Description
This is a weight lifting exercise that targets the hamstrings and lower back. The user bends at the hip with a weighted bag across their shoulders, maintaining a flat back.
How to Do Weighted Bag Good Morning
- 1Setup
Place the weighted bag across your upper back and shoulders, similar to a barbell squat position, ensuring it's centered and stable. Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, and core braced.
- 2Setup
Engage your core by drawing your navel towards your spine and slightly tuck your chin to maintain a neutral cervical spine. Keep your gaze fixed on a point on the floor a few feet in front of you.
- 3
Initiate the movement by pushing your hips backward, allowing your torso to hinge forward while keeping a neutral spine and a slight bend in your knees.
- 4
Lower your torso until it's roughly parallel to the floor or you feel a significant stretch in your hamstrings, maintaining a flat back throughout the descent.
- 5
Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings to reverse the movement, driving your hips forward to return to the upright starting position. Exhale as you stand up, ensuring your spine remains neutral and avoiding any rounding.
Tips
- Focus on pushing your hips back rather than just bending forward to properly engage the glutes and hamstrings, making it a true hip hinge.
- Keep your knees slightly unlocked and soft throughout the movement, never letting them fully extend or lock out, which protects the knee joint.
- Maintain a consistent, neutral spine by actively bracing your core and avoiding any rounding of the lower back, especially at the bottom of the movement.
- Control the eccentric (lowering) phase slowly to maximize hamstring stretch and muscle activation, then drive up powerfully but with control.
Common Mistakes
- ×Rounding the lower back instead of hinging at the hips compromises spinal safety; ensure a flat back by bracing your core and initiating movement by pushing the hips back.
- ×Bending excessively at the knees turns the exercise into a squat variation, so maintain only a soft, slight bend in the knees to target the hamstrings and glutes effectively.
- ×Rushing the movement reduces muscle engagement; control both the lowering and rising phases to maximize time under tension and improve form.
Variations
Bodyweight Good Morning
Strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back with the Bodyweight Good Morning. Master the hip hinge for improved posture and functional movement.
Dumbbell Good Morning
Strengthen your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back with the Dumbbell Good Morning. This exercise improves hip hinge mechanics and posterior chain strength.
Safety Bar Good Morning
Master the hip hinge with the Safety Bar Good Morning. Strengthen hamstrings, glutes, and lower back while improving core stability and posture.
Good Morning Squat
Strengthen your hamstrings and glutes with the bodyweight Good Morning Squat. This compound movement improves hip hinge mechanics and core stability.
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