How to Fix Good Morning Squats

The good morning squat is one of the most common and frustrating form breakdowns lifters face. Your hips shoot up out of the bottom, your chest pitches forward, and the lift turns into a grinder that puts all the stress on your lower back. It feels weak, unsafe, and stalls your progress.

This guide provides a clear, no-BS system to fix it for good. We're not going to give you vague cues. We're going to rebuild your squat from the ground up by addressing the root cause.

Key Takeaways

• A good morning squat is caused by weak quads relative to your stronger posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings).
• The common cue "chest up" is ineffective because it addresses the symptom, not the cause, and can lead to lower back hyperextension.
• Tempo squats with a 3-second descent are the most effective tool for retraining the correct motor pattern.
• You must temporarily reduce your working weight by 30-40% to allow your nervous system to learn the new movement.
• Accessory exercises like front squats and pause squats are critical for building the specific quad strength needed to stay upright.
• Proper core bracing involves creating 360-degree pressure, not just sucking your stomach in.

What Is a Good Morning Squat and Why Does It Happen?

To learn how to fix good morning squats, you first need to understand why they happen. It’s not because you have “bad form” or you’re just not concentrating enough. It's a predictable compensation pattern driven by a strength imbalance. When your hips rise significantly faster than your shoulders out of the bottom of the squat, you are performing a good morning squat.

Your body is incredibly efficient. It will always choose the path of least resistance to lift a weight. The problem occurs when your quads-the primary movers for knee extension-are not strong enough to do their job. As you start to drive up from the bottom, your brain senses this weak link.

Instead of stalling the lift, it shifts the work to a stronger muscle group: your posterior chain. This includes your powerful glutes, hamstrings, and lower back extensors. By shooting your hips up and back, your body changes the mechanics of the lift from a squat into a hip hinge, similar to a good morning exercise. This allows your stronger back and hips to take over the load that your quads couldn't handle.

So, the root cause is simple: Your quads are weaker than your posterior chain.

This is especially common for lifters who have a background in sports that emphasize hip extension (like sprinting or jumping) or those who focus heavily on deadlifts. Their hips and back are overdeveloped compared to their quads. The good morning squat isn't a mistake; it's your body's solution to a strength deficit. Our job is to eliminate that deficit.

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Why Common Cues Like "Chest Up" Fail

If you've searched for a solution before, you've undoubtedly been told to just “keep your chest up.” You’ve probably spent entire sets mentally screaming “CHEST UP!” at yourself, only for your hips to shoot up anyway. It’s frustrating because it feels like it *should* work, but it rarely does.

Here’s why that cue fails:

1. It Addresses the Symptom, Not the Cause.

Your chest falling forward is the *result* of your hips rising too fast. It's the last link in a chain of events that started with weak quads. Telling someone to keep their chest up is like telling someone with a flat tire to just drive straighter. You're ignoring the root problem.

1. It Can Encourage Dangerous Hyperextension.

In an effort to force the chest up, many lifters will over-arch their lower back. This creates immense shear stress on the lumbar spine and can trade one bad form issue for another, more dangerous one. A neutral spine is a strong spine; an over-extended spine is a vulnerable one.

1. It Doesn't Provide a Mechanical Action.

"Chest up" is a vague, positional cue. A better cue is an actionable one. Instead of thinking "chest up," think "drive your upper back *into* the bar." This simple switch encourages you to use the bar as an anchor to maintain your torso position. It forces you to engage your lats and create a solid shelf, making it much harder for your chest to collapse.

Another superior cue is "keep your hips *under* the bar." This directly fights the problem. As you start to ascend, think about driving your hips forward and under the barbell, which forces your quads to engage and promotes a more vertical torso angle.

Stop blaming yourself for not being able to follow the "chest up" cue. It was the wrong instruction from the start.

The 3-Step System to Fix Your Squat for Good

Fixing a good morning squat requires a systematic approach, not just wishful thinking. You have to retrain the movement pattern, strengthen the weak muscles, and master your bracing. This isn't a quick fix, but it is a permanent one. You must drop the ego and lower the weight significantly-think 50-60% of your one-rep max to start.

Step 1: Retrain the Pattern with Tempo Squats

The fastest way to overwrite a bad motor pattern is to slow it down. Tempo squats force you to maintain control and tension through every inch of the movement, eliminating your ability to dive-bomb and rely on the stretch reflex where your form breaks down.

How to do it: Use a 3-1-1-0 tempo.

• 3 seconds down (eccentric): This is the most important part. Fight gravity the entire way. Focus on keeping your torso angle consistent from top to bottom.
• 1 second pause (isometric): Pause completely at the bottom. No bouncing.
• 1 second up (concentric): Explode up, focusing on driving your upper back into the bar.
• 0 seconds rest: Go straight into the next rep.

