Curling and Pilates have this one thing in common

Curling is another very common sport played through the cold months in Canada. The sport of curling originated in Scotland in the sixteenth century. It is a common way for Canadians to take advantage and enjoy the winter months. Of the 1.5 million curlers worldwide, 80% are Canadian. Curling is a sport that is adaptable to most ages and physical abilities and not only is a great way to keep fit during the winter but also a great way to socialize. This is something else curling and Pilates have in common, the socializing. Besides the socializing that

Curling is a very safe sport. The overall injury rate is only 3.5%. Curlers are seldom injured seriously to the extent that their injuries have stopped them from curling. The curling injuries that do occur are musculoskeletal in nature. The areas that are commonly affected are the knees, shoulders and back. Complaints about knees are most common among experienced curlers due to the deep knee bend and weight placed upon the leading or sliding knee. Adaptations are available to help throw rocks from a higher position but curling technique comes into play to minimize injuries. It’s common for curlers to rotate their sliding, forward foot outward to create a larger base of support. But you don’t want to rotate your leg out too much otherwise the stress on the knee joint will be too great. It is recommended to keep the rotation to 15 degrees. Also you don’t want to bend that front knee too much either or remain in that position longer than necessary.

• As with any physical activity, the joints are only as strong as the muscles supporting them. Regular exercise geared towards strengthening and lengthening all of the leg muscles will help prevent knee injuries.
• Stretching the back, arms, shoulders, legs and groin area before and after each game is also a good habit to get into to help prevent injury.
• Lower back and shoulder problems usually result from improper sweeping technique, poor technique moving and sliding rocks.
• The curling stones are made from granite and can be quite heavy weighing up to 20 kg. So slide, don’t lift the rock and bend at the knees while keeping your back straight.
• When sweeping a vigorous bout of sweeping can raise the heart rate up to 170-200 beats per minute and over the course of a long tournament fatigue can accumulate.
• One good reason for physical conditioning is to avoid fatigue.

Curling is similar to Pilates in that it is a mindbody exercise requiring both concentration and physical output. The exercises of Pilates provide a good form of conditioning for curlers. Pilates work on the reformer provides a number of good exercises to help strengthen and stretch the muscles in the legs and upper body to help with conditioning for curling and prevention of injuries.

Curling and Pilates Exercises

Reformer

• Eve’s Lunge
• Scooter
• Legs in straps
• Spine extension type exercises on the long box
• Back rowing
• many more!

Matwork

• Abdominals
• back extension exercises
• Swan dive

More on Pilates exercises later!