The Nordic Curl: What It Does, How to Do It, and Who It Pays Off For

The Nordic curl is the exercise where you kneel, someone (or something) pins your ankles, and you lower yourself forward as slowly as you can for as long as your hamstrings hold. It looks trivial until you try it: most people crash to the floor somewhere around 20–30 degrees on their first attempt. Here is what it actually trains, how to do it properly, how to scale it, and who should keep it in the program.

What it does

The Nordic curl is first and foremost an eccentric exercise: the muscle produces force while it lengthens rather than shortens. That is the exact mode in which hamstrings usually tear — the late swing phase of a sprint, when the biceps femoris brakes to stop the shin. That is why the exercise shows up most often in sports involving full-speed running.

Three things that get measured in the research and improve fairly reliably:

• Eccentric knee flexor strength goes up 15–25% after 6–10 weeks of consistent work.
• Fascicle length of the biceps femoris long head increases roughly 10–20% over the same period; a longer fascicle tolerates being stretched under load better.
• In team sports, Nordic-based programs are associated with about half as many hamstring injuries — but only in squads that actually stick to the protocol. Drop the exercise and the effect fades within a few weeks.

What the Nordic curl does not do: it does not train the hamstrings in their hip-extension role. For that you still need Romanian deadlifts, hip thrusts or good mornings. The Nordic is an addition, not a replacement.

Technique, step by step

1. Kneel on a mat or a folded towel. Knees hip-width apart, toes either flat or tucked, whichever feels better.
2. Anchor the ankles: a partner presses on the lower shins just above the heels, not the feet. Training alone, hook them under a barbell loaded with at least 60 kg or under a fixed machine.
3. Set your body in a straight line from knees to shoulders. The hips stay extended the whole time; folding at the hip is the most common error and turns it into a much easier movement.
4. Lower forward under control for 3–5 seconds, to the point where you lose it. Trunk rigid, chin slightly tucked.
5. When you give way, catch yourself in a push-up position. Keep your hands ready the whole descent — do not wait for the last instant.
6. Push back up with your arms as much as you need and pull the rest with the hamstrings. The way up is not the part you take to failure; it only exists to reset you.

How to scale it if it dumps you immediately

If your first attempt ends at 20 degrees, that is normal and no reason to drop the exercise. Regressions, easiest to hardest:

• Elevated catch: land on a bench or box 40–60 cm high, then lower the height by 10 cm every 2–3 weeks.
• Resistance band: anchored above you and looped across the chest, it removes 10–20 kg of resistance exactly where the movement is hardest.
• Partial range: do only the first 30 degrees under full control, then push back. Five clean half-range reps beat three uncontrolled drops.
• Counterweight: hold a 5 kg plate at your chest and extend your arms forward as it gets hard — moving your center of mass shortens the lever.

The advanced version goes the other way: a 5–20 kg plate held at the chest throughout, or the razor curl, where the hip flexes under control on the way down and extends on the way back.

How much and how often

This exercise carries an unusually high soreness cost. Be conservative for the first 2–3 weeks:

• Week 1: 2 sets × 3 reps, once a week.
• Weeks 2–3: 2 sets × 4–5 reps, twice a week.
• Week 4 onward: 3 sets × 5–6 reps, for a weekly total of 24–30 reps. That is the practical ceiling for most people.

Rest 90–120 seconds between sets. Put them at the end of a lower body session or on a day you are not sprinting, since eccentric work leaves the hamstrings weaker for 24–48 hours. If you run fast, leave at least 48 hours between Nordics and sprint work.

If you cannot walk down stairs normally the next day, the last session was 2–3 reps too many. Cut the volume, not the exercise.

Who it pays off for, and who it does not

Worth it

• Anyone who sprints: football, basketball, handball, track, recreational running with intervals.
• Anyone with a previous hamstring strain; reinjury risk is highest in the first 8–12 weeks after returning to training.
• Lifters who squat and deadlift a lot but have nothing that flexes the knee under load.

Not worth it, at least not now

• With an acute strain — wait for a green light from a physiotherapist.
• If the front of your knee hurts when kneeling: try padding 2–3 cm thicker, and if it still hurts, swap in a leg curl with a 4-second lowering phase.
• In the week before a competition or a speed test; as a general rule, keep the last hard Nordic session 5–7 days out.

When to see a doctor

The exercise is safe, but hamstrings can react badly. See a doctor or physiotherapist if:

• you feel a sharp, sudden pain with a pop or a tearing sensation, followed by bruising on the back of the thigh;
• pain does not settle after 7–10 days of relative rest;
• you get numbness or tingling down the leg, or deep pain under the sit bone that worsens with sitting;
• the knee swells within 24 hours or you cannot fully straighten the leg.

The short version

• The Nordic curl is eccentric knee flexor work; it pays off most for people who sprint and for anyone with a hamstring strain in their history.
• Technique essentials: hips extended, 3–5 second descent, hands ready to catch you.
• Cannot do a single full rep? Use partial range, a band, or a 40–60 cm box to catch on.
• Dosing: start at 2×3 once a week, build to 3×5–6 twice a week over a month, and keep 48 hours between Nordics and sprinting.
• It does not replace Romanian deadlifts or hip thrusts — it goes alongside them, not instead of them.