Exercise library / Legs
Good morning
Legs · Barbell
The good morning is a hip hinge with the bar on your back. It trains the hamstrings, glutes and the muscles along the spine.
It is a demanding lift: the bar sits high, so small errors become large loads on the lower back. Start light.
Sets, reps and RIR
A heavy multi-joint lift with free weights. Keep a rep or two in reserve on most sets so technique holds.
RIR means reps in reserve: how many you could still have done when you racked it. RIR 2 is two short of failure.
How to do it
- Place the bar on your upper back as for a squat. Stand with the feet shoulder-width apart and the knees slightly bent.
- Brace your stomach and keep the back straight.
- Push the hips back and lean forward from the hips, until the torso is near parallel to the floor or you feel a strong stretch in the hamstrings.
- Keep the knees soft, not squatting.
- Drive the hips forward to stand tall again. Do 6 to 10 reps with a light weight.
Common mistakes
- Rounding the back
- A rounded back puts the load on the spine instead of the hips. Stop the set when you cannot keep it straight.
- Squatting it
- Bending the knees deeply turns it into a squat. Keep the knees soft and push the hips back.
- Too much weight too soon
- The lever from the bar is long. Start with the empty bar or a very light weight.
How it differs from the neighbouring variants
A Romanian deadlift holds the weight in the hands, which is easier on the lower back and easier to load. The good morning needs a stronger, more stable back.
A hip thrust trains the glutes with less load on the spine.
What it suits
It suits you if you already have a solid hip hinge and want to train the hamstrings and lower back with a different stimulus. Most people can do the Romanian deadlift first.
Muscles worked
Primary: Hamstrings, Lower back.
Secondary: Glutes.
Estimate your one-rep max
Epley's formula, from a set you have actually done. It is an estimate, and it drifts above eight reps, so keep the input between one and twelve.
Enter a set to see the estimate.
What it is called elsewhere
- Norsk God morgen
- Svenska Good morning
- Dansk Good morning
- Deutsch Good Morning
- Español Buenos días (barra)
- Italiano Good morning
- Português Bom dia (barra)
- Русский Наклоны со штангой на плечах
- Français Good morning
Related legs exercises
- Goblet squat
- Bulgarian split squat
- Lunges (dumbbells)
- Walking lunges
- Step-ups
- Single-leg Romanian deadlift
athlate logs this exercise, keeps the numbers, and tells you what you lifted last time.