HOW TO STOP “GOOD MORNING-ING” YOUR SQUATS
Ah, the dreaded “Good morning” or “Stripper” Squats. This fault is one of the most common technical mistakes I see among a variety of lifters. Many individuals find it difficult to maintain a consistent bar path and prevent their hips from shooting up out of the hole. Yet, this squat form becomes an issue when you’re trying to maximize efficiency and make overall gains. There’s a reason it’s problematic! Whether the reason is physical, mental, or technical, I guarantee you can improve your squat & mitigate this error. It just may take some cues, accessories, and practice, which we will discuss below. That way, you can transform your "Stripper Squat" into a "Secretary Squat."
How should your squat look? What is a “Squat Morning?”
In the Powerlifting-Style Back Squat, the goal is to maximize movement efficiency as much as possible. After all, lifting in this fashion will allow you to push the most amount of weight you can, which is the goal. Bearing this in mind, the barbell on your back should maintain the center of mass over your midfoot. This concept is referred to as the “bar path.” That way, your weight is evenly distributed over your entire foot, and you’re allowing your body to move as one.
Basically, the barbell should move in a straight line up and down throughout each rep. You don't want your weight to get too far in your toes/heels or lean too far forward/backward.
In a “Good-Morning” Squat, however, this is not the case. A Good-Morning rep is characterized by a lifter immediately shooting their hips up out of the hole, leaning forward, and their weight shifting back onto the heels. Doing so mimics the Good Morning exercise: removing knee flexion and putting all the load on your hips. When executing your squats this way, you're prevented from maintaining upper back tension & using your quads to help you finish the rep. Your upper back and quads are two integral aspects of a strong Raw Squat, so this is not a technique you want to fall into.
Now, how can you improve this issue?
2. Cues to help:
Often, a lifter doesn’t know how to “feel” a different technique when squatting & prevent the Good Morning fault. There's a tendency to try and stand back up as soon as possible. However, this causes a weakness in the mid-range of the movement. The things that one thinks about while squatting will determine the execution of each rep. A simple cue can transform one’s squat by causing the lifter to focus on different things.
A) “Push your hips through the bar.”
Think about keeping your body weight underneath the barbell and pushing your hips through as soon as you can.
B) “Drive your knees forward, over your toes.”
Focus on maintaining forward knee travel and putting pressure on your big toes rather than just your heels.
C) “Scoop your hips under the bar.”
As you approach the top of the squat, think about scooping your body underneath the barbell, finishing the lift locked out. Additionally, focusing on your upper back is extremely important. Focus on “pushing the bar to the ceiling,” “getting your elbows under the bar," and/or, “squeezing your shoulder blades together,” specifically on the ascent.
Whatever cue works best for you, repeat it to yourself when standing up out of the hole.
3. Exercises To Help
Choosing movements that inherently improve your technique is an effective strategy for making your squats look and feel better. Too much cueing can lead to overstimulation, but prioritizing accessories that require you to do better can lead to a great carryover.
A) Tempo Squats-
Slowing down the lift is a tried-and-true way to improve your form. Specifically, incorporating pauses and slowed-concentric squats can help improve the Good Morning.
With a pause at the bottom, you’re spending more time on your weakness, and have to practice using your raw strength to get back up.
Slowed concentric or halfway-paused squats require you to spend more time in your midrange, re-addressing your positioning out of the hole.
For an extra challenge, combine Tempo with High Bar or Front Squats!
B) Front Squats-
Yep, we’ll keep preaching it because Front Squats help with damn near any technical error or weakness!
The front squat further emphasizes the quads and upper back, requiring a more upright position. Plus, it’s essentially impossible to Squat-Morning with the bar in front because you’d fall over. The movement pattern you practice when Front Squatting can help better cue you when you’ve got the barbell on your back.
C) High Bar-
This one is another phenomenal variation for many applications. High Bar also recruits more of your upper back and quads, but in a way that’s more specific to your competition back squat. The bar path is slightly more vertical, and your weight is closer to your toes in a High-Bar Back Squat. You’ll feel it immediately if you start to Good-Morning this lift. You must focus more on your positioning to make it out of the hole! This variation can inherently improve your squat positioning and strength.
