CalisthenicsIn review

Nordic Hamstring Curl

A kneeling hamstring exercise that lowers the body forward under control while the ankles are held down.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Knee flexion
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Advanced
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Kneel on a mat with the body in one line from the knees to the head.
Have a partner hold the ankles down, or hook the heels under a fixed support that cannot move.

Do the rep

Keep the hips straight and lower the body forward as slowly as you can.
Catch yourself with the hands when you can no longer control the descent.
Push lightly off the floor with the hands and pull back up to upright kneeling.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the body lowers forward under control with the hips straight and returns to upright kneeling.

One rep starts upright on the knees, lowers the body forward with the hips straight as far as you control, and returns to upright kneeling.

Breathing

Inhale before you lower; exhale as you pull back up.

Cues

Keep one line from the knees to the head.
Lower slowly; the control is the exercise.
Push less with the hands when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Bending at the hips
What you seeThe hips move back and the body folds forward.
FixSqueeze the glutes and keep the hips straight.
Straight hips keep the load on the hamstrings.
Dropping fast
What you seeThe body falls forward early in the descent.
FixLower less far and stop where you still control the speed.
The slow lowering builds the strength that the exercise is for.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if you feel a sudden pull or a cramp in the back of the thigh.
Stop if the ankle support moves.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Hamstrings · moderate confidence

Assisting

Glutes · moderate confidence
Calves · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight

Optional: Floor mat

Kneel on a mat. A partner holds the ankles down, or the heels hook under a fixed support that cannot lift, slide or tip.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A editorial reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 3, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_seated_leg_curl, the closest Wave 1 record.
Exception to rule 2: the CSV says hinge. The knees bend and the hips stay straight, so the record uses the knee-flexion pattern and the isolation_target role (rule 2, knee isolation), as ex_seated_leg_curl.
Skill tier advanced: rule 3 names Nordic curls. The CSV says beginner.
Failure cost moderate: a failed rep ends in a fall forward that the user must catch with the hands (rule 3).
The ankle hold is setup text, as rule 1 treats a band anchor: a partner or a fixed support. Coach review must confirm which home supports are safe, and the switch-on PR must decide if home plans may pick it.
The CSV allows duration. The record is reps only, because the lowering is the work.
The CSV muscle list is the family hint; the record lists the hamstrings first and drops the quadriceps.
The optional bench from the CSV is dropped; it does not fit the movement.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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