Good Morning
With a bar across your upper back, you push your hips back and tip your torso forward until your hamstrings stretch, then drive your hips forward to stand, working hamstrings, glutes and lower back.
Equipment
- Primary muscles
- Hamstrings, Glutes, Lower back
- Secondary
- Adductors
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
- Primary muscles
- Hamstrings, Glutes, Lower back
- Secondary
- Adductors
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
The good morning trains the hip hinge with the load on your back instead of in your hands, so grip never limits it and your lower back has to hold a long lever. That makes it a useful accessory for squats and deadlifts and a good way to load your hamstrings in a stretch. It suits intermediate lifters who can already hinge with a flat back. The barbell lets you move freely; the Smith machine fixes the bar path and makes the setup easier, but the lever on your lower back is just as long, so start light either way.
How to do it (Barbell)
Rack the bar at shoulder height, step under it so it sits on your upper back like a squat, and unrack it.
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, core tight and back flat.
Push your hips back and hinge forward until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, keeping your back flat the whole way.
Drive your hips forward to stand back up. Use light weight here; the bar sits far from your hips, so it loads your lower back quickly.
Stand under the Smith machine bar with it resting across your upper back, feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent.
Unhook the bar and push your hips back, letting your torso tip forward with a flat back.
Lower until your torso is close to parallel with the floor or your hamstrings stop you.
Drive your hips forward to stand back up. Start light; the guided bar makes the setup easy, but the lever on your lower back is still long.
Common mistakes
Rounding your back as you tip forward
Going deeper than your hamstrings allow makes your back curve. Stop when you feel a strong stretch with your back still flat.
Bending your knees into a squat
Letting your knees bend more on the way down turns it into a squat with a forward lean. Keep the slight knee bend fixed and move only at your hips.
Loading it like a squat
The bar sits far from your hips, so a weight that's light for squats is heavy here. Start with an empty bar and add weight slowly.
Bar sitting on your neck
A bar high on your neck rolls around and pushes your head forward. Set it on the muscles of your upper back, as for a back squat.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
