The hamstring stands out as a crucial muscle in the lower body, offering not just aesthetic appeal but also significant practical benefits in everyday activities and sports.
To uphold their strength and overall fitness, individuals should engage in consistent exercises, like nordic hamstring curl. This article aims to guide readers, regardless of their athletic proficiency, in enhancing hamstring strength and reducing the risk of injuries.
What Is Nordic Hamstring Curl?
Nordic curls, often referred to as the Nordic hamstring curl exercise (NHE), are an eccentric workout that involves stretching the muscle. The upper body is progressively lowered forward on the knees while the ankles are strapped.
While there are configurations made especially for this movement, you may still get the same effects with other options. It matters as long as your torso may move freely up and down and your ankles and knees are connected to a surface.
Nordic curls have proven to be extremely beneficial in lowering the risk of injury and speeding up the healing process from hamstring strains, particularly in high-speed sports like rugby, American football, soccer, and sprinting.
How to perform the Nordic Hamstring Curl
Follow the steps below to perform the Nordic Hamstring Curl:
- Begin in a kneeling position (you may choose to place a cushion beneath your knees).
- Position the ankles and feet under or on top of anything that supports and stabilizes the torso.
- To prevent overarching the back and bending at the hips, start by aligning the pelvis with the spine and strengthening your core.
- Lean forward slowly, lowering your body towards the ground without bending your knees or hips, starting from an upright and straight posture.
- Continue in this manner until your body can no longer be stabilized, pulling your torso back toward your heels until you are in the upright posture.
Note: We advise using a support band around the hips until strength and form are properly built up if you are unable to complete this exercise with your bodyweight.
Nordic Hamstring Curl Equipment
The following are a some of the most popular tools used for the Nordic curl:
- Nordic Hamstring Curl Machine: Also called a glute ham raise machine, or GHD, a Nordic curl machine is a metal frame that has knee and foot pads. The foot cushion holds your feet into place, making the exercise seem more secure, while the knee pad supports your knees, making the Nordic curl easier to do.
- Nordic Hamstring Curl Bench: It may be easily performed without a partner thanks to this flat bench’s pads, which support your knees and secure your feet.
- Nordic Curl Strap: A Nordic curl strap is a long, sturdy piece of material, generally nylon, that has a rubber “anchor” at one end and a foot pad at the other. To utilize it, loop your feet under the foot pad after slipping the strap under a door and securing it with the rubber anchor.
Benefits of Doing Nordic Hamstring Curls
Following are the benefits of using the Nordic Curl are:-
- Increased Range of Motion: The Nordic curl, often known as the “poor man’s glute-ham raise,” allows a person to execute the exercise in the most advantageous posture as opposed to use a GHD or a machine hamstring curl. This allows the body to move and engage the right muscles within a more efficient range of motion.
- Hamstring curls with a Nordic twist can lower your chance of injury: Using your knee flexor muscles, this exercise helps avoid hamstring strains. The Nordic curl helps lessen hamstring tension and increase knee joint mobility with consistent exercise.
- Nordic hamstring curls are quite flexible: You may use a dumbbell or kettlebell to practice a weighted hamstring curl variant, depending on your level of fitness. For a simpler version, perform the aided Nordic curl using a resistance band.
Alternatives of Nordic Curl
Given below are the few alternative of Nordic Curl that could also be performed are:-
- Assisted Nordic Hamstring Curl: This exercise involves wrapping one end of a resistance band over a solid object, such as a chin-up bar, several feet above your head, and the other end around your chest. In other words, the band helps you carry part of your body weight throughout the activity, which makes it easier to do and your body feels lighter overall.
- Razor Curl: Like the Nordic curl, the razor curl is a bodyweight workout that works the glutes and hamstrings. The disadvantage of the razor curl is that it calls for a specific piece of equipment called a glute ham developer, or GHD, which is not commonly seen in commercial gyms.
- Seated Leg Curl: This exercise is excellent for building strength in your hamstrings, particularly in the muscles of the biceps femoris and semitendinosus. It’s also simpler to learn and execute than the https://thetibbarguy.com because it uses a machine, which makes it a suitable choice for beginners who lack the power to do the Nordic curl quite yet.
In conclusion
A great exercise to target the hamstring muscles and reduce the chance of injury is the Nordic Curl. It is a difficult exercise, though, and demands good form and skill. You may learn the Nordic Curls method and safely reach your fitness objectives by concentrating on good form, pace, and development.
