Tip Easy Ways to Do the Hardest Ham Exercise Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Easy Ways to Do the Hardest Ham Exercise This hamstring move is notoriously brutal and it usually requires a partner Here' s how to do it anywhere without a buddy by Andrew Coates August 28, 2019August 31, 2019 Tags Training Notorious Nordics Build larger, stronger, and more injury-resilient hamstrings with Nordic hamstring curls. People who perform Nordics experience fewer hamstring strains and other injuries, making this movement a valuable part of an athlete's program. Be warned: Nordics cause serious muscle damage and deep soreness. Nordics are usually performed with a partner holding your ankles, but here are some alternatives when working out solo. A leg extension or hamstring machine will work well if there's adequate space in front of the machine. The padded roller offers a perfect resting point for your heels. A Smith machine works great too if the bar can lower to the ground. Use a foam pad on the bar to rest your calves against. Load the bar with enough weight to hold it in place. How to Do Nordics Begin in an upright position with knees flexed to 90 degrees and heels or base of calves resting against the padded machine. Bret Contreras recommends dorsiflexing your ankles (raising the foot upwards towards the shin) to place the calves in an elongated position. Maintain neutral hips throughout the movement. Place your hands in front, ready to catch your body at the bottom position.Slowly lower yourself through the eccentric (negative) phase of the movement until you can no longer maintain control. Emphasize tension through your hamstrings during the slow negative. Absorb the bottom of the movement by decelerating your momentum in the push-up negative, then quickly transition into an explosive push-up. Re-engage your hamstrings by curling yourself upward as the push-up momentum brings you high enough to safely load the hamstrings with your bodyweight. Begin the negative portion of the next rep. If you don't yet have the upper-body pushing power to propel the explosive push-up, decelerate the negative portion carefully and pause. Hand walk yourself back into the starting position and repeat negative-only reps. Take into consideration your bodyweight and torso length. Heavier and longer lifters will find this more challenging. Not strong enough yet? You can use a band to help out: A few individuals will possess the strength-to-bodyweight ratio to perform a full range of motion positive and negative. Use a weighted vest if you're a bad-ass. Sets Reps and Sore Knees Aim for 3-4 sets of 5-8 reps. Begin conservatively to get comfortable and avoid disabling soreness. (After your first workout with these, you're probably screwed regardless.) Increase as you tolerate more volume. Perform Nordics later in your workout to avoid massively fatiguing your hamstrings before lower-body compound movements. Don't be afraid to use some padding for your knees. Focus on the pain in your hamstrings, not the pain in your kneecaps. Reference van der Horst, et al., "The preventative effect of the Nordic hamstring exercise on hamstring injuries in amateur soccer players: a randomized controlled trail." Am J Sports Med, 2015 Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip Build Quads Without Knee Pain Got knee pain or recovering from an injury? You don't have to watch your quads or your leg strength dwindle away. Try these 3 moves. It Hurts Fix It, Tips, Training Ben Bruno February 5 Training Tip A New Way to Do Chest Dips The pin dip variation will hit your pecs in a whole new way, plus it nails the traps and triceps. Check it out. Bodybuilding, Chest, Tips, Training Kelvin King, Jr September 26 Training Tip Pistol Squat with Suspension Straps Trying to hit a full pistol squat but having trouble? Use this regression, then progress by using the straps as little as possible. CrossFit, Exercise Coaching, Legs, Squat, Tips TJ Kuster October 17 Training Tip 3 Superior Mobility Drills for Lifters Are your favorite mobility drills actually working? Try these proven alternatives. It Hurts Fix It, Mobility, Tips, Training Jon Habeshy June 9