NOTES:  Difficulty Rating:  30%

Start to lean forward from the hips, and your bottom should start to push out behind you.  Your knees will start to bend naturally.  Please keep a close check on your kneecaps, as they should never be in front of your toes; this can cause injury.

Keep your head up throughout the exercise, which encourages a neutral spine position.  Keep bending forwards (slowly) until your chest is almost parallel to the floor.  Now you should feel an enormous tension stretch up the back of your legs (Hamstrings) into your glutes. If you perform the exercise correctly, you will not feel any significant stress in your lower back—but you may feel a slight tension.  

This is one of those form-critical exercises that will certainly cause injury if you don’t get the form bang on.  Therefore, it is advisable to avoid doing Good Mornings if you are recovering from a back injury or have a weakness in that area.  Otherwise, this exercise is superb for building up big defences against future back issues.  

Stay safe and work out smart!

The Good Morning exercise can also be performed using a barbell held across the back of your neck and slightly behind your shoulders. Although this more advanced form carries more risk if done incorrectly, it offers greater benefits when executed with perfect form.  

How much weight and how many reps?

I would never advise anyone to pile heavy weights onto a barbell and attempt this exercise (with or without a weight-lifting back brace or support belt).  These are essential items of equipment for heavy lifters and bodybuilders when performing power exercises, such as heavy squatting. If you ever see someone in a gym doing Good Mornings with weights exceeding 20 kg, you should question their sanity.  In most cases, with this exercise, just a barbell on its own without weights is plenty.  If you decide to add weights, do so gradually and build up by using the smallest disks available.  

Can you use Dumbbells for Good Mornings?

Yes, you can use dumbbells for the Good Morning exercise, but I would not recommend it.  It is better to use a barbell because this form adds stability and prevents the spine from twisting from side to side.  There are at least three different forms of using dumbbells for this exercise, and I don’t recommend using a single dumbbell form because it’s not stable enough.  If you decide to use dumbbells for some reason, then please use two dumbbells and perch them on top of your shoulders with the ends pointing forward and backward (as if you were firing a rocket launcher).  However, if you are not fully confident, please seek help from a qualified coach or another knowledgeable person.