What are you aiming for with a split good morning?

[ashleymoran]

Hi

I'm struggling to make the best of the split good morning. What effect does changing these...

• low step vs high step
• front leg straight vs bent
• straighten/bend leg during the rep vs keep leg fixed

have on the benefits you get?

I'm can't get a feel for the exercise, although to be fair, I find it hard to get the most out of a normal good morning (my back gets tired way before my hamstrings and glutes)

Thanks
Ashley

[Lisa~]

If a normal good morning fatigues your back, then a split good morning should work for you, because the total load carried, and therefore transferred through your back, is much lower.

A split good morning is a single-leg supported hip-dominant movement. The working leg is the forward leg, although your weight should be distributed evenly between your two feet. Bending the forward leg reduces the stretch on your hamstring (by shortening the hamstring across the knee joint), allowing you to bend forward in the hip joint more easily and not be restricted by any tightness in your hamstrings. The goal is to lengthen the glute of the forward leg as you bend forward, and then shorten the glute of that forward leg as you return to standing (all while keeping your spine neutral throughout the movement). If you straighten that forward leg you will most likely throw load into your back. If you bend and then extend it during execution of the movement, then you might be using a hamstring contraction to return to standing. If you bend and extend the back leg during movement, then you're using both legs to do the work; the back leg is there for support and stability and is not the working limb, just a stabilizing limb.

You would not want to raise the height of the bench because the working glute would be too limited in its ability to shorten. A very high bench would keep the glute lengthened, even when your torso is upright. Does that make sense? You only want to elevate that front foot a little so that you can create a hip angle that allows you to work just one hip (single-leg supported).

Did that answer your questions?

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

If a normal good morning fatigues your back, then a split good morning should work for you, because the total load carried, and therefore transferred through your back, is much lower.

A split good morning is a single-leg supported hip-dominant movement. The working leg is the forward leg, although your weight should be distributed evenly between your two feet. Bending the forward leg reduces the stretch on your hamstring (by shortening the hamstring across the knee joint), allowing you to bend forward in the hip joint more easily and not be restricted by any tightness in your hamstrings. The goal is to lengthen the glute of the forward leg as you bend forward, and then shorten the glute of that forward leg as you return to standing (all while keeping your spine neutral throughout the movement). If you straighten that forward leg you will most likely throw load into your back. If you bend and then extend it during execution of the movement, then you might be using a hamstring contraction to return to standing. If you bend and extend the back leg during movement, then you're using both legs to do the work; the back leg is there for support and stability and is not the working limb, just a stabilizing limb.

You would not want to raise the height of the bench because the working glute would be too limited in its ability to shorten. A very high bench would keep the glute lengthened, even when your torso is upright. Does that make sense? You only want to elevate that front foot a little so that you can create a hip angle that allows you to work just one hip (single-leg supported).

Did that answer your questions?

Wow, that is great description of that exercise.

Lisa~ is smart!! Someone's going to link to this thread someday.

[Lisa~]

HA