Ask Al - The BEST Bodyweight Hamstrings Exercise
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- Опубликовано: 6 апр 2022
- Bodyweight Leg Curls, also known as Nordic Curls, Harop Curls or Glute Ham Raises are a great exercise for the hamstrings, but most people go about training for them in an odd sort of way.
Al Kavadlo explains a better approach. 
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Great modification Al, I've long been critical of Nordic curls for the same reasons you mentioned. Appreciate those medications for those who have an affinity for it.
This is the perfect video for me. I was going to Nordic curls today, which I've been struggling with. I can't wait to try this out! Thanks, Al.
Every other video explaining nordic curls expects you to knee hinge this right away, so I'm glad to have found your progression explanation. This helped me out so much and now I do enjoy the workout :D Thank you Al
Great energy and advice! Thank you Al ❤
Awesome info! Great and logical progression! So helpful! You continue to enlighten us! THANK YOU!
Thanks Al. Been thinking about a progression for this exercise. All the best! Respect.
Thank you very much Al. Much love and blessings your way.
This works and has given me the confidence in my progression. Thank you
great advice, thanks. Its helped me progress with this exercise
This is crazy. I tried these for the first time tonight. You are on spot on! Thought I was gonna eat floor. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!!
Amazing. Love the approach!
This is a great way to approach it. Definitely want to be able to increase strength in the hamstrings, thanks for the suggestion!
Incredible! Such a simple tip that I never thought of after all these years!
This is an excellent excellent idea. My glutes are on fire when I do this way as well. Been doing nordics for 10 years. People have been doing them in soccer training since the 70s and even before . Really interesting to see how popular this movement is getting in the gym
Thank you, hell yeah going to try it
I'm tempted to add the Nordic and Reverse Nordic to my routine now. I hadn't considered this way of going about it. Thanks!
Thanks Al - I am just getting started trying these and your tip makes a lot of sense. Way better than straining like the first time I was trying them.
Really helpful, thanks!
Thank you Al!
We’ll said. Always enjoyed seeing you in my body weight training books from over 10 years ago.
Al, superb advice. A ham tear at the buttock can take many months to heal while your whole posterior chain is off line. If your upper body is well developed, a tiny increment of forward levering puts you beyond what the weak ham can support. Bonus tip: set up in front of a wall where you can find the precise angle of failure. Then bounce gently back from the wall into the upright training range and repeat 2-3 dozen times quickly without a time consuming re-set from 36 face plants. Enjoy
Cant wait to try it
Great advice brother thanks!
Thanks Al. Very good breakdown! I do believe in the Nordic curl for brown and black belts but I fully agree with your analysis for beginners. God bless for your good work.
Great explanation 👍🏼
man I needed this technique LAST YEAR!!!! but never too late. thanks
Awesome! What a great idea!
AWESOME advice thanks ❤
Going to give that a shot! Thanks
thankyou it really does help
Great advice this..excellent method
That’s a good idea thank for this tip
underrated movement really helps build up especially for recovery from hamstrings surgeries etc thanks man
That's great, thanks!
Excellent advise.
So useful.... Thanks really
This makes sense. Thanks!
This actually makes a lot of sense. Essentially how I approach my other exercised. Ill try it out. ✌
Great idea. I will try and let you know 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Very helpful. Cheers
i've been scaling this with bands but this looks like it's worth a try too. thanks.
awesome video
You sir just earned yourself a subscriber 💪🏾
Great advice Al. I’ve been working towards doing them for 6 weeks now. 1 set is lowering myself as far as I can before letting go, second set I go as far as I can and then hinge from the hip and third set I stop short of max and then pull myself back. I can go further than when I started, gonna feel so good when I can eventually do them.
Woah nice tip. Great!
