Nordic Hamstring Curl
hamstrings
What moves the load, and what it costs
8.0MET
Hamstrings is the prime mover, with the glutes, calves assisting. The most effective hamstring-injury prevention exercise studied, and one of the hardest things on this site. Start with a partial range and expect real soreness.
Cue: Lower as slowly as you can and catch yourself with the hands only when control is genuinely gone.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·FILED UNDER CALISTHENICS, VIGOROUS·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files nordic hamstring curl under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 8.0, and at the top end of what a gym floor produces.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so nordic hamstring curl is filed under Calisthenics (e.g. push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups), vigorous effort.
- Take the category's MET value — 8.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 8.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Nordic Hamstring Curl: 8.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 9.80 kcal/min
SOURCE·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·REVIEWED JUL 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| HamstringsBiceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus | Prime mover | Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully. |
| GlutesGluteus maximus, medius and minimus | Synergist / stabiliser | Extends the hip (maximus), and abducts and stabilises it (medius and minimus). The strongest single muscle group in the body. |
| CalvesGastrocnemius and soleus | Synergist / stabiliser | Point the foot down (plantarflexion). Gastrocnemius also crosses the knee, so it works hardest with the leg straight; soleus takes over when the knee is bent. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Bodyweight. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · HINGE
- Kneel on a pad with the ankles anchored firmly under something solid or held by a partner.
- Set the body in a straight line from knees to head, glutes squeezed and ribs down.
- Lower as slowly as you can and catch yourself with the hands only when control is genuinely gone.
- Lower forward as slowly as you can, resisting with the hamstrings for as long as possible.
- Catch yourself with the hands when you can no longer control the descent, then push back just enough to restart the hamstrings.
- Return to the top using the hamstrings, with a small push from the hands if needed.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Breaking at the hips.
Folding at the hips shortens the lever and skips the hard part. Straight line from knee to head throughout.
Starting with full reps.
This is one of the most demanding hamstring exercises there is. Begin with band assistance or a very short range, and expect serious soreness from the first session.
Doing them the day before a match or a heavy leg day.
The soreness from eccentric hamstring work lasts days. Place them accordingly.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Progress — the next demand
This sits at the top of its progression here. Add load, add range, slow the tempo or go single-limb before you go looking for a new exercise.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 min | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: Calisthenics (e.g. push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups), vigorous effort — 8.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 8.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 9.80 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
This one needs no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in every travel and home programme. Every no-equipment movement is listed together.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the nordic hamstring curl work?
Nordic Hamstring Curl is a compound movement in which the hamstrings is the prime mover, assisted by the glutes, calves. Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully.
Is the nordic hamstring curl good for beginners?
No. It rates 5 out of 5 for technical demand — high skill and high strength prerequisite. not a movement to start with. Build to it through the easier progressions on this page; the band-assisted nordic curl is the usual step before it.
What can I do instead of the nordic hamstring curl at home?
Nothing is needed — the nordic hamstring curl already requires no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in any home programme.
How many sets and reps of the nordic hamstring curl should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the nordic hamstring curl burn fat from the hamstrings?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the hamstrings builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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