Bend-overs with a barbell on the shoulders: benefits, technique, what can be replaced

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Romanian barbell rows and good mornings

(good morning - good morning) - these are two exercises similar to each other, with the only difference that the weight in deadlifts is held with your hands in front of you, and in good mornings it lies on your shoulders. In both movements, the body bends forward and stretches the gluteal muscles, as well as the back of the thighs. Let’s figure out what pumps muscles more efficiently and better.

What muscles work

Main engines:

The entire array of gluteal muscles . The exercise works the gluteus medius, minimus, and gluteus maximus muscles, but they are used to varying degrees;
Biceps femoris - are involved in extension of the hip joint;
Long back muscles - stabilize the body during extension, but are the main ones, since they begin movement during extension, and are involved in the work throughout the exercise.

The following are also involved as stabilizers:

abs, arm muscles and latissimus, as well as the rhomboid muscles of the back.
partly to maintain the vertical position of the body, the muscles of the front surface of the thighs are also involved in the work.

The calves may or may not be involved in the exercise as stabilizers. It depends on the position of the body and the depth of the bend. The width of the feet in the exercise affects the degree of involvement of the gluteal muscles. The more sumo-like the stance is, the more the exercise works to develop the glutes. If an athlete rises on his toes, straightening his body, he develops his calves too. A strong back build puts emphasis on the diamond, while a low bar puts emphasis on the lower back.

Bent-overs with a barbell on your shoulders: technique and nuances

Good Morning Exercise: Technique

The technique for performing this exercise is very simple:

We place the barbell on our shoulders, just like when doing squats with a barbell. It is better to remove the barbell from the racks, although, theoretically, you can lift it from the floor by placing it behind your head. It all depends on the working scales. If you work with a decent amount of weight, then lifting and placing the barbell behind your head without using racks can be problematic.
Keep your legs straight or slightly bent. During the exercise, the legs should remain in the same position (without changing their position in the knee joints).
The back is straight or slightly arched back in the spine (not much). It is important not to hunch over or round your back forward.
We bend forward until the angle between the torso and legs is approximately 90 degrees.

Advantages and disadvantages of the exercise

Each movement has its pros and cons. Perhaps doing the “good morning” exercise with a barbell is not the best option for those who experience problems with the spine, but in terms of the physical development of healthy people, the exercise can bring quite a lot of benefits.

Advantages

Working the muscles of the posterior chain in a fairly natural amplitude for them, but without grip load. This is valuable for those who want to lift a lot, and constantly perform deadlifts, bent-over rows and other exercises that develop the back and hamstrings. Moving with a weight in your hands can become a problem over time if the athlete is unable to hold the barbell without pain;
The movement helps improve posture, as it helps to master the skill of bringing the shoulder blades to the spine and back;
Will help develop strength in the deadlift and squat by strengthening and developing the muscles of the posterior chain;
Helps prevent knee and lower back injuries if performed in the correct amplitude with unambitious weights;
Develops the buttocks, strengthens and tightens them. Helps to add training volume when working on these muscles, to diversify training for those who are tired of classic squats and deadlifts;
It can be a rehabilitation exercise after injuries to the hamstrings if performed in partial amplitude and with minimal weight;
Eliminates blood stagnation in the pelvic organs. It is a prevention of gynecological and andrological disorders;
It is not a difficult coordination exercise and is accessible to most athletes.

Flaws

Requires good range of motion in the hip joint. They cannot become the basis of the training process if the amplitude is exclusively reduced. Requires stretching, cannot be performed with the so-called short hamstring;
The movement is quite traumatic for those athletes who cannot hold the barbell firmly on their back and systematically exceed the weight;
The exercise requires proper planning. If you use it as a “finisher,” you can get injured simply due to overworking the posterior chain. A more rational approach is to plan the deadlift and this movement as interchangeable exercises, doing the barbell incline instead of a moderately heavy deadlift, rather than as a separate heavy exercise. The movement is performed with a maximum of half and 1 rep maximum in the classic deadlift.

Sexy buttocks: how to do deadlifts on straight legs

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Spring is ahead, and then summer. This means that it’s time to take care of the beauty of your buttocks. And, if you haven’t made yourself sexy buttocks yet, it’s time to get started. How to properly do bends while standing with a barbell in your hands - read in our material.

The straight-legged deadlift is rightfully considered one of the most effective exercises for working the buttocks (only squats are more effective). The main goal of this exercise is to develop the surface of the back thigh, as well as directly work the buttocks. It can be used in a beginner's program.

It is worth noting that the technique of performing this, at first glance, simple exercise, has a number of features that should not be forgotten. In particular, to begin with, you should start working with light weights, and do not rush to add weight. Remember, excessive stress when performing this exercise risks causing a back injury.

If you are working out at home and don’t have a barbell, use dumbbells to perform the exercise.

