NOTES:  Start to lean forwards from the hips and your bottom should start to push out behind you.  Your knees will start to bend naturally.  Keep a close check on your kneecaps as they must never be in front of your toes – this causes 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 a large tension stretch up the back of your legs (Hamstrings) into your Glutes, and if you are performing the exercise correctly you will not feel any big stress in your lower Back – but you might feel a little stress.  

This is one of those form-critical exercises that will certainly cause injury if you don’t get the form bang on.  So you should avoid doing Good Mornings if you are recovering from a bad back, or if you 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 done using a barbell held across the back of your neck and slightly behind your shoulders, but this more advanced form obviously carries more risk if done incorrectly, but has bigger benefits if done 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 body builders when doing power exercises like heavy squatting, and if you ever see someone in a gym doing Good Mornings with weights exceeding 20Kg you should question their sanity.  In most cases with this exercise just a barbell on its own without weights is plenty.  If you do decide to add weights, do this gradually and build up by using the smallest disks you can find.  

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 twisting of the spine from side to side.  There are at least 3 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 2 dumbbells and perch them on top of your shoulders with the ends pointing forwards and backwards (as if you were firing a rocket launcher).  But if you are not fully confident then please seek help from a qualified coach or other knowledgeable person.