Nordic hamstring curl

Movement

What the movement is

The Nordic hamstring exercise has been described as a partner exercise that focuses on the eccentric phase, muscle work done while the muscle lengthens¹. The muscles doing that work are the hamstrings^2,7, which extend the hip and bend the knee^8,9.

The body falls forward, and at some point the fall speeds up⁷. In 18 young participants, the knee angle where the fall suddenly sped up ranged from 47.9 to 80.5 degrees⁷. A faster peak knee speed went with lower peak muscle activity⁷.

The versions studies have used

Studies have changed the hip angle, the number of legs and the type of muscle work^10,11:

• Hips bent to 90 degrees. Hamstring activity was lower than with the hips neutral (in its natural resting position), mostly in the later half of the lowering¹⁰. Eccentric torque (turning force) at the knee was higher¹⁰.
• One leg or two. The one-leg and two-leg versions gave generally similar torque and muscle activity¹⁰.
• Held still on a slope. In one study, 13 men held the position still on a platform tilted at 30 degrees¹¹. Hamstring activity was higher with the hip straight and the knee bent 30 degrees than at 50 or 60¹¹.

Hip angle also changes the length the muscles work at^10,12. In the two-leg version, the hamstrings work at fairly short lengths, which some authors have suggested may limit its effect¹⁰. In 12 healthy volunteers, adding hip bend made the biceps femoris long head work at longer lengths until about 80% of the movement¹².

Slopes, help, fixings and the return

Other studies changed the slope, the help, what holds the heels, and whether people return to the start^13,14,15,16:

• On a slope. On a tilting device, 18 recreationally active men kept producing torque to a straighter knee at a 10-degree incline than flat or declined¹³. Their peak torque did not change¹³.
• With help. The assisted version has been described as using an elastic band around the chest to lower the force while lowering¹⁷. In 16 professional soccer players, machine help lowered knee-bending force and felt effort, but not hamstring activity significantly¹⁴.
• Held by a partner or a device. In 42 people, a device fixing the heels, kneeling height and knee position let them control the fall to about 56 degrees of knee bend¹⁵. With a partner, the fall sped up at about 75 degrees¹⁵. That study reported no funding¹⁵.
• Lowering only, or back up too. Injury research usually uses the lowering-only version, while athletes in sport often pull back up as well¹⁶. In 15 elite junior and senior soccer and track and field athletes, force about the knee did not differ between the two¹⁶.

In one study of 15 male university students, the razor hamstring curl started kneeling with hips and knees fully bent¹⁸. Both then straightened together to a near face-down position¹⁸. It gave higher peak eccentric force than the Nordic, while the Nordic gave higher semitendinosus activity¹⁸.

What it loads

Which hamstring muscles work hardest

The hamstrings are the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus⁸. The biceps femoris has two heads, a long head and a short head¹⁹. The long head, the semimembranosus and the semitendinosus each cross both the hip and the knee¹⁹. The short head crosses the knee alone¹⁹.

Activity studies point mostly to the semitendinosus and other inner muscles^20,21:

• In recreationally active men, functional MRI (a scan that shows which muscles have been working) found the largest signal rise in the semitendinosus²⁰. The authors concluded the exercise favours that muscle²⁰.
• One study split 36 professional soccer players across four exercises²¹. After the Nordic, the signal rose 39% in the gracilis, a long, thin inner thigh muscle²¹. It rose 16% in the semitendinosus and 14% in the biceps femoris short head²¹.
• Among ten exercises tested in 24 recreationally active men, the Nordic and a bent-knee bridge had the lowest outer-to-inner hamstring activity ratio while lowering²⁰.

The balance between muscles shifts through the movement¹⁰. With the hips neutral, the semitendinosus was more active than the biceps femoris long head early on, and less active near a straight knee¹⁰.

Force and stretch compared with sprinting

Studies compared hamstring force in the Nordic with sprinting and with other exercises^22,23:

• In 20 active adults, modelled peak force in the biceps femoris long head was 0.9 bodyweights in the Nordic²². That did not differ significantly from sprinting at top speed, at 1.0 bodyweights²². The Romanian deadlift, a hip-bending deadlift, reached 1.6²².
• In 14 people, modelled long-head peak force was higher in running at 7.5 metres per second or faster than in the Nordic²³. The Nordic produced more negative work (energy absorbed while lengthening) and a greater impulse (force added up over time) than any running speed²³.

In two studies, the Nordic stretched the hamstrings less, and worked them at shorter lengths, than sprinting or most other tasks did^22,24. In 20 active adults, the Nordic was one of two eccentric exercises that stretched the hamstring muscle-tendon units (each muscle and its tendons) least²². The one exception was the semitendinosus in the hip thrust, which lifts the hips with the upper back on a bench²².

