Nordic Hamstring Curl: How to Do It and What the Research Shows
Updated · Fact checked
The Nordic hamstring curl looks simple. You kneel with your ankles held down and lean forward as slowly as you can, using only your hamstrings to brake the fall. When you can't hold the position any longer, you catch yourself with your hands and push back up.
That slow lowering is the point. It loads the hamstrings while they lengthen, and researchers have tested it in hamstring injury trials in soccer and other sports.
How to do it
Anchor the ankles
Kneel on a pad with your heels hooked under a bar or held by a partner. Hips straight, body in one line from knees to head.
Lower slowly
Lean forward from the knees as slowly as you can, keeping the hips straight. Don't bend at the waist.
Catch with the hands
When you can't hold it any longer, catch yourself with your hands in a push-up position.
Push back up
Push off the floor to help yourself back to the start, then reset for the next rep.
- Sets and reps
- 3 sets of 5, 90 seconds rest, lowering as slowly as you can (440's tempo is 5-0-X-0) and pushing back up with your hands. 2 sets of 5 in season and on lighter weeks.
- Equipment
- A partner, a loaded bar or a pad you can hook your heels under, A mat or pad for your knees
- Muscles and skills
- Hamstrings
- Used in these 440 plans
- Running Back, Wide Receiver, Defensive Back, Athlete
Coaching cues and common mistakes
Coaching cues
- Kneel with the ankles anchored, hips straight
- Lower as slowly as possible
- Catch with the hands, push back up
Common mistakes
- Breaking at the hips
- Dropping fast after the first few inches
Make it easier
- Band-assisted Nordic
Make it harder
- Weighted Nordic
What the research found
In a 2011 Danish trial, 50 male professional and amateur soccer teams (942 players) were split into two groups. The Nordic group did a 10 week progressive program, then a weekly in-season program. Over one season, that group recorded 15 acute hamstring injuries against 52 in the group that trained as usual.
A 2015 trial followed 579 male amateur soccer players from 40 teams, average age 24.5, through one calendar year. The Nordic group, asked to do 25 sessions over 13 weeks, had a lower hamstring injury rate, with no statistically significant difference in how severe the injuries were. A 2019 meta-analysis pooled 15 studies covering several sports, women and men and different age groups, and found that programs including the Nordic roughly halved the rate of hamstring injuries.
The two trials studied men's soccer teams, and the review pooled other sports, so none of it measured high school football players. A group result also says nothing certain about one player. 440 programs the Nordic because it builds eccentric hamstring strength, not because it guarantees anything.
Who does it in the 440 plans
It is a main lift in four 440 plans: running back training, wide receiver training, defensive back training and the ATH football position plan. Other positions see it on some lower body days.
FAQ
How many Nordic hamstring curls should I do?
440 prescribes 3 sets of 5 with 90 seconds rest, dropping to 2 sets of 5 in season and on lighter weeks. Lower as slowly as you can, aiming for about five seconds, and push back up with your hands.
What if I can't do a Nordic curl yet?
Lower only as far as you can control, then catch yourself with your hands. A band-assisted Nordic is the easier version. Try to stay in control a little longer each week.
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- Preventive effect of eccentric training on acute hamstring injuries in men's soccer: a cluster-randomized controlled trial (Petersen et al., Am J Sports Med 2011;39(11):2296-303, PMID 21825112; abstract confirmed via PubMed E-utilities efetch (rettype=abstract), since pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov blocks curl), PubMed / NCBI
- The preventive effect of the nordic hamstring exercise on hamstring injuries in amateur soccer players: a randomized controlled trial (van der Horst et al., Am J Sports Med 2015;43(6):1316-23, PMID 25794868; abstract confirmed via PubMed E-utilities efetch (rettype=abstract), since pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov blocks curl), PubMed / NCBI
- Including the Nordic hamstring exercise in injury prevention programmes halves the rate of hamstring injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 8459 athletes (van Dyk et al., Br J Sports Med 2019;53(21):1362-1370, PMID 30808663; abstract confirmed via PubMed E-utilities efetch (rettype=abstract), since pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov blocks curl), PubMed / NCBI
Program numbers (benchmarks, sets, reps, loads, protein targets) are 440 Football's own prescriptions. For athletes 13 and older; check with a physician or a registered dietitian before major training or diet changes.