Video: Good Mornings

Adam Hodges | February 22, 2013

Start with feet shoulder width apart.

Put your shoulder blades “in your back pockets” so you are standing tall.

Keeping your back flat with knees slightly bent, push your hips backwards to “hinge” from the hips. Keep your weight over your heels and eyes looking forward (not downward). Bend as far as your range of motion allows with a straight back (stop if your back starts to round).

Squeeze the glutes and return to a standing position.

You want to primarily feel the glutes working (rather than the lower back). If you are feeling your lower back working, focus on squeezing the glutes to shift the workload to the butt.

Perform 1-5 sets of 8-12 reps per leg. Or, perform 1-5 sets of 20-40 second intervals (doing as many reps as possible during those intervals).

About Adam Hodges

Adam Hodges is a mountain endurance athlete and coach. He holds coaching certifications in running, ultrarunning, and triathlon with a specialization in sports psychology from the United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA), as well as credentials from USA Triathlon (USAT) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). He currently works with runners, ultrarunners, and multisport athletes, and has also coached high school cross country/track and masters swimming. As a USAT All-American triathlete during the 1990s, he competed in the ITU World Triathlon Championships, the ITU World Duathlon Championships, and the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. As a masters runner, he won a series title in the XTERRA SoCal Trail Run Series. His current pursuits include mountain running, ultrarunning, skimo, and cross-country skiing. Check out his training plans and training guides to help you prepare for your next adventure.