Good Morning (Barbell, Stiff-Legged)
The Barbell Stiff-Legged Good Morning is a hip-hinge exercise that builds significant strength in the posterior chain by loading the hips through a long range of motion. It primarily targets the hamstrings and lower back while teaching proper hip mechanics.
Iridium recognizes the significant axial loading of Good Mornings and scans your 7-day training history to ensure your spinal erectors are sufficiently recovered before assigning this exercise. If your lower back shows signs of accumulated fatigue from recent heavy lifting, the AI acts on sub-muscle fatigue awareness to substitute this with a movement that places less shear force on the spine. When programmed, Iridium interprets your RPE data to regulate volume and intensity, ensuring progressive overload occurs within safe technical limits.
Form Cues
- Place the barbell across your upper traps
- Unlock your knees slightly and keep them fixed
- Hinge your hips backward as far as possible
- Keep your spine neutral and core braced tightly
- Drive your hips forward to return to standing
- Don't round your lower back
- Don't bend your knees further as you descend
- Don't look up at the ceiling; keep neck neutral
- Don't bounce out of the bottom position
Common Mistakes
- Rounding the lumbar spine
- Turning the movement into a squat
- Hyperextending the neck
- Using excessive weight
- Insufficient range of motion
Muscles Worked
This exercise is a potent developer of the posterior chain, placing an intense weighted stretch on the hamstrings. It heavily recruits the erector spinae isometrically to protect the spine, while the glutes work dynamically to extend the hips and return the torso to an upright position.
Primary
Secondary
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