MAY 2010 THE RIDER /47
Fitness Tip of the Month for Riders: Avoid Low Back Strain/Pain
In last month’s piece we discussed principles that riders over 40 need to keep in mind for maintain- ing your maximum ability in the saddle. Keeping mobility in your hips by stretching them in all four directions daily, and build- ing some core strength were two key components in helping you ride like you want to.
One common area riders frequently ask me about is low back. Actual- ly, low back issues are close to top of the list for most people, whether they ride or not. However, if you have the pre-condi- tions for low back strain, riding will certainly con- tribute to the problems you may experience because of the unique motion of the horse.
Your horse’s back is constantly moving, pushing your seat in all four planes: forward and back, up and down, side to side, and depending on the move- ment under you, in a cross- wise pattern as well. A spin or tight turn for exam- ple, requires that your out- side seat bone move in a kind of diagonal motion in the direction you are steer- ing the horse. In an ideal world, your seatbones are independent of one another in much the same way the tires on your car are. This enables you to drop or raise one, while keeping the other neutral, so that the horse’s back can tip slight- ly as he rolls his ribcage slightly under himself to turn, negotiate terrain or yield to a leg.
The perennial prob- lem is that our hips tighten with age, restricting mobil- ity. One reason is the fact that your muscle to fat ratio is slowly sliding in the wrong direction. As your hip muscles slowly atrophy with age, your body uses tightening of ligaments and fascia (ligament-like tissue which binds, connects and surrounds muscles and lig- aments) to try and create some stability in your hips. Ligament tissue also becomes less pliable and more rigid. Your major pelvic joint, the sacro-iliac (SI) joint is not really a joint in the same ways your shoulder socket or elbows are.
It is more like a small gap or fitting area between your sacrum (base of spine) and pelvic bones that allows you to move your hips and back. The gap is
bridged mainly by liga- ment connection. As long as the tissue in the area is fairly flexible, and your muscles are both strong and flexi- ble, you have quite a range of motion. As you age, the area can become almost fused- like, unless you do something to maintain mobility.
While a good rider with lots of experience can sit a horse nicely to a very old age even with stiff hips, the biomechanics involved in the transfer of your horse’s motion up through your body are still at work. If your hips do not move adequately, something else will. In many people, the area that is most affected is the low back.
The problem is, the disks in your lower back were never meant to absorb the level of motion that your hips were designed to absorb. When hip stiffness causes this motion absorp- tion to happen in the lower back instead, it overloads the area causing pains, strains, and can even dam- age disks in your spine. Weakening back and core muscles also contribute to the problem.
So, if you are aware of stiff hips, or a tendency to lower back strain or pain, here’s what to do:
1. Hip Motion Exercises: Either stand, or sit on an exercise ball, but practice being able to move each hip in any direction, and both hips forward and back, side to side and in circles. I nick-name exer- cises like this ‘Elvis pelvis’. Two other great exercises are
a) standing on a stair so your foot is aligned side- ways, and one foot is in mid air. Use your core and hip muscles to drop and lift the leg that is not stepping on the stair. Stay upright,
and keep good posture in your spine.
b) Sit on the floor with your feet out and ‘walk’ your seat bones (and legs) forward one at a time (you are waddling on your cheeks across the floor)
2. Leg Raises: I actually refer to these as leg ‘low- ers’. Lie on your back with your legs straight in the air and slowly lower them together to about half way (45 degrees to the floor). Hold for a couple of seconds and start again. Keep your back and lower back pressing flat on the floor. If you are weaker, you may only be able to lower your legs a couple of inches. As you get stronger, your range of motion will increase. There is no point in going too far because once your lower back gets forced off the floor by the weight of your legs, it means your low back and abs have given out and are no longer benefitting from the exer- cise. You have moved into a zone of where you are putting strain on them needlessly.
3. Supermans: Lie on your stomach and lift your legs and upper back off the floor, hold for a few sec- onds, and place them back down. Repeat until you have a light burning sensa- tion in your lower back. Virtually any exercise that you find to strengthen your lower back or open your hips will be helpful. Use discretion. You are always better off to err on the conservative side and gradually increase what you can do, than to do too much too early and create more strain to the area.
4. Stretch your spine: Keep your upper back mobile too by stretching it backwards (over a fitness ball, footstool or edge of
your couch/bed). Stretch forward rounding your back to help your lower spine have an opportunity to flex opposite to its nor- mal curvature. Side bends (curve your spine left and right) will reduce tension in your waist muscles, which will further improve mobil- ity in the area.
CALL FOR TOPICS: Writing this column for The Rider every month for over two years has given opportunity to cover many different rider fitness top- ics. Many readers sign up for the monthly fitness tips newsletter, and from time to time riders contact me to tell me they have been enjoying the articles. I’d love to know more about the topics and issues that interest you for future pieces. From injury avoid- ance and recovery, to workouts for specific disci- plines, to biomechanics and other training principles, let me know what topics inter- est you (and why- What do you do with your horse? How long have you been riding?) Write to personal-
training@equifitt.com . Topics selected will be fea- tured in upcoming articles.
