Nordic Curls for Soccer: The Hamstring Exercise Guide
If a soccer player has time for exactly one extra exercise a week, it should be the Nordic curl. It's the most heavily researched hamstring-injury-prevention exercise in sport, and hamstring strains are one of the most common — and most repeat-prone — injuries in soccer.
What the Nordic curl is
The Nordic curl (also called the Nordic hamstring curl) is a kneeling exercise where a partner anchors your ankles to the ground and you slowly lower your torso forward, resisting with your hamstrings the whole way down, then catch yourself with your hands. It trains the hamstrings specifically in the lengthened, high-force position where strains actually happen — during the late swing phase of sprinting, when the leg is decelerating just before the foot strikes the ground.
How to perform it
- Kneel on a soft surface. A partner kneels behind you and firmly holds your ankles to the ground (or hook your feet under a couch or a loaded barbell).
- Start upright, body in a straight line from knees to shoulders, arms held ready in front of you.
- Slowly lean forward from the knees, resisting with your hamstrings for as long as possible.
- When you can no longer resist, catch yourself softly with your hands and let your chest touch the ground.
- Push back up to the starting position, using your hands to assist as needed.
The lowering phase — not the push back up — is where the benefit comes from. Go slowly.
Why it prevents injuries
Multiple large studies across professional and amateur soccer have found that teams performing Nordic curls regularly cut hamstring strain rates substantially compared with teams that don't. The mechanism is straightforward: the exercise builds strength specifically in the lengthened position, and it increases fascicle length in the hamstring — both of which make the muscle more resistant to the exact strain mechanism sprinting creates.
How to program it
| Week | Sets x reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | 2 x 3–4 | Expect soreness — this is normal for a new exercise. Go easy the first two weeks. |
| 3–4 | 3 x 4–5 | Focus on lowering slower each week. |
| 5+ | 3 x 6–8 | Maintenance dose — keep doing this year-round, in-season included. |
Once a week is enough to build the adaptation; the biggest mistake is doing it hard once in preseason and then dropping it. Hamstring strength built in July fades by October without maintenance, so keep a light dose going through the season.
Common mistakes
- Going too hard too soon. This exercise causes significant muscle soreness in beginners. Start with 3–4 reps, not 10.
- Dropping fast instead of resisting. The value is in the slow, controlled lowering — falling forward defeats the purpose.
- No anchor. Ankles need to be held firmly, whether by a partner, a barbell, or a Nordic curl bench.
- Stopping after preseason. The protective effect requires year-round consistency, not a one-time block.
The Nordic curl is one of six movement patterns covered in the Strength Training for Soccer Players guide. For the groin's equivalent exercise, see The Copenhagen Plank for Soccer. It's also part of the strength block in the FIFA 11+ warm-up and features in ACL Injury Prevention for Female Soccer Players.