In this blog, I show you how to safely set up, perform, and program Nordic hamstring curls, and provide you with progressions, regressions, and alternatives to help you meet your goals.
If you are looking for a lightweight and portable device that allows you to perform the Nordic Hamstring Curl nearly anywhere, check out the Nordstick!
The Nordstick can be used to perform the Nordic Hamstring Curl exercise as programmed in our Knee Resilience and Hip Resilience program.
Hamstrings Anatomy & Function
First, a quick review of anatomy.
Located on the back of the thigh, the hamstrings consist of 3 muscles – the semimembranosus, the semitendinosus, and the long head of the biceps femoris. Since the three muscles attach from the pelvis to the tibia and fibula of the lower leg, they have two primary actions – hip extension and knee flexion. There is also a short head of the biceps femoris that only acts to flex the knee.
Nordic hamstring curls, which challenge the knee flexion action of the hamstrings, are usually performed with the intention of preventing injuries or improving performance, such as increasing sprint speed.
I’ll discuss the latest research related to both topics toward the end of this blog.
How To Set Up Nordic Hamstring Curls
To set up for Nordic hamstring curls, you only need two things:
- A soft surface to kneel on, such as a pad, pillow, or towel.
- A place to anchor your feet.
There are a lot of options for anchoring your feet. None of them are perfect.
For example, using a partner requires… a partner… and that partner needs to be strong enough and understand how to hold your legs appropriately. Plus, some people find the pressure uncomfortable.
Some of the demonstrations in this blog will be performed on a lat pulldown machine, which I don’t find ideal because it forces my knees closer together than I prefer due to the small size of the seat. And if you’re at the gym, you’re taking up a piece of upper body equipment.
Some other options include:
- Barbell with plates on either side of the weights to ensure that it doesn’t roll.
- A flat bench with a belt or strap to firmly secure your legs.
- An attachment for a squat rack.
- An adjustable strap that anchors to your door.
At my normal gym, I’ll either use the Smith machine or the metal stall bars. With a little ingenuity and set-up time, you can do them almost anywhere.
How To Perform Nordic Hamstring Curls
To perform the Nordic hamstring curl, attempt to keep a straight line between your knees, hips, and shoulders as you slowly lower to the floor or object in front of you. You’ll then catch yourself with your hands and push back up to the starting position.
During the exercise, you can squeeze your glutes to help maintain the position of your hips and trunk while digging your heels into whatever is holding your legs in place. Essentially, you’re imagining bringing your heels toward your butt as you fall forward.
To regress the exercise, or make it easier, you can do 1 of 2 things:
- Allow your hips to bend. It’s perfectly acceptable because you still get the benefits of the Nordic hamstring curl and you can work on slowly straightening yourself out over time to progress the exercise.
- Decrease the range of motion by placing or stacking objects in front of you.
To progress the exercise, or make it harder, you can either:
- Increase the range of motion by removing the objects in front of you. If your goal is to do a full repetition, starting with a shortened range of motion and increasing it over time by gradually lowering the height of stacked objects in front of you is one of the best options to do so.
- Hold a light weight and increase the weight over time.
If you want assistance, you can place a band around your chest and anchor it to a sturdy object above and behind you.
I’ve also seen people use a ball, dowel, ab wheel, and other objects, but I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of these tools because they often significantly reduce the effort that people put forward. The exercise is meant to be hard.
Research
Before discussing alternatives to Nordic hamstring curls and how to program them into your training routine, I want to briefly touch on the research as it relates to injury prevention and improving performance.
A systematic review by van Dyk et al in 2019 concluded that “Programmes that include the Nordic Hamstring Exercise reduce hamstring injuries by up to 51%.” However, a paper published by Impellizzeri et al in 2021 reported that there were some methodological concerns with the systematic review that caused it to likely overestimate the benefits of Nordic hamstring curls. This was followed by disagreements between these authors and a different set of authors.
All this to say that Nordic hamstring curls have the potential to reduce the risk of hamstring strain injuries, but there is more uncertainty than often stated.
They still have a strong theoretical basis since they promote improvements in eccentric knee flexor strength and muscle fascicle length, which are known risk factors for hamstring strain injuries. Think of them as causing the hamstrings to get stronger and longer.
They also have the potential to improve sprint performance, but some uncertainty exists here as well.
In reality, implementation of Nordic hamstring curls should be thought of as complementing a comprehensive training program as opposed to a stand-alone magic bullet.
