Good Mornings and Straight Leg Deadlifts

[Poser]

I've had Good Mornings come up a couple of times in workouts recently and I've DEFINITELY felt them the next day. Yesterday, we had Romanian deadlifts and my hamstrings are exceptionally sore all the way down into my calves. Given that both lifts deal with controlling weight and strength through your lower back and hamstrings, they'd seem to be ideal lifts for backpacking. That being said, they are far from popular. Having being in out of of various types of gyms over the years, I'm not sure I can recall ever seeing anyone doing either of those lifts with the exception of possibly doing them as a warmup with very light weight. I do seem to recall doing them in H.S. football, however.

Anyone use these lifts in their mountain specific training and/or have an opinion on their application?

 

[5MilesBack]

I do these right after I do squats. Great for the hamstrings and stretching.

 

[justinspicher]

I don't lift any weights, they are heavy.

 

[mohawk32]

They're excellent accessory lifts. When I did my own programming I'd program straight leg deadlifts on my high rep/low weight deadlift days and would use good mornings as a complement on squat days.

 

[djsmith46]

I personally think good mornings are a little overrated. There's better ways to hit your low back and better ways to hit your hamstrings. Maybe its because I'm very flexible in my posterior chain but I never felt like good mornings were doing much for me. Romanian deadlifts on the other hand are awesome for the hamstrings when performed correctly. Applications for mountain hunting? Yes, a strong posterior chain will only benefit you while climbing.

 

[Poser]

I personally think good mornings are a little overrated. There's better ways to hit your low back and better ways to hit your hamstrings. Maybe its because I'm very flexible in my posterior chain but I never felt like good mornings were doing much for me. Romanian deadlifts on the other hand are awesome for the hamstrings when performed correctly. Applications for mountain hunting? Yes, a strong posterior chain will only benefit you while climbing.

I am pretty flexible in the hamstrings as well. I can usually put my palms flat on the floor right out if bed. I don't feel Good Mornings much when I do them, but I can certainly feel them the next day. In other words, they don't really "burn", feel taxing, or even feel difficult, but they can make me a bit sore. That being said, Romanian Deadlfits are way more intense.

 

[5MilesBack]

I will qualify my previous statement, as I only do the Romanian Deadlifts. I try to avoid the Good Mornings, my back cringes just thinking about doing those with weight. To be honest, I always thought they were the same thing........just different names. But after using google, I see that they are not.

 

[LJ Buck]

Any type of dead lift is your best friend IMO (if done right)

 

[doin1]

Done properly they good mornings are excellent exercises. As stated above as a counter to squats. I never experienced any back problems doing them. I am tight in hamstrings and they did get stretched well. I was always instructed to move weight back on to my heels during the move to protect the knees.

 

[Sapper]

I just recently tried something new you should try. Great for the mountain hiker or runner. Works the same muscles as good mornings, deadlifts, etc but easier to do and I feel it a lot more. They're called pull throughs. Look it up online how to do it properly. Not the most manly looking exercise to do but if u can get past that, they work awesome. I do some reverse lunges followed by 3 sets of pull throughs and I feel it from my ass down to my calves. Excellent exercise!