Bodyweight Good Morning

beginner · hinge

Setup

Stand with your feet hip-width apart on a floor that won't slip — bare feet or grippy shoes so your heels don't slide as you fold forward. Place your hands on your hips or crossed over your chest. Put a small bend in your knees and hold that exact bend for the whole set — don't add more knee bend as you lower.

Execution

Inhale, brace your belly lightly, and push your hips back as your chest tips forward, keeping that same small knee bend.
Let your lower back stay naturally flat, neck in line with the spine, eyes on a spot about a meter ahead on the floor.
Lower until your torso is close to parallel with the floor, or stop sooner the moment your lower back wants to round.
Exhale, drive your hips forward and squeeze the glutes and hamstrings to stand all the way back up.
Finish fully upright with the hips open before starting the next rep, rather than folding again from halfway up.
If you feel it in the lower back instead of the hamstrings, end the set there and shorten the range next set.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower, exhale as you drive the hips forward to stand. Do not hold your breath to rise; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or are pregnant, always exhale on the way up and fold to a shallower range.

Quick cues

Knees stay put, hinge at the hip.
Chest and hips counterbalance each other.
Lower back flat like a tabletop.
Stand all the way up, no half reps.
No load, so a flat back sets depth.

Common faults

Fault: The knees bending more and more, turning it into a light squat
Fix: Lock in one small knee angle before the first rep and rehearse in front of a mirror, letting only the hips travel back.
Fault: Rounding the lower back to fold deeper since there is no load to stop it
Fix: Shorten the range to where the back can stay flat and pause there for a beat instead of chasing more depth.
Fault: Standing up by throwing the shoulders back and arching the upper back instead of driving the hips
Fix: Keep the chin tucked slightly and think "hips forward" to finish the rep, not "chest up".
Fault: Rushing the reps so fast the hamstrings never feel a stretch at the bottom
Fix: Count two full seconds on the way down before reversing back up.

Equipment

bodyweight

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, back, core