How to Do Barbell Good Mornings: Technique, Benefits and Common Mistakes

The good morning is an exercise that targets the lower back, hamstrings, glutes and core. It's a hip-hinging exercise and is most effective when performed using weight, like a barbell.

The core muscles are engaged throughout this exercise to keep yourself straight, while the hamstrings and glutes are activated to aid during the hinging movement. It's an effective exercise that can help you strengthen your back to lift heavier in other movements, such as deadlift, clean and jerk, snatch, etc.

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How to Do Barbell Good Morning?

Here’s how you perform the barbell good morning:

• Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Rack the barbell on your traps as you would with a barbell squat.
• Maintain a slight bend in your knees. The lighter the bend is, the more effective the good morning will be on your hamstrings.
• Brace your core, and hinge forward at your hips. Try to get your upper body parallel to the floor.
• Bring yourself back up to a standing position, maintaining the brace of your core.

Seems simple, doesn’t it? You’ll really be feeling it a few reps in. As the lower back is such a sensitive area, it’s important to make sure you adopt the right form of this movement.

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Common Mistakes While Doing Good Morning Exercise

Watch out for these little slip-ups when you perform the good morning exercise. Avoiding them will ensure you perform this exercise with proper form:

Slouching shoulders

Remember to always keep your shoulders upright during this exercise. Dropping your shoulders will throw you off-balance as you hinge your upper body forward, and may cause injury to your entire back.

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Not warming up

Ensuring you warm up properly before weight training is always a good idea, especially with movements that involve the back and legs. Injuries are more prone in the lower body and are generally a lot more painful and take longer to recover from.

Overdoing it

Don’t get too excited, and go on a spree of multiple reps of the good morning. Start slow and light. A lot of people also load their barbell with heavier weights than they should. That puts their lower back at risk for injury.

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Benefits of Good Morning Exercise

Strengthens lower body

As the good morning targets the hamstrings, glutes, hips and back, it's a great way to build strength and muscle in the lower body. That can reduce the risk of injury in these areas.

Helps improve other movements

Additional strength in the lower body means better performance with other movements. You should be able to squat and deadlift heavier loads with regular practice of the good morning exercise.

Improves mobility

The good morning is a movement that involves a deep hip hinge. Not only does it strengthens your hips, it also makes them more flexible. That can help you prevent injuries and enhance your performance.

Improves functional strength

The good morning is a compound exercise that builds functional strength, i.e. strength to perform movements in daily life. You’ll find it easier to pick things off the floor or lift heavy loads. It can improve your overall movement.

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Takeaway

A good morning indeed. Get that barbell out, and get ready to try this movement the next time you go to the gym. Over time, you’ll find yourself loading heavier weights and hinging deeper. Add this exercise to your regular routine, and stick to it for optimal results.