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Fundamentals

Nordic Curl

Kneel with your ankles held, keep the body in one line from knees to head and tip forward slowly, resisting with the hamstrings. Catch yourself with your hands when you can no longer control the fall.

The knees and lower legs stay on the floor and the ankles stay held while the body tips forward as one line. The bar drawn over the ankles only shows that they are held; it is not a recommendation of any equipment. The figure returns along the same path; in practice you catch yourself with the hands and push back up.
Difficulty
Intermediate
editorial estimate
Steps to it
3 steps
Beginner → Advanced
Usually done on
Floor
Start with the first stepHow it is done

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach. 8 sources

The road at a glance

A short overview with links. Every step is explained in full under Progressions.

Helps to have first

A starting point: no other movement in the Atlas is needed first.

This skill

Nordic Curl

Leads towards

No movement in the Atlas builds directly on this one yet.

01

What it is

The Nordic curl, also called the Nordic hamstring exercise, is a lowering from kneeling. With the ankles held, you keep the body straight from the head to the knees and fall forward slowly, controlling the fall with the hamstrings, then catch yourself with your hands. Calgary's injury-prevention centre and the NSCA describe it this way.12

NSCA describes letting the knees extend as you fall. In a laboratory study of one athlete, bending the hips to 90 degrees lowered hamstring activation strongly (the study uses bent hips on purpose as an easier version), which fits the usual cue to stay tall from head to knees.14

This page treats the version with a catch as the main movement. Calgary's third level adds reversing back up to the start when control is nearly gone, and the laboratory paper lists many more versions, such as inclined, loaded and single-leg. The ladder below keeps to three.34

Research on injuries is two-sided. A 2019 meta-analysis of programmes that included the exercise, across several sports, found a risk ratio of 0.49 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.74) for hamstring injuries; its authors' own analysis of the randomised studies in it gave 0.52 (0.32 to 0.85). A 2021 re-analysis that kept only trials in which people were randomised to the exercise (five from the earlier set plus one newer) found 0.59 (0.27 to 1.29), a range that includes no effect, and called the evidence inconclusive. Neither report describes calisthenics practitioners.56

Tip forward in one straight line, slowly; extend the range only as far as you can control it.

02

How it is done

  1. Kneel on a pad

    Kneel on a pad with the knees about hip-width apart and the toes pressed into the floor. Keep the torso upright, the hips extended and the glutes tight.18

  2. Hold the ankles

    Have a partner press down just below your calves with their body weight, or use a rigid anchor that keeps your ankles and lower legs from moving.12

  3. Make one line

    Tighten the trunk and glutes so the body is one line from the head to the knees, and hold your hands in front of you, ready to catch.12

    CueStay tall from head to knees.2

  4. Lower slowly

    Lean forward from the knees, slowly, resisting with the hamstrings, and keep the line instead of folding at the hips.12

    CueLean forward slowly until you can no longer control it.2

  5. Catch and push back

    When control runs out, let the hands take the weight, like the bottom of a push-up. Push back up with the arms while the hamstrings help bring the torso to the start.12

03

Progressions

These steps let you record the version you do now. They are not compulsory unlocks or a repetition programme.

What to have first

  • No other skill is required

    Related skills on the map are optional. You do need a pad under the knees and an anchor for the ankles that cannot move.14

  1. Step 1Beginner

    Short-range lowering

    Lower only as far as you can control, then let the hands take the weight early.

    Technical note: The Alt study advises assisted or modified versions for beginners. A coaching article also names partial-range versions but does not say which part of the range to use, so this step is this page's own wording.248

  2. Step 2Intermediate

    Nordic curl with a catch

    Lower slowly through as much of the range as you can control, catch with the hands and push back up.

    Technical note: Full describes the movement, not a depth, a count or a speed.12

  3. Step 3AdvancedGoal

    Lower and reverse

    Lower slowly and, when control is almost gone, reverse back up to the start. Keep the hands ready in front as usual.

    Technical note: Calgary's Level 3 names this version but does not describe how the reversal is done.3

04

Community

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05

Common mistakes

  • Falling too quickly

    Lean forward slowly until you cannot control it, rather than dropping. Bracing the trunk first helps.28

  • Bending at the hips

    Folding at the hips instead of tipping from the knees takes the work away from the hamstrings. Stay tall from the head to the knees.248

  • Twisting to one side

    Rotating as you lower, usually because one leg does more of the work, loads the legs unevenly. A coaching article cues keeping the hips square to the floor.8