By Heather Sansom, Owner,
Equifitt.com Equestrian Fitness
EquiFITT.com offers per- sonalized fitness coaching through clinics and conve- nient online coaching available anywhere. You can get a FREE subscrip- tion to monthly rider fittips or download the rider fit- ness ebooks: Complete Core Workout for Riders and Handy Stretching Guide for Riders at
www.equifitt.com . You can also read lots of rider fit- ness articles for free at
www.equisearch.com where Dressage Today publishes my pieces as ‘Fitness Tip of the Month for Riders’.
OnTRA News Continued from page 46
attended seemed to bring less rings! The goal was simple, to have fun and to improve each time. Ribbons were not out of the question but rather just icing on the cake.
At this time there were no other local therapeutic riding shows to attend so Katelyn and Stanley entered in, as many local horse shows as they could and were often beat by further developed horse and rider combinations. Then one weekend, Katelyn and Stanley entered a class with several entries. It seemed as though something was different. When Katelyn took Stanley off the trailer that morning she firmly said, “We are going to win this class!” Her coach reminded her that they were there to participate and enjoy the day. Ribbons didn’t have to be the focus. But Katelyn was serious. She and Stanley were ready and wanted to win!
The class was so big it had to be split into two sections. This made the judge’s decision difficult, as many of the horse and rider teams were very good. Slowly rider and horse combinations were eliminated, but to Katelyn’s parents’, coach’s and friends’ surprise the team was still in the ring. Finally ribbons were announced. From eighth place all the way down to second place names were announced. “Maybe Katelyn and Stanley didn’t place?” Then came the final announcement “First place: Katelyn Hall Matthews and Stand By Me”. Katelyn’s parents, coach and friends thought, for a
2010 Challenge Series Hunter Shows
May 2 -
Twinholm Stables, Campbellville, ON, (905) 332-9679, Fax: (905) 332-6636
Twinholm@aol.com •
www.twinholm.com
May 16 - Milestone Stables, Campbellville, ON June 6 -
June 20 - July 12 -
July 11 - July 25 -
Aug. 15 - 905-854-0762 Fax: (905) 854-1796,
aoc@milestoneac.ca
Brightwater Equestrian Centre, Erin, ON (519) 833-2233, Fax: (519) 833-4408
info@brightwaterfarm.com •
www.brightwaterfarm.com Twinholm Stables, Campbellville, ON,
Meadowlarke Stables, Mississauga, ON (905) 821-0419, Fax: (905) 821-1796
info@meadowlarkestables.com www.meadowlarkestables.com
Meadowlarke Stables, Mississauga, ON
Halton School Of Equitation. Hornby, ON (905) 826-2889, Fax: (905) 826-0913,
haltonschooleq@gmail.com •
www.hse.on.ca Meadowlarke Stables, Mississauga, ON
August 29 - Milestone Stables, Campbellville, ON September 19 - Brightwater Equestrian Centre, Erin, ON
CHALLENGE SERIES GRAND FINALE HUNTER SHOW October 3, 2010 - Twinholm Stables, Campbellville, ON, (905) 332-9679 or
Twinholm@aol.com,
www.twinholm.com
WANTED
USED ENGLISH & WESTERN SADDLES Call us today -
2010 Challenge Series Hunter Show Dates
June 6 - Challenge Series Hunter Show #4 September 19 - Challenge Series Hunter Show #9
CrackerJack Children’s Hunter Show Series 18 & Under
July 14 - CrackerJack Junior Hunter Show Series #1 July 28 - CrackerJack Junior Hunter Show Series #2 August 11 - CrackerJack Junior Hunter Show Series #3 August 25 - CrackerJack Junior Hunter Show Series #4
Adult Hunter Show Series over 18 Years
June 13 - Adult Hunter Show Series #1 July 4 - Adult Hunter Show Series #2 August 8 - Adult Hunter Show Series #3 September 5 - Adult Hunter Show Series #4
For information, contact: Brightwater Equestrian Centre, 9575 5th Sideroad, Erin, ON N0B 1T0 (519) 833-2233, Fax: (519) 833-4408 email
info@brightwaterfarm.com •
www.brightwaterfarm.com
We pay Cash for all your used tack and
apparel! Mail Order is our specialty
380 Kingston Road East, Ajax, Ontario L1Z 1W4 (905) 686-0948 TOLL FREE: 1-800-661-9622 email:
picovstackshop@on.aibn.com •
www.picovs.ca
we have customers waiting
brief moment, there must have been a mistake, but it was true. They had won! Everyone was overjoyed with the pair’s success. Katelyn’s only words as she came out of the ring were “see I told you we were going to win, right Stanley?!” This only marked the first of many rib- bons to come. This horse and rider team truly lived up to Stanley’s show name “Stand By Me as they stood by each other through many more of life’s challenges over the years and developed true horse and rider partnership and not to mention an unbeatable friendship.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76