CalisthenicsIn review

Reverse Nordic Curl

A kneeling thigh exercise that leans the straight body back from the knees and returns upright.

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 extension
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Intermediate
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 knees hip width apart and the tops of the feet on the floor.
Keep the body in one line from the knees to the head, with the arms in front.

Do the rep

Keep the hips straight and lean the body back slowly.
Stop where you still control the movement.
Pull back up to upright kneeling with the thighs.

What counts as a rep

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

One rep starts upright on the knees, leans the body back from the knees with the hips straight as far as you control, and returns upright.

Breathing

Inhale as you lean back; exhale as you return.

Cues

Keep one line from the knees to the head.
Lean back only as far as you control.
Lean back farther when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Bending at the hips
What you seeThe hips move back toward the heels.
FixSqueeze the glutes and keep the hips straight.
Straight hips keep the load on the thighs.
Dropping to the heels
What you seeThe body falls back at the end of the range.
FixLean back less far and stop where you still control it.
Control protects the knees.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if you feel pain in the knees.
End the set when you cannot return upright under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence

Assisting

Hip flexors · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight

Optional: Floor mat

Kneel on a mat or a folded pad.

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_leg_extension, the closest Wave 1 record.
Exception to rule 2: the CSV says hinge. The knees bend and the hips stay straight while the thighs control the lean, so the record uses the knee-extension pattern and the isolation_target role (rule 2, knee isolation), as ex_leg_extension.
Skill tier intermediate: the lean needs thigh strength and knees that tolerate deep bend under load (rule 3). The CSV says beginner.
Failure cost moderate: a failed rep drops the body back toward the heels, and the user must control the stop (rule 3).
The optional bench from the CSV is dropped; it does not fit the movement.
The CSV allows duration. The record is reps only.
The CSV muscle list is the family hint; the record lists the quadriceps first and drops the glutes and hamstrings.

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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