Smith Machine Good Morning

Muscles worked by the Smith Machine Good Morning

Primary

Lower BackErector SpinaeHamstringsHamstring Muscles

Secondary

GlutesGluteus Maximus

Also called: erector spinae, spinal erectors, lower back muscles, back extensors, hamstring, hamstrings.

Equipment

Smith Machine

Also called: smith bar, guided barbell, fixed barbell, smith press.

How to do the Smith Machine Good Morning

1. Set the bar at upper-back height, step under it and settle it across your traps, then unrack it with your feet about hip-width apart.
2. Soften your knees slightly and keep them there -- this is a hinge, not a squat.
3. Push your hips straight back and let your torso tip forward, keeping your back flat and your head in line with your spine.
4. Stop when you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, with your torso somewhere near parallel to the floor.
5. Drive your hips forward to stand back up, squeezing the glutes at the top, and repeat for the desired reps.

Form tips

• Use much less weight than you would for a squat. The bar is a long way from your hips at the bottom, and that lever, not the number on the bar, is what the exercise costs you.
• Hips back, not chest down. If your torso drops without your hips travelling backwards you are bending your spine instead of hinging at the hip.
• Let the range of motion end where your back would start to round. Depth on a good morning is set by your hamstrings, and the machine will happily take you past that point.

At a glance

Smith Machine Good Morning in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Banded Good Morning
• Banded Romanian Deadlift
• Barbell Deadlift
• Bodyweight Good Morning
• Deficit Deadlift
• Double Dumbbell Kickstand Deadlift
• Dumbbell Deadlift
• Dumbbell Kickstand Deadlift

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "smith-machine-good-morning",
  "name_en": "Smith Machine Good Morning",
  "name_de": "Smith Machine Good Morning",
  "name_es": "Buenos Días en Máquina Smith",
  "description_en": "A hip hinge with the Smith machine bar resting on the upper back, bending forward at the hips against a fixed bar path to load the hamstrings and the spinal erectors.",
  "description_de": "Ein Hüftgelenkscharnier mit der Smith-Machine-Stange auf dem oberen Rücken: Du beugst dich gegen eine fixe Stangenbahn in der Hüfte nach vorn und belastest damit die Beinbeuger und den Rückenstrecker.",
  "description_es": "Una bisagra de cadera con la barra de la máquina Smith apoyada sobre la espalda alta, inclinándote hacia delante desde las caderas contra una trayectoria fija para cargar isquiotibiales y erectores espinales.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "smith_machine",
  "body_part": "upper_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "erector_spinae",
    "hamstrings"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "gluteus_maximus"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "leg_day",
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "deadlift",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Set the bar at upper-back height, step under it and settle it across your traps, then unrack it with your feet about hip-width apart.",
    "Soften your knees slightly and keep them there -- this is a hinge, not a squat.",
    "Push your hips straight back and let your torso tip forward, keeping your back flat and your head in line with your spine.",
    "Stop when you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, with your torso somewhere near parallel to the floor.",
    "Drive your hips forward to stand back up, squeezing the glutes at the top, and repeat for the desired reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stelle die Stange auf Höhe des oberen Rückens ein, tritt darunter, lege sie auf dem Trapezmuskel ab und entracke sie mit etwa hüftbreitem Stand.",
    "Beuge die Knie leicht an und lasse sie dort — das ist ein Scharnier, keine Kniebeuge.",
    "Schiebe die Hüfte gerade nach hinten und lasse den Oberkörper nach vorn kippen; halte dabei den Rücken flach und den Kopf in Verlängerung der Wirbelsäule.",
    "Stoppe, wenn du eine starke Dehnung in den Beinbeugern spürst und der Oberkörper etwa parallel zum Boden steht.",
    "Schiebe die Hüfte nach vorn, um wieder aufzurichten, spanne oben das Gesäß an und wiederhole für die gewünschten Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Coloca la barra a la altura de la espalda alta, métete debajo y apóyala sobre los trapecios; desengánchala con los pies al ancho de las caderas.",
    "Flexiona ligeramente las rodillas y déjalas así: esto es una bisagra, no una sentadilla.",
    "Empuja las caderas rectas hacia atrás y deja que el torso se incline hacia delante, con la espalda plana y la cabeza en línea con la columna.",
    "Detente cuando sientas un estiramiento fuerte en los isquiotibiales, con el torso cerca de la paralela al suelo.",
    "Lleva las caderas hacia delante para volver a erguirte, aprieta los glúteos arriba y repite las repeticiones deseadas."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Use much less weight than you would for a squat. The bar is a long way from your hips at the bottom, and that lever, not the number on the bar, is what the exercise costs you.",
    "Hips back, not chest down. If your torso drops without your hips travelling backwards you are bending your spine instead of hinging at the hip.",
    "Let the range of motion end where your back would start to round. Depth on a good morning is set by your hamstrings, and the machine will happily take you past that point."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Nimm deutlich weniger Gewicht als bei einer Kniebeuge. Die Stange ist unten weit von deiner Hüfte entfernt, und dieser Hebel — nicht die Zahl auf der Stange — ist der eigentliche Preis der Übung.",
    "Hüfte nach hinten, nicht Brust nach unten. Sinkt der Oberkörper, ohne dass die Hüfte nach hinten wandert, beugst du die Wirbelsäule statt in der Hüfte zu scharnieren.",
    "Beende den Bewegungsumfang dort, wo dein Rücken rund zu werden beginnt. Die Tiefe beim Good Morning bestimmen deine Beinbeuger — die Maschine bringt dich bereitwillig darüber hinaus."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Usa mucho menos peso del que usarías en una sentadilla. Abajo, la barra queda muy lejos de tus caderas, y ese brazo de palanca, no el número en la barra, es lo que cuesta el ejercicio.",
    "Caderas atrás, no pecho abajo. Si el torso baja sin que las caderas retrocedan, estás flexionando la columna en lugar de hacer bisagra en la cadera.",
    "Termina el recorrido donde tu espalda empezaría a redondearse. En un buenos días la profundidad la marcan tus isquiotibiales, y la máquina te llevará encantada más allá de ese punto."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/smith-machine-good-morning-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/smith-machine-good-morning-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "smith-machine-good-morning");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.