D) Goblet Squats-
While Goblet Squats are typically a teaching tool or hypertrophy movement, heavy reps can also help improve your back squat. Similar to the front squat, because you’re anteriorly loaded, it’s difficult to “stripper” out of a Goblet squat. When performing Goblets, you're reminded of proper squat mechanics and depth, and loading them up heavy serves as a “fun” challenge.
E) Stiletto Squats-
With Stiletto Squats, your heels are elevated on a slant board or 2-inch plate. (I typically find High Bar more conducive to this lift, as you're more upright). This change puts far more weight on your toes and makes reaching depth easier. You’ll get into deeper knee flexion, forced to keep your weight slightly forward to maintain balance. This variation is a great way to strengthen your quads out of the hole. You can do these for sets of 5-10.
F) Cambered Bar-
The Cambered bar is an effective specialty bar for improving upper back strength and movement efficiency. It’s harder to make a Cambered Bar Squat look ugly! The instability element recruits more core, and the bar position requires more scapular retraction, holding the upper back tight. The cambered bar tends to improve your bar path. Additionally, this variation places less stress on the shoulders and elbows, which can be helpful to balance out lots of low-bar squatting! I like incorporating these in Strength blocks for sets of 3-6.
4. Weaknesses to Address
As briefly mentioned above, if you’re good-morning-ing your squats, it could be due to underlying weaknesses. This thought is not the ONLY possible cause, as stripping your squats could be due to technical or mental factors, but strength deficits can play a role. If you constantly find this issue only at heavier weights, no matter what cueing you’re using, you may be weak in your:
A) Upper Back, and
B) Quads
Again, an issue arises because these are two integral aspects of a strong Raw squat. Addressing them can help unlock your potential.
Your upper back is required to hold a strong bar position, maintain tension throughout the body, and improve movement efficiency.
Your quads are one of the main movers in your squat, specifically during the mid-range, and produce a lot of effort to help you stand up with that weight!
If you are experiencing a weakness in these areas, some things to try are:
-Add extra accessories to bring up that weak point. For example, if you’re only training upper back work 1 or 2 times a week, bump it up to 3 or 4. Make sure you're challenging yourself during your accessories, too- sandbagging won't stimulate growth.
-Choose squat variations that target these weaknesses, such as the ones listed above.
-Change your grip/stance/etc., to bias these weak points, especially as a secondary variation.
-Emphasize cueing for these areas (have your coach yell at you to “push your hips through,” “squeeze the bar,” etc.)
In whatever way possible, target your program on these weaknesses to help bring up lagging muscle groups over time.
5. Alterations to Technique
Sometimes, slightly changing an aspect of your squat can immediately improve your form. Try playing around with your setup to help mitigate the Good-Morning-ness of your squats.
A) Squat stance:
Typically, if you find yourself Good-Morning-ing your squats, bringing your foot width in a little narrower can help. That way, you’re using more quads and inherently in a more upright position, keeping more weight on your toes. However, if you are currently squatting very narrow & you still have this issue, bringing your feet out slightly wider may help you feel more stable. Play around to see what works best for you.
B) Grip Width:
While this likely won’t have as significant of a difference as the other two, it does play a role, as creating tension in the upper body helps enforce tension in the whole body. Some lifters may feel tighter and stronger with a closer grip (such as just outside of the shoulders), yet I find that a slightly wider grip allows you to keep more upper back tension. The closer grip can be a “false” sense of tightness, whereas the wider grip could better cue more lat tension, keeping the elbows close to the body. We’re not going for extremes here, but try slightly changing this aspect to find your best possible technique.
C) Lifting Shoes:
If you currently squat flat-footed, wearing some heeled Weightlifting shoes may help your Good-Morning technique. Why? The heel forces you to put more weight in your toes, pushing through your quads, and can help with any mobility restrictions that may affect your form. It’s easier to reach depth when you’re in heels. A small change like this could be the proprioceptive cue that you need to squat better!
-
The infamous Good-Morning-Squat. It’s a common fault for many lifters- new and somewhat experienced alike. Moreover, if you’re trying to hit PRs, chase strength gains, and unlock a new milestone, this form will likely hurt you in the long run. It doesn’t allow you to move in the most efficient way possible- which is the goal when you’re pushing numbers. Whether trying a new cue, changing your technique, or supplementing your program, there are ways to help your squats look and feel better, and you’ll reap the benefits as a result!
