Strengthen Hamstrings & Glutes with Banded Good Mornings

I’ve been a personal trainer for over 30 years and helped hundreds of people reach their fitness and weight loss goals.

But I’ve also heard all the reasons why some people cannot get in shape or lose weight. Some of these reasons are legitimate, like illness or injury. But others are just excuses that sound compelling but are actually paper-thin.

For example, lack of time and facilities are two of the most common barriers to exercise participation (1). However, you don’t need much time or fancy equipment to lose weight, build muscle, or get fit.

I’ve worked out in parking lots, public parks, on the decks of Royal Navy ships, in forests, and in hotel and spare rooms all over the world. In fact, I’ve never missed a workout because of a lack of facilities. As for time, even ten minutes of exercise can be beneficial. You just need to get up off your butt and move!

You see, your body cannot differentiate between lifting a calibrated barbell and a heavy rock or your body weight. It just knows tension and work. So long as you do your reps, your body will adapt. Consistency matters more than any other training variable.

So, with that in mind, in this article, I’m going to share one of the best low-tech but high-effect posterior chain exercises I know – the banded good morning. You can do this move anywhere and anytime, making it the perfect excuse-free workout for your glutes and hips.

Banded Good Morning Correct Form & Execution

When it comes to safe, productive workouts, good form is critical. It’s all too easy to focus on pumping out the reps and forget about how you are doing your chosen exercise. Good form will enhance your results, while poor form can lead to injuries. Follow these steps to ensure your workouts are as productive and safe as possible.

1. Stand with your feet between shoulder and hip-width apart. Squat down and loop your band under both feet and then over your head.
2. Brace your core and stand up. Hold the bend to take some of the pressure off your neck. Bend your knees slightly and pull your shoulders back and down.
3. Hinging from your hips, push your butt backward and lean over as far as you can. You should feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings.
4. Drive your hips forward and stand up.
5. That’s one rep – keep going!

Banded Good Morning: Muscles Worked

Banded good mornings are a comprehensive lower body exercise that involves many major and minor muscles. That said, the agonists or primary muscles during banded good mornings are:

• Hamstrings
• Gluteus maximus
• Erector spinae
• Core

Pro-Trainer Tips

Get more from banded good mornings with these tried-and-tested pro-trainer tips.  

• Widen your stance to put more stretch into your band and make this exercise more challenging.
• Put a towel behind your neck to stop the band pulling and rubbing against your skin.
• Stand with your butt about two feet from a wall. Push your hips back to lightly touch the wall each rep to maximize glute and hamstring engagement.
• Keep your chest up and lower back slightly arched throughout to maximize target muscle engagement.
• Lean forward slowly and then stand up explosively to increase muscle fiber recruitment.

Banded Good Morning Mistakes to Avoid

Make banded good mornings as safe as possible by avoiding these common mistakes.

• Rounding your lower back. Rounding your lower back takes tension off your muscles and puts it onto the ligaments and disks of your spine. This is dangerous, so don’t do it!
• Holding your breath. Not breathing can lead to increases in blood pressure and could cause lightheadedness and faintness. Inhale as you lean forward, and exhale as you stand back up.
• Straightening your knees. Doing banded good mornings with straight knees inhibits or “turns off” your glutes and makes this exercise less effective. Keep a slight bend in your knees at all times.
• Not controlling your descent. Lean forward smoothly and under control. The lowering or eccentric phase is as (if not more) important as the lifting or concentric phase.

Banded Good Morning Benefits

Not sure if banded good mornings deserve a place in your workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide.

• Convenience: Banded good mornings are the ultimate in excuse-free workouts. You can do them anywhere and anytime. As such, this exercise is ideal for home workouts, when traveling, or any other time you don’t have access to weights or machines. With fewer barriers to overcome, you should have no problem sticking to your workout regimen.
• Lower back-friendly: When you do good mornings with weights, the load is heaviest when your lower back is in its weakest position, i.e., leaning forward at the midpoint of each rep. However, with the banded version, the load is lowest at this point, and increases as you stand upright. Because of this, banded good mornings are potentially more lower back-friendly than conventional good mornings.
• Increased safety: With no weights to drop or get pinned under, banded good mornings are far safer than most weighted variations. Barbell good mornings are especially dangerous and should always be done in a squat or power rack. There is no such safety consideration with banded good mornings. Consequently, they’re a very low-risk exercise.
• An intense glute contraction: My clients and I find that banded good mornings provide an intense glute contraction at the top of each rep. This is not the case with the weighted variation, as the glutes tend to relax when you stand upright. Consequently, banded good mornings are an awesome booty builder.
• An accessible, versatile exercise for all levels: I’ve used banded good mornings with beginner, intermediate, and advanced exercisers. Almost all my clients have had a positive experience despite their different fitness levels and goals. In contrast, conventional good mornings are much less suitable for beginners. Weighted good mornings are more of an advanced exercise.

Banded Good Morning Programming

Banded good mornings work best when you use a light to medium strength band and do moderate to high reps. 3-4 sets of 8-20 reps work well for most people. However, you can go as high as 30 reps if you only have a lightweight band available.

Do banded good mornings 1-3 times a week on non-consecutive days to allow time for rest and recovery.

This exercise is not ideal for low-rep strength training. Heavyweight bands will make it impossible to stand upright, as that’s where all the tension is. Barbell good mornings are a better option for building pure strength.

Banded Good Morning Variations

While I love banded good mornings, I also know that doing them too often can cause boredom and training plateaus. Therefore, you can keep your workouts fresh and productive with these tried-and-tested banded good morning variations.

Seated banded good mornings

Seated good mornings are a popular exercise with powerlifters. The seated position relaxes your hamstrings, so your glutes and lower back have more work to do. This exercise is also helpful for rehab, e.g., if you have an injury that makes standing difficult.

B-stance banded good mornings

B-stance or split-stance good mornings allow you to work one leg at a time. This is useful for increasing muscular overload and addressing any left-to-right strength imbalances you might have. Just remember to do the same number of reps on both legs!

Single-leg banded good mornings

Many of life’s most strenuous activities happen one leg at a time. Examples include running, jumping, and kicking. Consequently, if you want to enhance your functional performance, you need to include single-leg exercises in your workouts. Single-leg banded good mornings are a great way to work your posterior chain one side at a time while improving your balance.

Banded Good Morning Closing Thoughts

Banded good mornings are one of my favorite posterior chain exercises. In fact, I probably do them 1-2 times most weeks. They’re very lower back-friendly and an effective and practical way to work the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. Using bands means I can train anywhere and anytime, which is vital when you’re a busy personal trainer!

And it’s not just me who loves this exercise; my clients do, too. They tell me this variation is more comfortable and less intimidating than weighted good mornings. Plus, it’s perfect for home workouts.

With all that in mind, I have no hesitation in recommending this exercise. Try it for yourself; I think you’ll like it!

References:

1. Hoare E, Stavreski B, Jennings GL, Kingwell BA. Exploring Motivation and Barriers to Physical Activity among Active and Inactive Australian Adults. Sports (Basel). 2017 Jun 28;5(3):47. doi: 10.3390/sports5030047. PMID: 29910407; PMCID: PMC5968958.

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