There is no doubt that the Nordic curl puts tremendous pressure on the knee, and poses a greater risk of knee injury than hamstring exercises that don't require kneeling while flexing and extending the knee. Does the Nordic curl provide such uniquely amazing training effect for the hamstrings that the risk is outweighed by the potential benefits? No. sprained ankle due to sudden torque).Ĭertainly Nordic curls are more likely to cause knee injury than hamstring exercises that do not involve loading 89% of your body weight (and multiples thereof) directly onto the patellar tendon. heel blisters after a long walk in ill-fitting shoes), or when it is subjected to very high forces over a short period of time (e.g.
Soft tissue injury can occur when the tissue is subjected to low forces over long periods of time (e.g. In short, although use of the Nordic curl for hamstring training does not put pressure on the knees for extended periods of time, it does subject the patellar tendon to much higher forces than simple kneeling over short periods of time. People who advocate the Nordic curl will likely point out that individuals performing the exercise for hamstring development do not spend long periods of time kneeling on hard surfaces, but use a cushion under the knees, unlike carpet layers, tilesetters, floorlayers, and housemaids.Īlthough this is true, these occupations do not involve leveraging your bodyweight over the knee, forcing the patellar tendon and its bursae to operate while being crushed by forces equivalent to multiples of your bodyweight. Knee injuries also occur at a high rate among tilesetters (53 times that expected) and floorlayers (46 times than expected), other occupations requiring kneeling on hard floors. workforce, they file 6.2% of all workers’ compensation claims for traumatic knee injury, a rate that is 108 times that expected in the total workforce and the highest rate of any occupation reporting such claims. Although carpet layers make up less than 0.06% of the U.S. Housemaid’s knee is the name given to inflammation of these prepatellar bursa.Ĭarpet layers kneel to perform their work and the CDC reports that carpet layers frequently report bursitis of the knee, fluid buildup requiring knee aspiration, and a variety of symptoms that are caused by frequent kneeling on hard surfaces.
#NORDIC HAMSTRING CURL SKIN#
The knee includes four bursae, of which those between the skin and the kneecap are most commonly affected. Bursitis means inflammation within a bursa. housemaid’s knee––commonly occurs among people who spend long periods of time kneeling. As you lean out forward to perform the eccentric action, the force smashing the knee into the platform dramatically increases as your bodyweight is multiplied by a lengthening lever.Įxtensive kneeling on your patellar tendon is a proven cause of knee injury. Then you extend and flex your knee while the patellar tendon is being crushed by the load. When you kneel as needed to perform the Nordic curl, you put about 89% of your bodyweight directly on your knees , and this smashes your patellar tendon between your femur (thigh bone) and the surface on which you kneel. To understand why Nordic curls increase knee injury risk, let’s analyze the mechanical forces on your knees when you perform the Nordic curl. Nordic curls don’t scale as easily or finely as other hamstring exercises.Nordic curls have a poor resistance curve.Nordic curls don’t load the hamstrings more intensely than band, suspension, or sliding leg curls.Nordic curls increase the risk of anterior knee injury, particularly patellar tendon related injuries.After experimenting with Nordic curls, thinking about the physics/mechanics of the exercise, and reading about knee injuries related to kneeling and reports of research comparing them to other bodyweight hamstring exercises, I have concluded that Nordic curls are a dangerous and inferior hamstring exercise, for the following reasons. I would try them for a period, then give them up, never finding them comfortable. When I followed the ATG Knee Ability program during 2021, I tried doing them regularly, but did not like them.
I have tried Nordic curls off and on for several years now. According to some fitness influencers, mastering the Nordic curls will contribute to rehabilitating your knees and making them more resistant to injuries, while providing hamstring development unattainable by any other means. Nordic Curls) have become quite popular, with some people promoting them as the best of all hamstring exercises. Nordic Curl Critique Not the best hamstring developer
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