strength · advanced

Nordic Hamstring Curls

An eccentric hamstring exercise that produces supramaximal loading on the knee flexors. The gold standard for hamstring injury prevention, supported by extensive research in team sports and increasingly adopted for runners.

  1. 01Kneel on a pad with your feet anchored under a heavy object, barbell, or by a partner.
  2. 02Start tall with your body in a straight line from knees to shoulders, arms at your sides.
  3. 03Slowly lean forward by extending at the knees, keeping your hips locked in extension — do not bend at the waist.
  4. 04Control the descent as long as possible using your hamstrings to resist gravity.
  5. 05When you can no longer hold, catch yourself with your hands in a push-up position.
  6. 06Use a small push-up to assist yourself back to the start, then use your hamstrings to pull back to vertical.
  7. 07The eccentric (lowering) phase is the treatment — control it for 3-5 seconds.
Why it matters

Hamstring injuries account for 7-12% of all running injuries, and recurrence rates exceed 30%. Nordic curls develop eccentric hamstring strength at longer muscle lengths — the exact mechanism that fails during late swing phase when the hamstring decelerates the leg before foot strike. A 2019 meta-analysis showed Nordics reduce hamstring injury risk by up to 51%.