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Good Morning

intermediate · hinge

Good Morning

Setup

Set the safety pins in the squat rack a little below where the bar stops at the bottom of the hinge — about your standing hip height — then take the bar from the hooks at shoulder height and set it across your upper back as you would for a squat, not on top of your neck. Pinch your shoulder blades together and step back one pace, staying inside the rack and over the pins, with a slight bend in the knees.

Execution

  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, brace your core, and hold that same small knee bend for the whole set.
  2. Inhale and push your hips back as your chest tips forward, lower back naturally flat, neck in line with the spine.
  3. Lower until your torso is close to parallel with the floor, or as far as you can keep the back flat.
  4. Exhale and drive your hips forward, squeezing the glutes and hamstrings to stand back up.
  5. If you cannot drive the hips through or your back starts to round, end that rep right there: bend your knees, lower until the bar settles on the safety pins and step out forward, instead of arching your back to fight your way up.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower, exhale as you drive the hips forward to stand up. If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or are pregnant, do not hold your breath: exhale as you stand up and use a lighter load.

Quick cues

  • Hips back first, chest follows.
  • Hold the same small knee bend.
  • Lower back flat like a board.
  • Eyes on the floor a meter ahead.
  • Stop where the back can still stay flat.

Common faults

  • Fault: The lower back rounding on the way down

    Fix: Shorten the range to where the back can stay flat and drop the load one increment until that position is controlled.

  • Fault: The knees bending more and more, turning it into a squat

    Fix: Rehearse it with no bar, locking in one small fixed knee angle and moving only at the hip.

  • Fault: Standing up by arching the upper back instead of driving the hips

    Fix: Think about driving the hips toward an imaginary point in front, squeezing the glutes at the top.

  • Fault: Adding load too fast while the back-bracing technique is still shaky

    Fix: Hold the same light load for several sessions until the back stays flat on every rep before adding weight.

Equipment

barbell, squat_rack

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, back, core