Curling for pleasure and health
If you have been following our previous articles, you have likely noticed a recurring trend. We are strong advocates of physical activity, whether it be through sport, play, or exercise. Working with an ageing population, winter often presents barriers to staying active. Due to weather conditions or safety issues with icy roads, Quebec winters offer challenges that can keep many of our patients fearful of stepping outside and less active. We do know that joining in on physical activity and social interaction is the best way to combine health with pleasure.
Today’s column will focus on discovering a sport that many of us know about but have yet to try — curling.
With the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics coming this winter, we will get to watch the pro athletes in action! However, you do not have to be an athlete to start playing. As an indoor winter sport, curling offers an opportunity to develop a skill that is easy to learn and safe. It is affordable and truly anyone can play, even those who live with mobility issues.
The basic rules of the game are simple; two teams of four players will face each other on the 42-metre sheet of ice and will slide the granite curling stone from the starting block, called the hack, towards the bulls eye target, called the house. The purpose of the game is to score points by getting stones closer to the house center than the other team’s stones. Players from either team alternate in taking shots from the far side of the sheet, each player throws two stones per end. An end is complete when all eight rocks from each team have been delivered, a total of 16 stones. Once a stone has been thrown, teammates may sweep in front of the stone to influence the trajectory or to increase the total distance traveled by the stone. The stones are delivered with a predetermined rotation, which allows the stone to curl as it slides down the ice, hence the name of the sport, curling! (http://curling-quebec.qc.ca/).
If you think curling is not suited for you because your back, knees, or hips do not allow you to deliver the stone low down on the ice, there is an adapted version called stick curling. Clubs are equipped with the adapted sticks; all you have to do is ask! A curler who plays with the stick may join a team of traditional curlers. Curling will develop your flexibility, balance, trunk strength and muscular endurance. Although the delivery requires technique and precision, it is the high demands of sweeping that make curling a challenge for muscular endurance and cardiovascular function. A curler can technically sweep up to 1.7 km per game! The intensity of the sweeping will vary but a more aggressive sweep for a period of 20 seconds can generate an average heart rate of 170-200 beats per minute in certain athletes. This is what is considered high intensity interval training and is known to have great impact on cardiovascular fitness.
There is added value in doing a training program to help condition your joints and muscles to the game. Just like golf, the movements involved are asymmetrical and repetitive in nature. David Behm, an exercise physiologist from Memorial University of Newfoundland, devised a training program for the Canadian Olympic curling team in order to best enhance their in-season performance. Components of the training program include daily hip and back stretches in order to benefit the efficient delivery of the rock and balance exercises. The program also included resistance training for the trunk, shoulders, hips, and forearms to be performed three to four times per week. Finally, to complete the program, athletes were prescribed high intensity repeated intervals of 30 seconds to one minute of aerobic activity followed by one minute of rest.
The winter season is well on its way and New Year’s resolutions are just around the corner. This season, why not try a new sport that is both enjoyable and allows you to meet new friends. In proper curling lingo, one would say, “hurry hard”!
Article written by Karine Tcholkayan pht and Amy Rogerson pht.
Amy and Karine are registered physiotherapists, both holding a master’s degree in Physiotherapy and Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science.