HOW TO DO STRAIGHT LEGGED PULL-OUTS CORRECTLY

Execution technique

First of all, you need to master working in a safety frame. Adjust the stops so that in the lower position of the tilt with the barbell you can freely lower it onto the belay and get out from under the projectile. This will make the execution process safe. At the same time, you don’t need to place the stops too high so as not to hit the barbell against them every time. If the gym does not have such a frame, place weightlifting plates of the required height on the sides, so that you can lower the barbell on them simply by placing weight plates.

Stand up straight and set the bar at low bar squat height. In this exercise, you do not need to place the bar on the top of the trapezius, just lower it lower and “pass” the attachment point of the trapezius muscles.

The barbell is on your back, not on your shoulders:

The barbell is removed as if doing a squat. You need to come up, position yourself in the middle of your body under the bar, bend your knees, and then straighten them, moving away from the racks;
The shoulder blades should be retracted and stabilized, the shoulders should be pulled back and lowered;
The feet can be placed as in a squat or a little wider;
The toes are pointed to the sides so that when bending, the body position remains stable;
As you inhale, the pelvis moves back and bends forward;
Then - return the body to a neutral position, check the shoulder blades, tilt again;
The amplitude in this exercise is individual. Those who cannot afford deep stretching should bend no more than 2/3 of the range of motion;
Installing the rod on the racks occurs in the reverse order. First you need to carefully step back, position the bar over the safety supports, and then bend your knees and lower the barbell onto the racks.

Note: Where did the name of the exercise come from? Some individuals believe that it is a tribute to the practice of “Surya Namaskar”, where there is a forward bend. But the name actually comes from the traditions of the West Side School. The exercise was recommended for athletes to do before starting any morning workout. By the way, who cares about the “huge weights of the Westside”, strong people limited themselves to an empty bar. The exercise was done in 1 approach “until the burning sensation”, after which the morning workout could be carried out as usual.

bodymaster : Forward bends with a barbell on the shoulders “Good morning”

Execution options

In fact, there are not so few options as is usually assessed in fitness. Many people believe that the exercise should be done solely to develop the buttocks and hamstrings. But in reality, there are quite back-isolating options and many versions with different types of shock absorbers. We list just a few of them that are applicable to the general development of non-specialized athletes.

Bent-overs with a barbell on your shoulders while sitting

This option takes the stress off the hamstrings and buttocks. But it promotes the development of the long back muscle, and the strengthening of the latissimus and rhomboids. This variation is great for anyone with hamstring strains or knee injuries. You need to do the exercise while sitting. The bench is selected so that the buttocks are just below the kneecaps. The reason is that the movement is used not so much “for the back”, but as a special preparatory exercise for the hip joints and lower back. The bar is installed at the height for a squat, removed in the usual way, then the athlete carefully sits on the bench and bends forward.

Option with shock absorbers

A rubber band attached to the bar helps develop the upper third of the movement. This gives a good lockout in the classic deadlift and allows you to get rid of problems with not straightening quickly enough. The rubber at the bottom helps to stretch the buttocks more. When performing the exercise, shock absorbers are placed on the ends of the bar and rack to perform a squat at the bottom. The technique is common, you just need to be careful and try not to catch the racks with rubber.

Bent-overs with a barbell on a Smith machine

This variation is not liked in powerlifting because it lacks a natural range of motion. But the fixed bar is still used by those who have problems with stabilization using a regular barbell. The Smith machine variation is good for bodybuilding-oriented training. But technically it differs only in that to start you just need to rotate the bar back and thereby remove the weight from the safety stops.

In powerlifting, “narrowly targeted” versions are used with a safe bar for squats, as well as with a thick bar, whose center of gravity is shifted compared to a regular barbell. But these variations are too narrowly focused to be considered separately.

Exercise GOOD MORNING

Atlas of muscles involved

An ordinary exercise with an unusual name, Good Morning, uses a decent group of muscles. Basically, it is designed to work the muscle tissue of the posterior chain.

In addition, the atlas of muscles involved in the exercise includes the following.

lower and middle back, as well as spinal extensors;
hamstring muscles (biceps, semimembranosus, semitendinosus);
large gluteals.

Additional muscles are the external oblique and rectus abdominis muscles.

The full picture of the muscle atlas is presented in the photo, and the execution technique is shown in the video.

Common mistakes

Poor training planning

The exercise should not be on the same day as a deadlift or heavy Romanian deadlift. With a squat - maybe, but in this case the priority exercise is selected, namely the one that will be more difficult. Typically this is a squat. It is performed at the beginning.

The incline is performed with half the weight available in a classic deadlift, or even less weight. It can be performed with very minimal weights in a high-repetition mode if hypertrophy of the gluteal and hamstrings is required.

Using large scales

Exceeding the body's capabilities too significantly is always the cause of injury. Performing movements with inadequately high weights will not allow most people to progress for quite a long time. Because an athlete of this type will get injured much earlier than he begins to increase the weight on the bar.

Lumbar flexion

Amateur fitness is not an option when you really should do a backbend in the thoracic region or a backbend in the lumbar region. The more natural the position of the spine, the safer the exercise will remain. It is not recommended to arch your back to "engage your glutes" as it does not work and does not promote proper technique.