Are Good Morning Exercises Good?
Yes, good morning exercises are beneficial for building strength and improving athletic performance.
Good morning exercises primarily target the posterior chain, a group of muscles along the back of your body. This includes:
- Hamstrings: These muscles are crucial for hip extension and knee flexion, improving power and stability in lower body movements.
- Glutes: Strong glutes are essential for hip extension, power generation, and injury prevention. They're key in many sports, improving performance.
- Spinal erectors: These muscles support the spine and are vital for posture and stability. Strengthening them reduces back pain risk.
- Core muscles: Good mornings engage your core, improving overall stability and strength.
The strengthening of these muscle groups leads to several advantages:
- Increased strength: Good mornings directly build strength in the posterior chain muscles.
- Improved athletic performance: Stronger posterior chain muscles improve efficiency and speed in endurance sports like running, cycling, and rowing.
- Reduced injury risk: Strengthening these muscles helps protect against injuries in the lower back, hamstrings, and glutes.
- Enhanced posture: Strengthening spinal erectors promotes better posture.
Several sources confirm these benefits: Good mornings develop glute and core muscles key to endurance sports (Source 1, [Source 15-Aug-2024](Source 15-Aug-2024)), increasing strength in hamstrings and spinal erectors (Source ISSA), and working muscles along the backside of your body (Source MasterClass). They're also described as an excellent way to develop strength in multiple areas (Source Peloton) and a hip hinge exercise strengthening the posterior chain (Source PureGym, Source Today, Source SWolverine, Source MensHealth). Furthermore, they can even help prevent injuries from max-effort squats (Source Reddit).