06

Variations and related skills

  • The anchor for the ankles

    Equipment

    The sources agree that the ankles must be held but none tests which equipment does it safely. One laboratory article describes its own anchor as solid and rigid, and no source read for this page tested park or improvised equipment. This page does not name equipment as suitable. Use only an anchor that is fixed in place and cannot move, slip or release, test it with small, slow movements first, or use a partner pressing down just below the calves instead.4

  • Lower legs on an incline

    Range

    The Alt study includes versions with the lower leg inclined by about 30 degrees. Its measurements come from one athlete, so they do not say how hard the version is for you.4

  • Isometric holds

    Range

    Hold a position instead of lowering through the range, for example where control starts to go. The Alt study includes isometric poses, and its easiest measured version, an isometric pose, produced 69% of the standard version's peak moment in one athlete.48

  • Single-leg versions

    Stance

    The Alt study includes single-leg versions; the highest peak moment it measured came from an inclined, bent single-leg version (154% of the standard one). Here 'bent' means the hips are flexed to 90 degrees, which in the same study lowered hamstring activity. These are laboratory measurements on one trained athlete; the study did a single-leg trial only once because of the high strain, and it does not describe them as steps for beginners.4

  • Weight at the chest

    Load

    The Alt study adds a 5 kg plate held at the chest. The athlete held it on a frame with no catch; do not copy it while you need your hands to catch the fall.4

  • Harness-assisted

    Equipment

    The Alt study includes an assisted version in which an examiner adjusted a rope attached to a climbing harness. It needs equipment and a second person; it is not a version to improvise.4

Related skillsGlute BridgeLunge

On Calisthenics Balkan

07

Sources

What this page relies on. Titles and publishers are written as published.

The small numbers in the text point to the entries below

  1. Nordic hamstring curlNational Strength and Conditioning Association · Exercise Technique Manual for Resistance Training, 4th ed. (Human Kinetics excerpt; no individual author named) · no date shown; read 17 Oct 2026; technique only, no regressions or safety text
  2. Nordic hamstring (Level 1)University of Calgary, Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, SHRED Injuries · contributor Carla van den Berg · no date shown; read 17 Oct 2026; its benefit claims are not used (research S-0105)
  3. Nordic hamstring curl with reverse to start (Level 3)University of Calgary, Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, SHRED Injuries · no date shown; read 17 Oct 2026; does not describe how the reversal is done
  4. Modulating the Nordic Hamstring Exercise From 'Zero to Hero': A Stepwise Progression Explored in a High-Performance AthleteAlt T, Roos T, Nolte K, Modenbach D, Knicker AJ, Jaitner T · Journal of Athletic Training 58(4):329–337 · 7 Jul 2023; full text read 17 Oct 2026; a laboratory case study of one athlete, its numbers describe that person (research S-0104)
  5. Including the Nordic hamstring exercise in injury prevention programmes halves the rate of hamstring injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 8459 athletesvan Dyk N, Behan FP, Whiteley R · British Journal of Sports Medicine 53(21):1362–1370 · 26 Feb 2019; abstract read 17 Oct 2026 through Europe PMC because the PubMed page did not open; programmes in team sports, not calisthenics (research S-0085)
  6. Why methods matter in a meta-analysis: a reappraisal showed inconclusive injury preventive effect of Nordic hamstring exerciseImpellizzeri FM, McCall A, van Smeden M · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 140:111–124 · 11 Sep 2021; abstract read 17 Oct 2026 through Europe PMC because the PubMed page did not open (research S-0086)
  7. Better Implementation Through the IP2 Network (Nordic hamstring exercise take-home box)Aspetar Magazine 2025 (online flipbook, page 106; issue number not shown) · Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Qatar · take-home box by Aspetar physiotherapists Oussama Skhiri and Ramadan Daoud; partial page read 17 Oct 2026; the same page also makes strong prevention claims that this page does not use
  8. Understanding the Nordic Hamstring Exercise, Part 1Morgan Williams (VALD data scientist) and Matt Bourne (Griffith University) · VALD Health blog (VALD sells a hamstring testing device) · 3 Mar 2026, updated 7 Aug 2026; read 17 Oct 2026; used for the kneeling setup, fault cues, partial-range and isometric versions

A note on safety. Some muscle soreness is normal at first and the hamstrings will feel tension while lowering; Calgary says this discomfort should not be painful and Aspetar says sharp pain is not normal, so stop if the pain is sharp. Use a pad under the knees and an anchor that cannot slip. This page's own caution: if you have a current hamstring, knee or back problem, get individual advice first, and do unassisted full-range versions only when your strength is adequate (the Alt study says the same). This page does not promise injury prevention (the evidence is not settled, see above), it is a technique guide and not rehabilitation advice, and the figure is simplified. It has not been reviewed by a qualified coach or physiotherapist.

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach.

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