Smith Machine Good Morning

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.

How to do it

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.

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.

Muscles

Primary: Erector spinae, Hamstrings

Secondary: Glutes (max)