Seated Good MorningsMuscles Worked
Seated good mornings work your lower back, with your glutes helping as you bend forward and sit back up. Sitting on a box with bent knees takes most of the hamstring stretch out of the movement, so the muscles along your spine do the bulk of the work.
PrimaryLower Back
SecondaryGlutes
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Place a box inside a power rack and set the safety pins at a height that catches the bar if your torso nears parallel.
- Rest the bar across your upper back, unrack it and sit down on the box with your feet wide and planted.
- Brace your core, pull your shoulder blades together and sit tall with a neutral spine.
- Bend forward from the hips with a flat back, going only as far as you can control.
- Pause just above the pins, then lift your torso back to upright by squeezing your lower back and glutes.
Form tips
- Keep your back flat from start to finish, since the range ends where your back would begin to round.
- Start light, because the seated position puts the load right on your lower back.
- Hold the bar tight to your back throughout so it does not roll toward your neck as you lean.
Why it made the list
No. 7 of 10
Best Lower Back Exercises
Seated position isolates the lower back by removing hamstring contribution. Targeted erector spinae work.
More lower back exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Seated Good Mornings sets in KasMaker and watch your lower back and glutes fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