In 14 athletic people, sprinting at every speed tested put the long head at longer lengths, lengthening faster²⁴. Each Nordic repetition lasted about 60 times longer than the lengthening part of a running stride’s time in the air²⁴.

What the fibres and the tendon do

In 12 healthy volunteers, long-head fascicles changed little in length through about 30% to 80% of the movement¹². Over the same span, the whole muscle-tendon unit lengthened¹². The fascicles stretched mainly in the last 20% or so¹². Overall they changed length by under 2 cm, while the unit changed by under 4 cm¹². From this gap, the authors suggested that stretch of the unit’s elastic tissue plays an important role in absorbing energy¹².

How the body adapts

Strength and fascicle length

A systematic review, one that searches for all the research in a set, checkable way, pooled randomised trials of Nordic training³. Across the included studies, eccentric knee-bending strength rose 10% to 15% on an isokinetic machine, and long-head fascicle length rose 12% to 22%³. A separate review of 13 Nordic studies found very large before-to-after effects on both after six weeks or more, at high and low training volumes²⁵.

Other studies found less consistent gains, or none^26,27. In team sport players, one meta-analysis found moderate strength gains in fairly untrained people, but less consistent gains in well-trained players²⁶. The studies showing those moderate gains had some concerns or a high risk of bias²⁶. In a randomised study of 20 healthy people, six weeks of Nordic training did not change fascicle length, stiffness or eccentric strength²⁷. It did raise muscle volume and physiological cross-sectional area, a measure of size across the fibres²⁷.

Two randomised studies found strength gains^1,28. In 21 well-trained male soccer players, 10 weeks of Nordic training raised eccentric hamstring torque by 11%¹. A similar programme of ordinary hamstring curls produced no change¹. In 29 healthy men, six weeks of training raised eccentric strength and hamstring activity²⁸. It also let them control the fall until later, 68.1 degrees against 73.7 degrees²⁸.

What newer reviews found about dose

Three 2025 reviews looked at how much Nordic training matters^4,29,30. One, of 42 studies, found strength gains that were not linked to programme length, sessions a week, sets or repetitions⁴. Its evidence was of low to very low certainty⁴. A review of 11 soccer studies found that higher and lower volumes raised eccentric strength by a similar amount²⁹. Only the higher volumes also lengthened long-head fascicles and thickened the muscle²⁹.

In a review of six studies in 168 soccer players, Nordic training lengthened long-head fascicles, and twice a week did not differ significantly from once³⁰. The same review states it is still unknown how intensity, effort or exercise choice shape that muscle’s architecture³⁰. The 13-study, 42-study and 11-study reviews agree that strength rose across a wide range of volumes^4,25,29. Unlike the 11-study review, the 13-study review also found large fascicle gains at low volumes^25,29.

Muscle growth, muscle by muscle

In 11 people after nine weeks of supervised Nordic training, MRI showed uneven growth across the hamstrings³¹:

Muscle	Growth after nine weeks
Semitendinosus	26%31
Biceps femoris short head	22%31
Biceps femoris long head	9%31
Semimembranosus	6%31

A study split 42 healthy young men into three groups of 14³². One did 12 weeks of Nordic training, one did eccentric training on a weight stack with the hip bent, and one did not train³². Nordic training grew the hamstrings by 11% and the long head by 5%³². The weight-stack training grew them by 18% and 19%³². The Nordic grew the knee-bending muscles that do not also extend the hip 1.9 times as much as the weight-stack training did³².

The tendon, and what fades

A randomised study split 30 recreationally active men into three groups of 10³³. For 10 weeks, one group did Nordic training, one did hip extension training and one did not train³³. Nordic training raised the volume of the semimembranosus free tendon (the part clear of the muscle) more than no training³³. Otherwise, it gave limited evidence of growth in the hamstring tendons or aponeuroses (flat sheets of tendon)³³.

Some changes faded after training stopped³¹. In 11 people, nine weeks of training raised fibre tract length (how long fibres run, traced on a scan) in the four hamstring muscles³¹. Those gains were back to baseline after three weeks off³¹. Semitendinosus was the only muscle whose volume fell significantly, by 8%, and it stayed above its starting value³¹.

Sprint speed

A meta-analysis of 17 studies in team sport players found a small drop in sprint time with Nordic programmes, about 0.04 seconds overall²⁶. The change was significant at 10 m but not at 5 or 20 m²⁶. The studies had some concerns or a high risk of bias²⁶.

