Hinges and bridges
Good morning
- Kit
- No kit
- Works
- hamstrings · glutes
- Also
- lower back · upper back · calves
The good morning is a standing hip hinge done with your hands behind your head. You bow forward by pushing your hips back, keeping your spine long, then drive your hips forward to stand. It teaches the hinge pattern that heavier lifts rely on, and it loads the hamstrings and glutes without any equipment, which makes it useful early in a circuit or as a way to learn the movement.
Form
How to do good morning
- 1Stand with your feet hip width apart, knees soft, and place your fingers lightly behind your head with your elbows wide.
- 2Brace your stomach, pull your shoulder blades back, and push your hips back as you tip your chest toward the floor. Breathe in as you lower.
- 3Stop when your back is about parallel to the floor or when you feel your hamstrings pull tight, whichever comes first.
- 4Drive your hips forward and squeeze your glutes to stand tall again, breathing out on the way up.
- 5Keep a steady rhythm through the whole effort rather than rushing the last few bows.
Watch for
Common mistakes
Rounding the lower back at the bottom so the spine takes the load instead of the hamstrings.
Fix: Keep your chest open and shoulder blades pulled back, and cut the depth short at the point where your back starts to curl.
Bending the knees and turning the movement into a squat.
Fix: Keep your shins nearly vertical and think about pushing your hips backward toward a wall behind you.
Letting the head drop or crane forward.
Fix: Keep your neck in line with your spine and look at the floor a short way in front of your feet.
Variations
Easier and harder
Sessions
Put it in a workout
None of the fixed workouts uses it. Pick a workout for your kit, or start today's session on /gym.