WORK IT
Hurry hard and get fit
January 29, 2010
Paola Loriggio
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
One of Canada's most beloved winter activities, curling, is proof you can have fun while working out.
Curlers hold a lunge each time they deliver a curling stone, called a rock. To help control the rock's path, players furiously sweep the ice in front of it, ramping up their heart rates. All that motion on the ice requires a strong sense of balance.
"In the course of a game, curlers walk miles back and forth" along the curling sheet, says Vicky Marianchuk, 56, whose Brampton-based team won the provincial championships in Orillia last week. They will compete in the Canadian Senior Curling Championships in March.
On top of practising year-round, the team keeps in curling shape with regular workouts on the treadmill and exercise bike, lower-body strength exercises and lots of stretching, she adds.
They do a 15- to-20-minute routine after each game, loosening the thighs, calves, shoulders and back, "to keep everything limber," she says.
Low lunge stretch
1. Take a big step back with your right leg, planting the ball of your right foot firmly in the ground. Bend your left knee to 90 degrees as you sink into a deep lunge. Press your hands into the floor at your sides. Relax your shoulders.
(To make it easier, rest your right knee on the floor. For a greater challenge, raise your arms above your head, keeping your shoulders down.)
2. Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat with the other leg.
Toronto Star
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