Exercise guide · Intermediate · Compound

Lever Seated Good Morning: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The lever seated good morning is a machine-based exercise targeting the glutes, with secondary emphasis on the hamstrings and lower back. It involves hinging at the hips while seated, using a leverage machine to provide resistance.

Primary muscles
Glutes
Secondary muscles
Hamstrings
Equipment
Leverage Machine
Level · type
Intermediate · Compound
Demonstration of the lever seated good morning
Front view: muscles worked by the lever seated good morning. Primary: glutes. Secondary: hamstrings.
Back view: muscles worked by the lever seated good morning. Primary: glutes. Secondary: hamstrings.
Primary Secondary

How to do the lever seated good morning

  1. Step 1: Adjust the seat height so that your hips are slightly higher than your knees.
  2. Step 2: Sit on the machine with your back against the pad and your feet flat on the footrests.
  3. Step 3: Grasp the handles or the sides of the seat for stability.
  4. Step 4: Keeping your back straight, slowly lean forward from your hips until your upper body is parallel to the ground.
  5. Step 5: Pause for a moment, then slowly return to the starting position by pushing through your glutes and hamstrings.
  6. Step 6: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Sets, reps and programming

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the lever seated good morning by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Lever Seated Good Morning alternatives

More exercises that train the glutes as their main target:

More glutes exercises

See the best glute exercises, ranked →

Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.