Good Morning

What is the Good Morning?

The good morning is a standing hip hinge performed with a barbell racked on your upper back, like a squat setup. You bow forward by pushing the hips back, loading the hamstrings and glutes under stretch, then stand back up, making it a potent posterior-chain and spinal-erector builder.

Muscles worked

Primary: Hamstrings

The hamstrings are the target, lengthening as the hips travel back during the bow and then contracting to extend the hips and bring your torso upright.

Secondary: Glutes, Back

The glutes assist hip extension out of the bottom, and the back, the spinal erectors in particular, works hard isometrically to keep the spine rigid under the bar’s long lever.

How to perform the Good Morning

1. Set a barbell across the upper back as for a squat, resting on the rear delts, and unrack it.
2. Step back, set the feet hip to shoulder width, and soften the knees into a fixed bend.
3. Because the load sits on the back rather than the hands, the spine carries a long lever, so brace the core hard.
4. Push the hips back and hinge the torso forward with the bar riding the upper back.
5. Lower the chest toward parallel with the floor while keeping a flat back and the shins near vertical.
6. Drive the hips forward to return to standing tall, keeping the bar path over the mid-foot.

Suggested working range: 8–12 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Mechanics

A bilateral hip hinge with soft knees, loaded on the upper back rather than in the hands: the hips push back to bow the torso forward, then drive forward to stand up, so the motion is almost entirely at the hip. With the bar so far from the hips, the spinal erectors face a large moment arm, which is why the good morning trains them so heavily alongside the hamstrings.

Form cues

• •Set the bar on your upper back as for a squat, brace hard, then push the hips straight back to initiate the bow.
• •Keep a soft, fixed knee bend and a flat, rigid spine: the torso lowers because the hips move, not because the back rounds.
• •Only bow as far as your hamstring flexibility allows with a neutral spine, then reverse by driving the hips forward.

Common mistakes

• •Rounding the upper back under the bar as the torso descends, which is a serious spinal risk.
• •Bending the knees more to ease the hamstring stretch, turning the hinge into a squat hybrid.
• •Loading far too heavy for a movement that puts the spine under a long lever arm.
• •Hyperextending the lower back at the top instead of stacking the ribs over the pelvis.

Variations & alternatives

• •Romanian deadlift: the same hip hinge loaded in the hands, easier to bail on if you lose position.
• •Barbell stiff-leg deadlift: a hinge from near the floor for a larger hamstring stretch and heavier loading.
• •Glute-ham raise: a GHD movement that hits hip extension and knee flexion together for the whole posterior chain.

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings · Barbell

Leg Curl

Hamstrings · Machine

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings · Dumbbell

Single-Leg Curl

Hamstrings · Machine

Nordic Hamstring Curl

Hamstrings · Bodyweight

Programming: sets, reps & when to use it

Program the good morning for 8–12 reps as a hamstring, glute, and lower-back builder, using moderate load and strict position rather than chasing weight. The long lever makes it unforgiving. Stop the set the instant your back rounds rather than grinding out ugly reps.

Frequently asked questions