Seated Good Mornings
The seated good morning takes the standing barbell good morning and removes the hip hinge from the equation. You sit on a bench or box with a barbell across your upper back, then bend forward from your lower spine and hips as far as the seated position allows before pulling back upright. Because your hips can't shift backward like they do standing, the exercise puts a more concentrated demand on your lower back and glutes and asks less of your hamstrings.
Why it works
With your hips fixed to the bench, the only way to move the bar is by flexing and extending through your lower spine and hips. That takes the hamstrings mostly out of the picture and puts the lower back erectors and glutes in charge of the whole rep. It's a useful way to build controlled strength through spinal flexion and extension under load, in a pattern you don't get much practice with elsewhere in a typical barbell program.
Set up
- Set a barbell in a rack at about shoulder height and load it light, well under what you'd use for a standing good morning.
- Sit on a flat bench or box positioned under the rack, feet flat on the floor and spaced about shoulder width apart.
- Rack the bar across your upper back and traps, the same spot you'd use for a standing good morning, not on your neck.
- Grip the bar wider than shoulder width to keep your elbows down and your upper back tight, then stand it out of the rack and sit back down under control.
How to do it
- Brace your core and set your lower back in a neutral position before you move at all.
- Keeping your hips glued to the bench, hinge forward from your lower spine and hips, letting your torso fold forward.
- Go only as far as you can control with your lower back doing the work, this range will be shorter than a standing good morning since your hips can't travel back.
- Pause briefly at the bottom without letting your lower back round further.
- Drive back up to the starting upright position by extending through your lower back and glutes, keeping the bar path close and even.
Form cues
- Keep your hips pinned to the bench the whole rep.
- Brace your core before the bar leaves the rack.
- Move slowly, this isn't a range to rush.
- Stop the descent the moment your lower back wants to round.
- Squeeze your glutes as you finish standing the torso back up.
Breathing: Take a breath and brace before you start bending forward, hold that brace through the descent, and exhale as you extend back to upright.
Common mistakes
Loading the bar like a standing good morning.
Fix: Start much lighter than your standing numbers since the seated version isolates your lower back with less help from your hips and hamstrings.
Rounding the lower back to force a deeper bend.
Fix: Treat your available range as whatever you can control with a neutral spine, and stop there even if it feels short.
Racking the bar too high on the neck.
Fix: Position it across the meaty part of your upper traps and rear delts, the same spot as a back squat or standing good morning.
Bouncing out of the bottom position.
Fix: Pause briefly at the bottom and drive back up with your lower back and glutes instead of using momentum.
How to program it
- Because this loads your lower back directly through repeated flexion and extension, once a week as dedicated work is a reasonable default for most lifters, giving your lower back a full week to recover between sessions.
- If this is your only direct lower back loading that week, once a week is usually enough on its own, you don't need to add more volume elsewhere to feel it working.
- Use noticeably lighter loads and fewer reps than you'd use on a standing good morning, the shorter, more isolated range here means the weight goes further.
- This pairs well as accessory work after your main lower body lift rather than as the first heavy movement of a session, since your lower back will already have some fatigue on board from squats or deadlifts.
Safety notes
- Start with just the empty bar or a very light training plate and add weight only after several sessions of clean, controlled reps.
- Keep the range of motion short and stop well before your lower back rounds, this is not an exercise where a bigger range is better.
- If you feel any sharp or unusual sensation in your lower back, stop the set and reduce the load or range next time.
- Avoid this exercise on days when your lower back already feels fatigued or tight from other training.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Pull
- Mechanics
- Compound
- Category
- powerlifting
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from a standing good morning?
Standing, your hips hinge backward and your hamstrings do a lot of the work. Seated, your hips are fixed to the bench, so the movement comes almost entirely from your lower back and glutes over a shorter range.
How much weight should I use?
Much less than you'd use standing. Start with an empty bar or a very light plate and add weight gradually only once your form feels controlled and comfortable.
Can I do this if I have lower back issues?
This exercise loads the lower back directly, so if you have any ongoing back concerns, talk to a healthcare provider before adding it to your routine.
How far forward should I bend?
Only as far as you can control with your lower back staying neutral. That range is naturally shorter than a standing good morning since your hips can't move backward.