How far should I lean forward?

Lean until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings or your lower back is about to round, whichever comes first. For most people that is somewhere between a 45-degree lean and roughly parallel to the floor.

How much should my knees bend?

Enough that your shins tilt slightly forward at the bottom, while your hips still travel back rather than down. Knee bend tends to grow with the weight anyway: in a study of trained men doing barbell good mornings, knee bend at the bottom grew from about 17 to 25 degrees as the load rose from 50 to 90% of their one-rep max, while hip and lower-back angles barely changed. More bend shifts work toward the glutes, while straighter legs put more stretch on the hamstrings.

Is the Smith machine version safer than a barbell good morning?

It removes the balance demand and lets you hook the bar back on the rack at any point, and the safety stops can catch the bar, which makes it easier to train alone. It does not take any load off your lower back, which is the main risk of every good morning, so technique and load matter just as much as with a free bar.

Where should my feet be relative to the bar?

Stand with the bar directly over your midfoot and your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Because the bar cannot drift forward or back, setting this position before you unrack is what keeps the hinge balanced.

Can this replace Romanian deadlifts?

It trains the same hip hinge but loads your lower back more, because the bar sits on your upper back instead of hanging from your hands. It works best alongside them, with the Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift or Barbell Romanian Deadlift as the heavier hinge and the good morning as a lighter accessory for moderate to higher reps.

Smith Machine Good Morning

What Is the Smith Machine Good Morning?

Smith Machine Good Morning is a compound exercise that primarily targets the hamstrings and glutes and also engages the lower back. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you hold a Smith machine bar across your upper back, hinge forward at the hips with your knees bent, and then drive your hips forward to stand back up.

Like the Barbell Good Morning, it is mainly an accessory lift. It builds hip extension strength and lower-back endurance that carry over to the Barbell Squat and Barbell Deadlift, and it usually sits after the main lifts of a session. The Smith machine's fixed track takes away the balance demand of a free bar and lets you hook the bar back onto the rack at any point in the rep, so it suits lifters who want to learn the hinge under a back-loaded bar or train it hard without a spotter.

This version is done with a clear bend in the knees. Because the hamstrings cross both the hip and the knee, bending the knees eases the stretch on them, so the glutes take a larger share of the work and most lifters can handle more weight than with nearly straight legs. Keeping the knees closer to straight puts more stretch on the hamstrings instead. Because the load sits on your upper back, far from the hips, the erector spinae work hard the whole time to hold your spine in position, more so than in the Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift, where the bar hangs from your hands.

It suits lifters who can already hinge with a flat back in a Romanian deadlift. If your lower back rounds as soon as you lean forward, build the pattern first with the Barbell Romanian Deadlift or the Hyperextension, and come back to the good morning with a light load.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Biceps Femoris: Primary
Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Semimembranosus: Primary
Semitendinosus: Primary
Erector Spinae: High
Adductor Magnus: Medium
External Oblique: Low
Rectus Abdominis: Low
Thoracolumbar Fascia: Low
Upper Trapezius: Low

Instructions

Set the bar on the Smith machine at about upper-chest height, and set the safety stops just below the lowest point the bar will reach when you lean forward.
Step under the bar and rest it across your upper traps, not on your neck. Grip it overhand with your hands just outside your shoulders and your elbows pointing down.
Set your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart with the bar directly over your midfoot and your toes pointing forward or slightly out.
Stand up into the bar, twist it to release it from the hooks, and stand tall with your knees slightly bent.
Brace your core, pull your shoulder blades together, and keep your head in line with your torso.
Push your hips straight back and let your knees bend a little more as you go, so your torso leans forward while your back stays flat.
Keep lowering until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, somewhere between a 45-degree lean and roughly parallel to the floor, and stop before your lower back starts to round.
Pause briefly, then drive your hips forward and squeeze your glutes to return to standing.
Lock out your hips at the top without leaning back, and repeat. After the last rep, twist the bar back onto the hooks.

Common Mistakes

Rounding the lower back
Letting the lower back round at the bottom to reach more depth moves the load off the hips and onto the spine.
Turning it into a squat
Bending the knees so much that the hips drop instead of traveling back turns the hinge into a squat and takes work away from the glutes and hamstrings.
Loading it too heavy
Because the machine balances the bar for you, it is easy to load more than your lower back can hold flat, so add weight only when every rep keeps a neutral spine.
Standing out of line with the bar
Setting your feet too far in front of or behind the fixed bar path makes the hinge awkward and shifts your weight onto your toes or heels, so start with the bar over your midfoot.
Dropping too fast
Falling into the bottom position bounces off the stretched hamstrings and makes it much harder to keep the back from rounding.
Looking up at the bottom
Cranking the head up to look forward at the bottom strains the neck under the bar, so keep your head in line with your torso.

Injuries

Smith Machine Good Morning is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The bar sits on your upper back, far in front of your hips once you lean forward, so even a moderate load creates a large lever on the lower back. Most problems come from letting the lower back round at the bottom or adding weight faster than your back can hold its position. The hamstrings are also loaded in a lengthened position, and a bar resting on the neck instead of the upper traps can irritate the neck.

Start with a light load and add weight only when every rep keeps a flat back. Brace your core before each rep, lower under control, and stop the descent where your back is about to round rather than chasing depth. Set the safety stops just below the lowest point of your rep so the machine catches the bar if you cannot stand back up, and remember you can twist the bar onto the hooks at any point in the rep.

If the load on your back is too much, regress to the Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift, which keeps the bar closer to your hips, or the Hyperextension. Once the Smith version is solid, the free Barbell Good Morning adds the balance demand back. Stop the set if you feel sharp lower back pain, pain or tingling running down a leg, or your spine rounding under the bar, and anyone with a disc injury or ongoing back pain should get clearance from a medical professional first.

Overview

Primary Focus: Hamstrings and glutes
Equipment: Smith machine
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Intermediate

Alternative Exercises

Other Names for the Smith Machine Good Morning

The Smith Machine Good Morning is also known as:

Smith Machine Bent-Knee Good Morning

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How far should I lean forward?: Lean until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings or your lower back is about to round, whichever comes first. For most people that is somewhere between a 45-degree lean and roughly parallel to the floor.
Q: How much should my knees bend?: Enough that your shins tilt slightly forward at the bottom, while your hips still travel back rather than down. Knee bend tends to grow with the weight anyway: in a study of trained men doing barbell good mornings, knee bend at the bottom grew from about 17 to 25 degrees as the load rose from 50 to 90% of their one-rep max, while hip and lower-back angles barely changed. More bend shifts work toward the glutes, while straighter legs put more stretch on the hamstrings.
Q: Is the Smith machine version safer than a barbell good morning?: It removes the balance demand and lets you hook the bar back on the rack at any point, and the safety stops can catch the bar, which makes it easier to train alone. It does not take any load off your lower back, which is the main risk of every good morning, so technique and load matter just as much as with a free bar.
Q: Where should my feet be relative to the bar?: Stand with the bar directly over your midfoot and your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Because the bar cannot drift forward or back, setting this position before you unrack is what keeps the hinge balanced.
Q: Can this replace Romanian deadlifts?: It trains the same hip hinge but loads your lower back more, because the bar sits on your upper back instead of hanging from your hands. It works best alongside them, with the Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift or Barbell Romanian Deadlift as the heavier hinge and the good morning as a lighter accessory for moderate to higher reps.