Often a question I get asked in clinic, "What way should my foot be placed during Nordics"
Having your foot flat (dorsiflexion), a faster failure of the Nordic exercise was more evident compared to pointing foot (plantarflexion ) (Nishida et al. 2022).
This makes sense because if your foot is in plantarflexion you will get both recruitment of your calf muscles and hamstring muscles. Where as if your foot is in dorsiflexion you will get less recruitment of your calf muscles.
Interestingly there was no difference in recruitment of the hamstring muscles between foot positions.
The Nordic is no different to any other exercise in that varied range, foot positions, frequencies and intensities should be varied throughout your training plan. You never train the same all year around therefore your strength training should never be the same.