The most important muscles for different Winter Olympic sports

• The athletes in Pyeongchang rely on different muscle groups.

• Curlers depend on strong upper body muscles.

• Alpine skiers require strong hip muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps, and feet muscles.

• Snowboarders use arm and shoulder strength.

• Cross-country skiing requires leg strength as well as arm, shoulder, and core muscles.

• Bobsledding is mostly legwork.

• Luge requires a strong neck.

• Figure skaters need strong abdomen muscles.

• Seed skaters are known for their bulging glutes and quads.

• Ice hockey is a full-body sport.

While everyone can see which muscles Olympic weightlifters and sprinters are using, the winter sports are a bit more mysterious.

How exactly do luge athletes propel themselves forward? Which muscle groups do curlers train to keep themselves in tip-top shape during the off-season? And what are snowboarders flexing when they spin themselves around mid-air?

Here's a primer on which muscles all types of Pyeongchang athletes are relying on in their quest for the gold:

Lauren Friedman contributed to this article.

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