Fixing the Dreaded “Good Morning” Squat

Too Much Hip Drive?

A “good morning” squat is when the hips start to drive up, but the bar does not. The knees extend but the bar appears to be stuck in the bottom position. Common ways to tell if you are doing this include form errors such as:

• Knees shooting back at the start of the ascent
• Back angle becoming more horizontal at the start of the ascent
• Shifting weight into the heels at the start of the ascent

Sometimes we refer to the “good morning” squat as a low bar squat, with too much hip drive and not enough quad drive.

In this video tutorial, we explore coaching cues to help correct the “good morning squat.”

Troubleshooting

Here are some common corrections and cues our coaches use to help fix this squatting error.

• Bend over early during the descent
• Stay midfoot
• Drive the traps and shoulders into the bar to initiate the ascent
• Drive the hips straight up to initiate the ascent
• Drive the chest up — lead with the chest

Not sure how to perform a correct good morning? Check out this video tutorial.