I love how you start with the “hey hey hey” 😁🤘
Honestly gives a very friendly vibe. I want to see more RUclipsr’s be just as friendly
Absolutely genius 👏 🙌 👌
🤯🤯Holy smokes! What an incredible exercise, I'd been looking for a body weight hamstring exercise besides the Nordic & this is absolutely incredible. Simple movement yet can be very intense, plus weight can be added by holding weights or a barbell on the back/shoulders. Thanks for the upload 💯🙌💪
Thanks Al, definitely going to try that. I drive truck so sitting all day for years has made me very weak. Working on strength training so I can just live life without the pain. 😊
Wow, this is so timely. I just started trying the nordics and I could tell it was way beyond me and using bands etc is awkward. Your approach means back to minimal equipment and much more approachable.
This is super helpful man I have really bad hamstrings I strained my right one SEVERAL times during my track career. I’ve recently been working on rebuilding my lower body & the nordic hamstring curl was that one work I absolutely could not do or my hamstring would cramp. Doing this is still hard but it’s much more feasible and I really feel the workout thank you 🤸🏾
why would they have you run track with weak hamstrings those quite literally are the muscles that run track
I saw the discussion you started on IG and it validated to me that hinging at the hip and extending up with a neutral back is the best way to do work up to doing the full nordic. My goal is to get my hammies to be stronger in the long positions. As I get older, as I do my little sprints, I strained my hammy a couple times. Doing RDLs didn't seem to help strengthen the part of the hammy that was weak. Getting strong enough to do a full nordic feels like it would target the week. I'm also using a yoga ball to push up on to use my hamstrings to pull my full body up slowly with a knee hinge. Single leg RDLs with a long, light band pulling back on my straight free leg seems to target what I need to strengthen as well. Thanks for pointing out that full nordics are very difficult and can take months to get strong enough to do.
Totally awesome 👍
Thanks Al, that is a good regression.
Very helpful earned a sub
Makes Sense for a newbie!
Thanks a lot!
Great point. I actually sometimes use this variation just because I feel it in my glute more.
Fair point. I am nowhere near able to do a full un-assisted nordic curl but I use bands as assistance. By reducing the strength of the band and the depth of the curl over time, I hope to be able to do a full nordic curl one day!
great tip💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💯💯💯
Been doing these hip hinge move and definitely helped me progress to to doing nordics 👍👍👍👍
Def helpful. I also get good yield from strict inverse leg curl “negative” reps
Hey Al! Love the work both you and Danny have put into your yourselves and your humility is inspiring! I am a 23 yo female, and have recently installed a pull up bar at home, and am following the get strong program, the program begins with chin ups in its second phase, and I have never ever been able to do a chin up, would love some tips on how to progress towards it. 🖖😻🖖 Love from India 🌺🌺🌺
Hey hey hey, Riya! Make sure you carefully work through phase 1 before moving ahead to phase 2, as phase 1 will help you get your first chin-up. Also, check this out: ruclips.net/video/ZG9vC6HrZ-U/видео.html
That is such a simple fix! Great idea. BTW, I prefer slick leg curls on a wood/kitchen floor, or a suspension trainer/yoga ball leg curl much more than a nordic style but I'll try this out for fun!
What types of leg curls are those you say you prefer? I really don't understand
@@rodrigoc.goncalves2009 ruclips.net/video/IrJrTx3dMPg/видео.html
@@rodrigoc.goncalves2009 lie on your back on a hard slippery surface. Put a towel under your heels and draw your feet to your butt. This should be easy, so once you get in the groove with the movement, try lifting your butt as you draw your heels in so you finish in a glute bridge position.
These are so tough! I'll try your tip for sure once I find something to hold my feet with. I saw a guy using a yoga ball to lean on for help
I used to do them this way, but personally I think it's better to reduce the load using an object like a stool or a band and do the full movement. When you do the movement as intended you are stretching the hamstring to it's full length while applying load to it. This variation reduces the stretch AND reduces the load. So it won't bring as much blood flow and adaptations to the area behind the knee for example, the ACL. To be clear, the variation is definitely better than just falling to your hands and pushing mostly back up, but I think reducing the load as much as is necessary for full range is still superior to overtly hinging at the hip.
Great tip! I had a feeling that i was doing it wrong,... because i couldnt lean more than a few inches. this is exactly what i was looking for
You can also do them on most lat pulldown machines, the counterweight makes it much easier to do full ROM
What I do is similar to the philosophy in yoga of "bringing the floor to you" with a yoga block. I place a medicine ball in front of me and lower down til I'm resting on it, then raise myself back up. I also do them where I start on the medicine ball and focus on the concentric phase of the movement.
