Good Mornings

What you'll gain

• Builds hamstring strength through a controlled stretch.

• Strengthens the glutes and lower back as a connected hinge unit.

• Teaches the hip-hinge pattern used in every deadlift variation.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1

   Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, hands crossed at your chest or behind your head.

2. 2

   Brace your core and unlock your knees with a soft bend, keeping that bend constant through the rep.

3. 3

   Push your hips backward and bow your torso forward, keeping your back flat from head to tailbone.

4. 4

   Lower until you feel a deep stretch in the hamstrings or your torso is roughly parallel to the floor.

5. 5

   Drive your hips forward to lift your torso back up to standing, squeezing your glutes at the top.

6. 6

   Pause briefly upright before starting the next rep, keeping the same knee angle throughout the set.

Common Mistakes

• Rounding the back as you bow forward, which loads the spine instead of the hamstrings and glutes.

• Bending the knees more as you go down, turning the hinge into a half-squat and reducing hamstring work.

• Going past parallel before the hips can absorb the stretch, which strains the lower back.

• Standing up by pulling with the lower back instead of driving with the hips and glutes.

About This Exercise

The good morning is a hip-hinge exercise that bows the torso forward over braced legs. With minimal knee bend, the hamstrings stretch and the lower back stays rigid as the hips drive backward, then power forward to stand back up. It's the cleanest way to teach the hinge pattern that underpins deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and Romanian deadlifts. For app and course content, good mornings are a foundational hinge teaching piece. They appear in mobility warmups, back-of-body accessory blocks, and lower-back resilience programs. Drop this clip in as the entry-level hinge demo, then link to weighted variations like the barbell good morning or Romanian deadlift for the loaded progression. It's a key building block for any program that takes hinge mechanics seriously.

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