Soreness in the first sessions

In 13 trained men, a first session of 24 repetitions lowered eccentric hamstring strength for three days, with soreness on days 2 and 3³⁴. A repeat session four weeks later lowered strength on day 1 alone³⁴. A randomised study gave 40 men one of four Nordic dosages for six weeks³⁵. The group that went from low to high volume had more soreness and other pain than the rest³⁵.

Progressive overload

The progressive overload page covers the principle. Authors of a study at three slopes wrote that changing the angle changes the force the hamstrings must make at a given length³⁶. They suggested this may offer steps up or down³⁶.

Two studies used help or added weight^17,37:

• A band, from heavy to light. One trial randomised 31 elite youth football players to regular Nordics or band-assisted ones, the band’s help going from heavy to light over 8 weeks¹⁷. Nordic strength rose similarly in both, and the regular group reported more soreness and effort¹⁷.
• Added weight. Another study split 30 recreationally active men into bodyweight Nordic, weighted Nordic and weighted razor curl groups, each doing 128 repetitions over 6 weeks³⁷. Weighted Nordics raised Nordic strength and lengthened long-head fascicles, while the razor curl barely changed fascicle length³⁷.

How much, how often, and how much rest

Studies have looked at training volume, frequency, keeping gains and rest^4,38,39,40:

• A suggested weekly range. From its 42 studies, the 2025 dose review suggested about 29 to 64 repetitions a week, usually over 2 to 3 sessions⁴. The same review judged high volumes unnecessary in the first 6 to 8 weeks for newcomers to the exercise⁴.
• Once or twice a week. A trial randomised 32 football players aged 18 to 23 to 8 weeks of Nordics once or twice a week³⁸. The twice-weekly group had higher concentric torque afterwards, and muscle architecture changed similarly in both³⁸.
• Keeping the gains. In 45 resistance-trained men, 2 weeks at 48 repetitions a week raised eccentric strength and lengthened long-head fascicles³⁹. The gains held over the next 8 weeks at 8 or at 4 repetitions a week, with no difference between the two³⁹. The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science supported it³⁹.
• Rest between sets. In 10 well-trained young male team-sport athletes, 1 or 3 minutes of rest made no difference to force⁴⁰. Within each set of six, peak force fell from the fourth repetition on⁴⁰.

What injury trials found

Trials and pooled studies found fewer hamstring injuries with Nordic programmes^5,41. A reanalysis judged the protective effect inconclusive⁶.

Trials and pooled studies that found fewer injuries

• 942 Danish soccer players. Professional and amateur men did a 10-week Nordic programme, then a weekly one through the season⁵. They had 3.8 acute hamstring injuries per 100 player-seasons (one player’s season of play, counted as one unit), against 13.1 with usual training⁵. New injuries were 3.1 against 8.1, and repeat injuries 7.1 against 45.8⁵.
• 579 male amateur soccer players, in a randomised trial. Teams asked to do 25 sessions over 13 weeks had 0.25 hamstring injuries per 1,000 player-hours, against 0.8 in the control teams⁴².
• Five soccer studies, pooled. Programmes that included the exercise were compared with teams not using them⁴¹. The pooled hamstring injury rate ratio (one group’s injury rate divided by the other’s) was 0.49⁴¹.
• Fifteen studies across sports, pooled. Programmes that included the exercise were compared with usual training or programmes without it⁴³. The pooled hamstring injury risk ratio (how many times more often something happens in one group) was 0.49⁴³.

A reanalysis that found the evidence inconclusive

A reanalysis kept the randomised trials of the Nordic and set aside other designs⁶. It found that five of the 15 studies in an earlier meta-analysis had randomised people to the exercise, and it added one newer trial⁶. After that update, its pooled risk ratio was 0.59⁶. The 95% confidence interval, a range around the result that shows how precise it is, ran from 0.27 to 1.29⁶. The authors judged the protective effect inconclusive, and mostly based on trials at high risk of bias⁶.

Connections

The muscles it works

In most of the studies above, Nordic training changed the strength, fascicle length and size of the hamstrings^3,31. In one study of 36 professional soccer players split across four exercises, the Nordic also raised the scan signal in the gracilis, by 39%²¹.

The tendons at the hip

All the hamstring muscles except the biceps femoris short head start from the ischial tuberosity, the “sitting bone”^19,44. A review states that the proximal hamstring tendons (proximal: nearer the centre of the body) are pressed against the ischium⁴⁵. The ischium is part of the hip bone, and this happens when the hip bends, as in sitting⁴⁵.

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Every source the library cites

Changes

• October 15, 2026 Revised. Adds Nordic variations (slope, band and machine assistance, fixation, eccentric-only, razor curl, weighted) and what dose studies found.
• September 29, 2026 Tidy pass: minor review findings fixed, glosses aligned with the reviewed glossary.
• September 29, 2026 First published.