Nice one 👍
Good point. Starting with a Nordic curl for hamstrings is like starting pushups by doing one arm pushups.
This completes my full body bodyweight program. I know have something for everything. OTR truck driver with very limited space.
Thanks buddy
Smart idea.
When I saw the thumbnail I thought this video was going to be stupid, but it's actually very sound advice. I'm almost at the point where I can do a full nordic after working at it for almost a year and this modification could have helped early on. I've found that using bands to still get the full range of motion has worked for me.
Solid advice. Dat REGRESSION
You can also use cables to help you with the progression, similar to a pull-up machine.
1) Bring your Nordic curl equipment over to a cable machine.
2) Grab a static workout rope (not a band) that has multiple loops in it.
3) Hook the loops up to the cable clip and wrap the now circular rope around your chest.
4) Set the cable weights to a relatively high weight.
5) Perform the exercise slowly. The rope wrapped around your chest and it’s cable weight you set will provide counter resistance to gravity. Play around with the weight until it’s at a comfortable level where you aren’t risking injury. You progress by lowering the weight, but be careful and go slow on progression. Last thing you want is a muscle or tendon tear.
If you don’t have a rope with loops in it, you can use a cable tricep rope and hold it around your shoulders/neck like you would during an ab crunch, but I prefer the former.
I’ve also seen and personally done the full RoM Nordic curl with bands supporting some of my weight.
I started by not bending at the hip , but going forward just 2 inches then back. Then, the next week, I was able to go forward 6 inches and on from there. So start with a small move and then make it bigger as you get stronger.
Commenting for the algorithm. I don't know how RUclips works, but I imagine that transcripts are part of it. I wish you had said "Nordic curl regression," and "how to regress the Nordic curl" a few times :-) Luckily, I'm a subscriber, but this simple truth deserves more views.
I can finally start trying to work up to a Nordic curl. I tried to do one the other day and I could barely get a quarter rep in.
I always found step ups good for hamstring activation. Gradually increase the height of the step and you have a ready made progression.
Thank you for the video Al. Definitely helpful, something I hadn't considered and will incorporate. I think one thing that is missing is that you seem to be focused on "working" the ham strings. I don't exercise for the sake of exercise. As far as my legs go, I want to run faster and jump higher. You mentioned other exercises as "working" hamstrings, what about fitness goals(e.g. jumping higher, running faster, or whatever they may be in each case)?
Thanks for the comment! I probably should have said “strengthening” instead of “working” as that would have been clearer.
Other than practicing the specific skills you wish to improve at (running, jumping, etc.) getting pound-for-pound stronger is the best thing you can do to improve your athletic performance.
Good points. As with many exercises, especially of the calisthenic type, through the range of motion the load is very uneven. In fact the hamstrings work all the way until your heels touch your butt but this is not addressed by the standard nordic curl. A modified version could be negatively inclined (placing the feet side higher than the chest side) and/ or do some kind of band assist to cancel out some of the torso weight on the 'down' end of the motion.
Another interesting question is, for which sports is which part of the ROM the most important? Thinking of distance running (my main sport) for example, strong hamstrings can help in leg recovery but I don't think it will do that much otherwise. Then again, I have yet to do my first nordic curl and we'll see how it goes.
I feel so stupid now. I've been trying to target my hamstrings and Nordic curls (or rather Nordic cur.. faceplants) have been my go-to move.
With the amount of reps I've tried to do one might think I'd have realized hip hinge here would be a good regressed version, but nope. Needed someone to point that out to get my 'Do-h' moment.
So thank you! Also, this conveniently changes the leverage to other direction as well, so not only is it doable with my strength level but also more merciful for my sofa that now doesn't lift off the ground when performing the reps with my ankles under it. Win-win.
Love that kettlebell art btw.
Kratos' nice cousin.
briliant
Hey hey hey Al.
What are your thoughts on feet distance during one arm push ups?
