Skip to content
wandelbar.app

how to do good mornings

Good mornings teach the hip hinge, the pattern behind picking things up off the floor without rounding your back. With hands behind your head, you tip forward at the hips until the backs of your thighs feel a stretch, which trains the hamstrings and makes your glutes and lower back work together. They suit anyone who feels squats mostly in the fronts of the thighs and wants to balance that out. Without added weight they stay a technique and endurance drill, so the single-leg deadlift is the natural next step.

▶ watch good mornings on the dedicated video page

primary muscleshamstrings
also worksglutes, lower back
levelintermediate
equipmentnone — bodyweight
typerep-based

how it’s done, step by step

  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hands clasped behind your head.
  2. Keep your back flat and knees slightly bent.
  3. Hinge forward at your hips, lowering your torso toward the floor while keeping your spine neutral.
  4. Lower until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then reverse the motion.
  5. Drive your hips forward to return to standing.

how much: Start with 3 sets of 8–10 reps, and slow the lowering to 3 seconds before adding reps.

form tips from the wandelbar coaches

  • Send your hips straight back toward the wall behind you before your chest starts to drop.
  • Keep your elbows wide and your chest open so your upper back stays flat.
  • Stand up by squeezing your glutes and pushing your hips forward, not by pulling with your back.

common mistakes

  • Bending the knees more and more until it becomes a squat — keep a fixed soft bend and let the hips do the moving.
  • Rounding the lower back to get lower — stop when the hamstring stretch arrives, usually around torso-horizontal or higher.
  • Pulling on your head with your hands — rest your fingertips lightly and keep your neck long.

make it easier or harder

easier
Cross your arms over your chest, which shortens the lever, and hinge only to a 45-degree lean.
harder
Stand on one leg with the other foot resting lightly behind you as a kickstand while you hinge.
good mornings mid-hinge: hands behind head, flat back, torso tilted forward, knees soft
good mornings — correct starting position

similar bodyweight exercises

single-leg deadlift mid-rep: torso and back leg level with the floor, standing knee soft single-leg deadlift cossack squats at the bottom: one knee deeply bent, other leg straight, toes up cossack squats butt kicks mid-stride: one heel near the seat, thigh vertical, arms pumping butt kicks bridge pose: hips lifted, feet flat, straight line from knees to shoulders bridge pose squats at the bottom: thighs parallel to the floor, arms reaching forward for balance squats lunges bottom position: front thigh parallel, back knee hovering just above the floor lunges

never wonder what to train next

good mornings is one of 1,300+ exercises in the wandelbar app — where you don’t pick exercises at all. Answer a few questions, get a personal 90-day bodyweight plan, and it reshapes itself after every session. free for 7 days.

train with a plan that adapts.

350+ exercises, guided sessions, zero equipment needed.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play