Good mornings are a cornerstone of many mobility drills and warm-ups. They don’t require any weights or equipment, you can do them without getting sweaty (perfect for taking a quick break from your desk) and they’re great for strengthening muscles whether you’re a beginner or seasoned pro.

So, what exactly is a good morning and what muscles do they work?

The exercise is called a “good morning” because it’s supposed to replicate the movement of bowing to wish someone a good morning (imagine you’re wearing a top hat in the 1890s). While you can do them at any point of the day or during your workout, they’re really brilliant for warm-ups and short mobility workouts for a few reasons, including: 

• Low-impact: so you don’t have to warm-up before doing them
• Effective: they target two big muscle groups – the hamstrings and glutes
• Loosening: they help to loosen up the hip flexors, making them the ideal move to do if you’ve been sitting down a while or you’re feeling stiff
• Practical: it’s the same hip hinge movement pattern as deadlifts, kettlebell swings and pull-throughs, so great to do ahead of main strength workouts
• Adaptable: you can add weights to make it harder when appropriate

In other words, good mornings are simple but effective at targetting the posterior chain muscles that you’ll probably need to work in any lower body or cardio session. By adding good mornings into your warm-ups, you’ll be getting the body used to hinging correctly – crucial for performing deadlifts correctly and protecting yourself from injury. We start many of our training plans and workout videos with a set of good mornings so they really are worth nailing!