Start with just the empty bar to feel the pattern. Then, load the bar to about 50% of your 1RM. Perform 3-4 sets of 5 reps. The goal is perfect form, not heavy weight. Film yourself from the side to ensure your hips and shoulders are rising together.

Step 2: Build Your Weak Points with Accessory Lifts

While tempo squats fix the pattern, you still need to address the underlying strength deficit. You need to hammer your quads until their strength matches your posterior chain. Add these two exercises to your training week, separate from your main squat day if possible.

• Pause Squats: These are brutal but effective. Perform a regular squat, but pause at the very bottom for a full 2-3 seconds. This kills the stretch reflex and forces your quads to do 100% of the work to get you out of the hole. Do 3 sets of 3-5 reps at around 70% of your 1RM.
• Front Squats: The front squat is a self-correcting exercise for a good morning squat. The front-racked barbell position forces you to maintain an upright torso. If you lean forward, you drop the bar. It's an incredible quad builder and teaches the feeling of a proper, upright squat. Aim for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps.

Step 3: Master 360-Degree Core Bracing

A weak, un-braced core allows your torso to collapse, making the good morning pattern even more likely. Most people brace incorrectly by simply sucking their stomach in. This does nothing to stabilize your spine.

Proper bracing creates 360-degree intra-abdominal pressure. Here's how:

1. Before you un-rack the bar, take a big breath of air *down into your belly*, not up into your chest.
2. Imagine you're about to be punched in the stomach. Tighten your abs, obliques, and lower back muscles, pushing *out* against that air.
3. Hold this brace throughout the entire repetition. Exhale and reset at the top.

If you wear a belt, your goal should be to push your stomach out into the belt on all sides. This creates a rigid cylinder of your torso, which transfers force efficiently and protects your spine.

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What to Expect: Your 8-Week Rebuilding Plan

Fixing this ingrained motor pattern takes time and patience. Your squat numbers will go down before they go way up. Accept it. An ego-driven approach will keep you stuck and at risk of injury. Here is a realistic timeline and sample plan.

Weeks 1-4: The Re-Patterning Phase

Your entire focus is on perfect form. The weight on the bar is just a tool. Do not add weight until your tempo squats are flawless.

• Day 1 (Main Squat Focus):
• Tempo Squats: 3 sets of 5 reps. Start at 50% of your old 1RM. If form is perfect, add 5-10 pounds next week.
• Pause Squats: 3 sets of 5 reps. Use a weight that is challenging but allows perfect form.
• Day 2 (Accessory Focus):
• Front Squats: 4 sets of 6-8 reps.
• Leg Press or Hack Squat: 3 sets of 10-15 reps to build pure quad mass.
• Core Work (Planks, Leg Raises): 3 sets to failure.

During this phase, you should be filming at least one set each workout. Review it immediately. Are your hips and shoulders rising at the same time? If not, reduce the weight.

Weeks 5-8: The Re-Loading Phase

By now, the new movement pattern should feel more natural. Your quads are getting stronger. It's time to start carefully adding weight back to your standard squat.

• Day 1 (Main Squat Focus):
• Warm-up with a few light sets of tempo squats.
• Standard Back Squats: Work up to 3-4 sets of 5 reps. Start at about 75-80% of your old 1RM. Focus on applying the same cues: drive your back into the bar and keep your hips under you.
• Pause Squats: 3 sets of 3 reps.
• Day 2 (Accessory Focus):
• Continue with Front Squats and Leg Press, focusing on progressive overload.

By the end of week 8, you should be approaching or even surpassing your old squat numbers, but with form that is dramatically safer and more powerful. The lift will feel completely different-stronger, more stable, and driven by your legs, not your back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a good morning squat dangerous?

Yes. It places significant shear force on your lumbar spine and can lead to disc issues or muscle strains. While you might get away with it at lighter weights, it becomes a major injury risk as you attempt to lift heavier. Fixing it is essential for long-term, pain-free progress.

Should I switch to high-bar or low-bar squats?

The good morning fault is more common in the low-bar squat, which has a greater natural torso lean. Switching to high-bar can help as it forces a more upright posture. However, the true fix is addressing the underlying quad weakness, which will improve both squat variations.

How do I know if my quads are the weak link?

A simple test is to compare your front squat to your back squat. If your front squat 1-rep max is less than 75% of your back squat 1-rep max, your quads are very likely the limiting factor. Another sign is failing a squat by pitching forward, rather than stalling at the bottom.

Can I fix this without dropping the weight?

No. You cannot learn a new, complex motor skill while under maximal load. Your body will always default to its most ingrained habit to survive the lift. You must reduce the weight by 30-40% to give your brain the capacity to focus on and execute the new, correct pattern.

What if my ankles are tight?

While poor ankle mobility can contribute to squat issues, it typically causes problems like heels lifting or an inability to reach depth. It is not the primary cause of the hips-shooting-up fault. That issue is almost always a quad strength and motor control problem. Focus on the 3-step system first.