Starting Strength

permits before your low back rounds. The idea is to keep the back in extension the whole trip down and up, and the parallels to the RDL should be clear. Your flexibility will determine your depth, and the goodmorning improves hamstring length; there is not a much better stretch than a strict flat-backed goodmorning.
     

    Figure 7-30. The flat-backed version of the goodmorning.

    The round-backed goodmorning is a completely different exercise. We have many times described the efficient and safe back position as “normal anatomical position” – thoracic and lumbar extension. This position is the best way to load the intervertebral discs and the most efficient way for force to be transmitted along the torso. But there are many situations, either at work or in many sports, where lifting must take place under circumstances that prevent an ideal extended-spine position, and it makes sense for post-novice lifters to train for this eventuality. Strongman competitions, for example, involve stone lifting, where a large stone that cannot be placed in a position that allows the competitor’s spine to be extended must be lifted off the ground to an upright position. The trip from the ground to hip and knee lockout has to be done with the back in flexion. Or a situation may arise “in the field” that requires you to lift an object – perhaps a fellow soldier in 85 pounds of kit – whose shape has no respect for your finely developed sense of correct kinematics.

    Figure 7-31. Round-backed lifting trains the back for situations where perfect lifting mechanics are not possible. Stone lifting is a good example of this.

    If spinal flexion is the position that must be used, the big held breath is the mechanism that must stabilize it. The intervertebral discs are best positioned to bear a compressive load when they conform to their normal resting geometry. But lifting a load from the ground is not primarily compressive until the final stages of the pull, when the back becomes erect. Moment forces with a rotational or shear component are the primary stresses on the back as the load comes off the ground. If the spine is in flexion and its rigidity in flexion can be maintained, the submaximal loads normally encountered in a field situation can be safely handled, especially by a strong lifter used to handling much heavier weights. The same Valsalva maneuver used in all barbell exercises provides stability and protection for the spine in the less-than-optimal positions often encountered outside the gym.

    Figure 7-32. Handling an awkward object will not be so much a matter of the heavy weight, because heavy weights cannot be handled from a position of bad mechanics. The issue will be spinal stability in the awkward position. For a flexed spinal position where the mechanics cannot be improved, the best protection for the spine is a solid Valsalva maneuver.

    Some round-backed lifting prepares you for this inevitable situation, and when planned and executed on your terms instead of the universe’s, it can be made a productive adjunct to normal pulling and back work. The round-backed goodmorning deliberately employs less-than-optimum spinal mechanics in order to strengthen the back against the inevitable occurrence of bad mechanics during a fatigued deadlift attempt or a normal day at work. It is a relatively safe way to introduce this position in the context of a controllable, increasable barbell exercise.
    Round-backed goodmornings are probably better than round-backed deadlifts because of the tendency to use lighter, safer weights for them and because of the lack of interference with the correct movement pattern in a lift that is already prone to errors. But since round-backed movements would have to be considered advanced exercises, and therefore not really indicated for inexperienced lifters, the advantages of round-backed goodmornings over round-backed deadlifts are not really germane; advanced lifters should have no trouble separating two styles of deadlifting from each other. The important points are that round-backed lifting is not always bad, because it is inevitable, and that goodmornings done this way are a good introduction to this aspect of conditioning for sports and for life.
     
    Take the bar out of the rack as you would for a flat-backed goodmorning, take a big breath, and start down by dropping your hips back. Immediately drop your chest, rolling it down toward your knees. It is usually possible to go lower than