10 Best Barbell Good Morning Alternatives for Hamstring Strength

The Barbell Good Morning is done standing with a barbell. Ranked closest by our scoring: the Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift, the Romanian Deadlift and the Wide Stance Stiff Legs. Four harder versions, among them the Good Morning Off Pins and the Romanian Deadlift From Deficit, are listed below as progressions rather than swaps.

The Barbell Good Morning racks a bar across your upper back, then has you push your hips back and lower your torso toward parallel. The Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift is the closest swap because it changes only where the bar sits: you stand holding it in your hands instead of racking it across your back, then push your hips back the same way as the bar lowers toward the floor. If a bar isn't free, the Band Good Morning loops a band behind your neck and has you hinge against it instead.

Barbell Good MorningWatch the Barbell Good Morning

Each substitute is scored on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. Read how we rank alternatives

How to Do the Barbell Good Morning

The steps for the Barbell Good Morning itself, so you can judge how close each substitute below really is.

Hamstrings, with lower back · Barbell · Advanced · Compound

  1. Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and the barbell resting on your upper back.
  2. Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, hinge forward at the hips, pushing your buttocks back as if you were trying to touch the wall behind you with your glutes.
  3. Lower your torso until it is parallel to the ground, feeling a stretch in your hamstrings.
  4. Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position by squeezing your glutes and pushing your hips forward.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

The 10 Best Barbell Good Morning Alternatives

10 substitutes, ranked by how closely each one matches the Barbell Good Morning on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. The higher the score, the less you change. Cards with a "How to perform it" link open to show the steps; every card title links to that exercise's own alternatives page. Harder versions are tagged as progressions and kept out of the top spot even when they score higher.

Each link re-ranks the list below for the kit it names. Pick one to hide the substitutes you cannot set up.

  1. Barbell Straight Leg DeadliftPlay demonstration

    1. Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift

    84% match

    Hamstrings · Intermediate · Compound

    Pick this when you want an easier version that still works the hamstrings.

    • Barbell
    How to perform it
    1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing forward.
    2. Hold the barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
    3. Bend at your hips and lower the barbell towards the ground, keeping your back straight and your knees slightly bent.
    4. Lower the barbell until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
    5. Engage your hamstrings and glutes to lift the barbell back up to the starting position.
    6. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

    Sets and reps: 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 8 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Primary muscle: hamstrings, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
    • Equipment: free weights, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
  2. Good Morning Off Pins

    Progression

    2. Good Morning Off Pins

    90% match

    Hamstrings · Advanced · Compound

    Pick this when you want a harder version that still works the hamstrings.

    • Barbell
    How to perform it
    1. Begin with a bar on a rack at about the same height as your stomach. Bend over underneath the bar and rack the bar across the rear of your shoulders as you would a power squat, not on top of your shoulders. At the proper height, you should be near parallel to the floor when bent over. Keep your back tight, shoulder blades pinched together, and your knees slightly bent. Keep your back arched and your cervical spine in proper alignment.
    2. Begin the motion by extending through the hips with your glutes and hamstrings, and you are standing with the weight. Slowly lower the weight back to the pins returning to the starting position.

    Sets and reps: 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 8 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: good-morning hinge, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
    • Primary muscle: hamstrings, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
    • Equipment: free weights, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
  7. Barbell Stiff Leg Good MorningPlay demonstration

    7. Barbell Stiff Leg Good Morning

    79% match

    Glutes · Intermediate · Compound

    A looser match: it uses the same equipment, but it works the glutes rather than the hamstrings.

    • Barbell
    How to perform it
    1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent.
    2. Hold the barbell across your upper back, resting it on your traps.
    3. Keeping your back straight, hinge forward at the hips, pushing your glutes back.
    4. Lower your torso until it is parallel to the ground, feeling a stretch in your hamstrings.
    5. Engage your glutes and hamstrings to return to the starting position.
    6. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

    Sets and reps: 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 8 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: good-morning hinge, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
    • Primary muscle: glutes, not hamstrings
    • Equipment: free weights, the same as the Barbell Good Morning
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Barbell Good Morning

Why You Might Need a Barbell Good Morning Alternative

The Barbell Good Morning needs a rack or a strong lift off to get a bar onto your back, and that is not always on hand. The Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift and the Romanian Deadlift ask for the same hip push with the bar in your hands, one starting from standing and the other pulled up from the floor first, so no rack is needed to load up. Good Morning Off Pins keeps the bar across your back and starts you from a dead stop against pins instead of unracking it, which suits the days a rack is free but you want to remove the swing out of the bottom. When only a band is around, the Band Good Morning loops the band behind your neck so you still hinge against resistance from above.

How to Choose the Right Barbell Good Morning Substitute

Take the Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift or the Romanian Deadlift when you want the same hip push without a rack: the first starts standing with the bar in hand, the second pulls it off the floor first. Reach for Good Morning Off Pins or the Romanian Deadlift From Deficit for more demand. Wide Stance Stiff Legs sets your feet out wide, bends at the hips to take the bar with legs nearly straight, then drives the hips forward to stand. With only a band, the Band Good Morning gives you the same hinge with the band looped behind your neck and no barbell at all. Save the Power Clean for days you also want speed off the floor; the Clean Deadlift is a controlled pull from the floor that starts from a squat rather than a hinge.

Barbell Good Morning FAQ

What can I do if I don't have a squat rack for the Barbell Good Morning?

The Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift starts standing with the bar in your hands, and the Romanian Deadlift starts with the bar on the floor and has you pull it up first, so there is nothing to unrack either way, and both ask for the same push of the hips back and forward. If a band is easier to find, the Band Good Morning loops the band behind your neck so you can still hinge against a load from above.

How do I make the Barbell Good Morning harder without adding weight?

Good Morning Off Pins starts you from a dead stop against pins rather than from the top, so you lose the swing that carries you out of the bottom. The Romanian Deadlift From Deficit has you stand on a raised platform holding the bar at arm's length, so you can lower it further before your flexibility runs out.

What changes with Wide Stance Stiff Legs compared to the Barbell Good Morning?

Wide Stance Stiff Legs sets your feet out wide, then has you bend at the hips with your legs nearly straight to take the bar, and drive your hips forward to stand. The bar stays in your hands rather than across your back, so the load sits lower.

Which Barbell Good Morning alternative also builds speed off the floor?

The Power Clean pulls the bar from the floor and finishes with an explosive pull and a catch on the shoulders, rather than the slow lowering of the Barbell Good Morning. The Clean Deadlift is the same pull from the floor without the explosive finish. Keep the Power Clean for sessions built around power rather than a slow, controlled bend.

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