Nordic Curl
The Nordic curl is a kneeling hamstring exercise: with your ankles anchored, you tip your straight body slowly forward from the knees, resisting with your hamstrings until you catch yourself on your hands. It trains the hamstrings hardest at long muscle length and is one of the most researched exercises in sport.
Also called: Nordic Hamstring Curl, Nordics, Natural Leg Curl, Nordic Hamstring Exercise · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: pull
Step by step
- Kneel on a thick pad with your ankles firmly anchored, held by a partner, hooked under a Nordic or glute-ham pad, or under a loaded barbell.
- Kneel upright with your hips straight, glutes squeezed and a straight line from knees to shoulders. Hold your hands in front of your chest, ready to catch.
- Brace your trunk, then let your body tip forward slowly from the knees, resisting with your hamstrings.
- Keep your hips straight throughout, so your body moves as one straight line and does not bend at the hips.
- Control the descent for as long as you can. The effort rises the closer you get to the floor.
- When you can no longer hold it, catch yourself on your hands and absorb the landing softly.
- Push off the floor with your hands to help yourself back up to kneeling, reset the straight line and repeat.
- Body straight from knees to shoulders
- Glutes squeezed the whole way
- Resist every inch
- Catch soft, push back up
- Gain a little more range each week
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head) | Prime mover | B |
| Hamstrings: semitendinosus | Prime mover | B |
| Hamstrings: biceps femoris (short head) | Secondary | B |
| Hamstrings: semimembranosus | Secondary | C |
| Gastrocnemius: medial/lateral head | Secondary | C |
| Gluteus maximus | Stabiliser | D |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Breaking at the hips
Fix: Squeeze your glutes and keep your hips pushed forward the whole way down.
Dropping through the bottom
Fix: Use band assistance or a shorter range you can control, and extend it over weeks.
Too much volume too soon
Fix: Start with a few reps and build volume gradually over several weeks.
Loose ankle anchor
Fix: Anchor your ankles firmly under a pad, a loaded bar or a partner's hands.
Hard knee contact
Fix: Kneel on a thick pad or a folded mat.
What the research says
Rehab & prehab · first choiceSport performance · first choiceStrengthMuscle growth
- Adaptations — A 10-week imaging study found Nordic training lengthened the fascicles (fibre bundles) of the biceps femoris long head and grew the semitendinosus. A hip-extension exercise lengthened the fascicles by a similar amount and grew the long head more.
- Building up — Published Nordic programmes built volume over 10–13 weeks, then kept a weekly maintenance dose. A common starting point is 1–2 sets of 3–5 reps, once or twice a week, because the exercise causes marked soreness at first.
- Pairing — Because hip-extension work grew the biceps femoris long head more in that study, many programmes pair the Nordic curl with a hinge such as the Romanian deadlift.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the nordic curl in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.