The only thing that I find strange about his recommendation to strengthen the lower back is that he goes on and on about how these muscles need to be trained, but then he says that people, even without significant training, already have extremely strong, nearly impossible to cut, erectors. Why, if they are already so strong, do they need to be trained even more by special exercises aside from the squat and occasional good mornings.
I'm stil in favor of good mornings because the back needs to be strengthened like anything else, but why focus on them so much if the back is naturally super strong and is also being trained by squats?
Well, the lower back isn't the primary mover for a squat. It's mainly there to hold your torso in isometric contraction so that you don't pitch forward. A lot of people miss 1RM squats just above the hole, where your hamstrings have stopped helping you and your lower back has to stabilize you long enough for your legs to extend.
Also, saying that your lower back is naturally super strong is kind of silly. Your lower back, like any other muscle, is only as strong as the stress you have subjected it to. Obviously, a lumberjack is "naturally" going to have a much stronger lower back than a secretary. Pilots have to withstand a lot of G-force training, which is a lot of stress on their body.
In any case, I don't agree with his suggestion to just rep out hypers for "strength". Its great for recovery/blood flow and maybe some hypertrophy, but deadlifting a 3RM every other week will make your erectors much, much stronger. I very much agree with his notes on good mornings; too much weight any people unconsciously start treating it as a pseudo-squat. You can't really help it either, your body will simply seek the most optimal way to lift the weight. This means it will force your hamstrings and glutes to play a role.
Your hamstrings and glutes should be the prime movers in a good morning, NOT your lower back. Even in a good morning your lower back should be holding an isometric contraction. The problem is that people aren't flexible enough to get deep with a good morning with straight or very close to straight legs.
Check it the same website I posted before and look at the picture just above the warm-ups part. That guy is flexible as hell.
First when I have been doing good mornings I haven't done them straight-legged, I was keeping the bend at my knee fairly constant and pulling my hips through at the top. Should I be doing them completely straight-legged?
Also I thought my lower back was much stronger than my legs because as the weight got heavy when I was squatting I started to good morning the weight more. I was only doing this because I would pitch forward out of the hole like Phil said. This would make it seem like my lower back wasn't strong enough, but I thought I was good morning much more than I was squatting, so I'm somewhat lost.
No, do them with slightly bent knees, just enough to keep your back straight. Maybe your back is stronger than your legs, I'm not really sure and that could be why in powerlifting they do so many good mornings and even allow rounded-back good mornings and back-rounding in the lower portion of the squat. The idea is that the combination of hamstrings, glutes, lower back is stronger than hamstrings/glutes alone. But ideally you shouldn't have to round the back.
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The only thing that I find strange about his recommendation to strengthen the lower back is that he goes on and on about how these muscles need to be trained, but then he says that people, even without significant training, already have extremely strong, nearly impossible to cut, erectors. Why, if they are already so strong, do they need to be trained even more by special exercises aside from the squat and occasional good mornings.
I'm stil in favor of good mornings because the back needs to be strengthened like anything else, but why focus on them so much if the back is naturally super strong and is also being trained by squats?
Well, the lower back isn't the primary mover for a squat. It's mainly there to hold your torso in isometric contraction so that you don't pitch forward. A lot of people miss 1RM squats just above the hole, where your hamstrings have stopped helping you and your lower back has to stabilize you long enough for your legs to extend.
Also, saying that your lower back is naturally super strong is kind of silly. Your lower back, like any other muscle, is only as strong as the stress you have subjected it to. Obviously, a lumberjack is "naturally" going to have a much stronger lower back than a secretary. Pilots have to withstand a lot of G-force training, which is a lot of stress on their body.
In any case, I don't agree with his suggestion to just rep out hypers for "strength". Its great for recovery/blood flow and maybe some hypertrophy, but deadlifting a 3RM every other week will make your erectors much, much stronger. I very much agree with his notes on good mornings; too much weight any people unconsciously start treating it as a pseudo-squat. You can't really help it either, your body will simply seek the most optimal way to lift the weight. This means it will force your hamstrings and glutes to play a role.
Your hamstrings and glutes should be the prime movers in a good morning, NOT your lower back. Even in a good morning your lower back should be holding an isometric contraction. The problem is that people aren't flexible enough to get deep with a good morning with straight or very close to straight legs.
Check it the same website I posted before and look at the picture just above the warm-ups part. That guy is flexible as hell.
A few things:
First when I have been doing good mornings I haven't done them straight-legged, I was keeping the bend at my knee fairly constant and pulling my hips through at the top. Should I be doing them completely straight-legged?
Also I thought my lower back was much stronger than my legs because as the weight got heavy when I was squatting I started to good morning the weight more. I was only doing this because I would pitch forward out of the hole like Phil said. This would make it seem like my lower back wasn't strong enough, but I thought I was good morning much more than I was squatting, so I'm somewhat lost.
No, do them with slightly bent knees, just enough to keep your back straight. Maybe your back is stronger than your legs, I'm not really sure and that could be why in powerlifting they do so many good mornings and even allow rounded-back good mornings and back-rounding in the lower portion of the squat. The idea is that the combination of hamstrings, glutes, lower back is stronger than hamstrings/glutes alone. But ideally you shouldn't have to round the back.
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