Nordic Hamstring Curls Alternatives & Additions
Since the hamstrings function to flex the knee AND extend the hip, a well-rounded routine should also incorporate exercises that challenge the hip extension action of the hamstrings from a stretched position. Here are 3 options:
- Romanian or Stiff Legged Deadlifts
- Roman Chair Hip Extension. These can be performed:
- Double Leg
- Single Leg
- Weighted (Double Leg or Single Leg)
- Hip Extension on the Glute Ham Raise (GHR) machine which can also be done double leg, single leg, or weighted.
If you want to replace nordic hamstring curls, build up your strength for them, or perform other knee flexion exercises in addition to them, options include:
- The Glute Ham Raise (GHR) machine. These can be performed double leg, bodyweight or weighted.
- Prone Hamstring Curls
- Double Leg
- Single Leg
- Eccentric only, in which you lift the weight up with 2 legs and lower back down with 1 leg
- Seated Hamstring Curls
- Double Leg
- Single Leg
- Eccentric only
- Hamstring Sliders
- Double Leg Eccentric
- Double Leg
- Single Leg Eccentric
- Single Leg
Lastly, if you intend to play sports or engage in activities that involve high speed running, it’s necessary to include sprinting in your training routine.
How To Program Nordic Hamstring Curls
With regards to programming Nordic hamstring curls, it completely depends on your goals.
If your only goal is to perform a full repetition, you should likely aim for a higher frequency of lower repetitions. For example, you might do 3 sets of 3-5 reps, 2-3 times per week. There are a few ways to execute the exercise for this goal, though.
- You could build up your strength so you’re strong enough to lower yourself all the way down before trying to pull yourself back up.
- As mentioned earlier, you could start with a full repetition through a shortened range of motion and increase that range of motion over time by gradually lowering the height of stacked objects in front of you.
- Combine the two. You could do a few repetitions per week of lowering yourself down as far as possible, while the rest of the repetitions are done through a full, shortened range of motion. Let’s say you’re doing 3 sets of 5 repetitions, 3 times per week as an example. Since you’re strongest when you’re freshest, the first repetition of each set could be focused on trying to lower all the way down. Then you could practice lowering down and raising back up with objects placed in front of you as needed.
Based on the research, if your goal is to elicit the adaptations that might reduce the risk of hamstring strain injuries, you only need to focus on the lowering portion of the exercise, known as an eccentric muscle contraction. In fact, researchers usually make sure that participants can’t bring themselves back up. Here’s a common scenario, taken from Presland et al in 2018:
“Where participants were observed to have sufficient strength to completely control the movement in the final 10-20° of the NHE, they were then required to hold a weight plate (range: 5-25kg) to ensure supramaximal exercise intensity was maintained.”
Supramaximal meaning greater than their 1 repetition maximum. You are stronger eccentrically (lowering yourself down) than you are concentrically (pulling yourself back up), and most researchers want the Nordic to be too difficult to get back up based on the adaptations created by the supramaximal eccentric muscle contractions.
A systematic review by Cuthbert et al in 2020 and a recent study by Behan et al in 2022 informs us that a minimum-effective dose is necessary for increasing eccentric knee flexor strength and muscle fascicle length. For instance, the paper by Presland et al found that 4 sets of 6 repetitions, 2 times per week for 2 weeks, followed by 2 sets of 4 repetitions 1 time per week for 4 weeks was sufficient for eliciting these adaptations. You either need to start with a higher volume and taper off or gradually progress volume over a period of 6 weeks.
On a side note, I’ve seen some people argue that Nordic hamstring curls should be performed quickly to better prepare athletes for sprinting, but no research has been conducted to form a reasonable conclusion.
If you’ve already accomplished one or both of the goals mentioned, or you don’t have any specific goals and you just want to train, programming Nordic hamstring curls simply needs to fit into the context of the rest of your training routine. I’ll use myself as an example.
I train my legs twice per week. I could set up my first leg day on Monday so that I do rear foot elevated split squats, Romanian deadlifts, seated leg extensions, prone hamstring curls, and standing, single leg heel raises. On Thursday, I could do squats, single leg roman chair hip extensions, Nordic hamstring curls, reverse Nordics, and seated heel raises.
This is just one example, but there are an infinite number of possibilities in terms of exercise selection, sets, reps, frequency, etc.
Before going out and becoming a pro at Nordic hamstring curls, create a plan, be consistent, and set realistic expectations. They are difficult and can cause a lot of soreness, especially for less-trained individuals, so you don’t need to worry about mastering them overnight.
Looking for rehab or performance programs? Check out our store here!
Want to learn more? Check out some of our other similar blogs:
Reverse Nordics, Hamstring Strain Injury Rehab, Strength Training For Runners
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