The rectus femoris muscle is the most injury-prone of the knee extensors, especially in football players.

The reverse Nordic is a simple exercise that allows this muscle to be strengthened under natural load using the eccentric contraction mode. The starting position for the exercise is for the shoulders to be aligned with the pelvis and knees. From this position, you slowly and progressively bend your knees and continue to keep your torso and pelvis aligned until you reach the point of maximum knee flexion. The goal is to try to perform the movement as slowly as possible.

If the exercise is too difficult we can help ourselves with the TRX to perform the movement correctly, or we can use an overload to make the exercise more challenging. We can start with 6 repetitions up to 10-12 for 2 or 3 sets. With 3 training sessions per week we could see the first positive effects induced by the training after 8 weeks.

To perform the exercise correctly, watch the video dedicated to training the rectus femoris muscle without tools with an explanation by Federico Donghi, head of the Training Department at the Mapei Sport Research Centre.