at 75-80lbs the
past 2 weeks and the pain appears the same. My squats and SLDLs of
similar reps are each about twice that.