You see and hear them on TV every winter. Curlers. They’re loud and intense as they shoot rocks down a sheet of ice, use their brushes and wait for the rocks to stop moving.

It is a sport, but isn’t it just shuffleboard on ice? Are curlers even athletes?

The short answers: Not even close and they certainly are!

If you have watched curling over the last decade, you will have noticed that curlers look like athletes now more than ever. Just look at Brad Jacobs’ team from Northern Ontario, they actually appear as though they could be confused with Personal Trainers because their muscles are busting out of their uniforms.

So what muscles are utilized on the curling rink? For those of you that have curled, you’ll remember the two days after your first curling experience when you tried walking. But there are other muscles involved that you might not have thought are important to curling successfully.

Hamstrings and glutes – Grabbing a stone and then pushing off in the hack (where you release the rock from) to shoot the stone down the ice is where this soreness will most likely originate. It could also come from being a sweeper and being bent at the knees and shuffling your body down the sheet while brushing.

Inner thighs – As previously mentioned, moving down the ice while sweeping involves pushing off and sliding, heavily working your inner thighs.

Shoulders and triceps – Pushing down hard on the broom and sweeping heavily involves both your shoulders and triceps.

Chest – The chest is also activated when sweeping and especially the pectoral of your strong side.

Core and lower back – Bracing your core and keeping your back straight both during your shot from the hack and while sweeping is integral to your power and keeping you upright on the ice.

Calves – Both in your push-offs from the hack and propelling down the ice during sweeping, your calves will burn after an afternoon of curling.

Cardio – It may not look like it on television, but brushing with everything you have while moving down a sheet of ice does involve heavy cardiovascular effort.

If you’re thinking of taking up curling, don’t expect it to be an easy activity. Be prepared because even for the most fit, you’ll likely feel muscle soreness from using muscles in different ways.