I feel that slightly wider than shoulder with gives me the best stability. However I have always wondered how would that affect the weight being pressed compared to a true feet shoulder width.
Also I have been doing hand release one arm push ups as they allow me to hit failure on the pressing muscles in a way much more analogous to lifting a weight. I can also do way less reps.
So between the one arm push ups and hand release one arm push ups, which one do you think has the most potential for growth?
Hi Al! Do you have an opinion on using pushup bars? Do you think it makes pushups easier?
Another good way to progress hamstring strength is through sliding legs curls - using sliders, paper plates, socks on certain surfaces etc
Sliding leg curl - weighted - one legged - one legged weighted etc
When I could do these well I wasn’t too far off, I then trained the Nordics band assisted and before you know I was doing strict reps 🙂👍
The kneeovertoesguy made the nordic curls such a hype in the last year, which is a good thing but also a dangerous one without a specific consideration like you and RedDelta did it.
It's like giving the 1-arm chinup such a prestige which is good but also kinda dangerous.
Just to be fair to kneeovertoesguy, their system generally has a big focus on regressions. I do think it'd be helpful for them to mention this as a regression variation. They usually recommend a nordic on an adjustable slant, which they now sell, or there's various other ones out there like the Nordic GHD from Freak Athlete (which I ended up getting since it can do a lot of other things as well)
I tried after watching. Great burn, and still difficult after 4 or 5 reps.
At first I read 'Ask AL' as 'Ask A.I.' because L looked like I and I thought it would be some ChatGPT generated workout lol. Glad that l watched the video and learned a lot from AL 💪
I see what you’re saying but a huge beneficial part of the Nordic is that it is a supramaximal exercise. The fact that you are constantly pushing your strength to the maximum in every attempted rep makes it a different type of exercise than something that you can easily do for a lot of reps. Even if someone can only hold it for a slight amount while on the descending portion of the Nordic, they are still pushing their strength to the max which just has different benefits than something the person can do for reps. You said in the video that the goal is to find something with less tension that someone can actually do well and increase the load over time but that is not the point of the Nordic. It is supposed to be nearly impossible for most people because that pushes the muscle to the limit of what it can do. In the same way that a 1 rep bench press is very different from a 10 rep bench press, it’s the same for the nordic. Or in this case, it would be similar to holding more than your 1 rep max bench and lowering it to your chest as slowly as possible, then having a spotter lift the bar back up.
I don’t think your recommendation is bad, it’s just not the same exercise. Also, I do think you’re right about being careful about hamstring strains, but with a proper warmup, the Nordic can be attempted by just about anyone. All they need to do is push as hard as they can through the descent towards the ground, catch themselves before they hit, and try it again. They don’t need to push up off the ground and try to make it back up as if they are attempting the full ascent of a Nordic. Just the descent is fine until they gain more strength.
On top of all of this, bending at the hip puts your muscles in a different position than if you keep your back in a straight position, and it also adds more stress to the sciatic nerve.
Hey hey hey Al. My question is for one legged squats (pistol squats or shrimp squats) people who are flat footed it is difficult to progress. Many times the knee goes inward when going down. What recommendations would you have for people who are flat footed. Thanks 🙏.
any tips for setting this up if we don't have a barbell and cinder blocks?
Hey Al :)
Would like to ask you what are your thoughts about slow negatives for hypertrophy (slow like 4-5 sec down).
Hi, I’m new to your channel and philosophy and calisthenics in general. I have not watched enough of your videos yet to know if my question has already been answered: do you feel hamstrings (or muscles in general) are not necessary to isolate and target specifically, but rather it is more effective to perform full body compound-type movements (pistol squats, etc.) to strengthen the overall leg over time? Appreciate your answer.
Not sure if this helps or correct but from what I have heard it's a great way to develop the hammies to prevent injuries.
I'm not against using partials or variations to build up to full reps, but this is an interesting idea. The hams stay under isometric tension while the upper body cantilevers forward.
Good alternative bro. I will burn out on this when I cannot do anymore nordic curls. I like the difficulty and challenge nordic curls provide too much to back down.
Great tip. Bought a door setup for these for 20$ on aliexpress.