DECEMBER 2018 THE RIDER /47 Rider Fitness: peating exercises, take


breaks, or fix problems cre- ated by your body fatiguing or sending mixed signals to your horse, you get even fewer productive minutes up there. First, being active is a


By Heather Sansom Recently, we looked at


some of the differences between fitness routines for professional riders, and suitable workouts for amateur riders. In a nutshell, pro- fessional riders need to use fit- ness to unwind, while amateur riders use it to wind up. I’ll ex- plain, and then share a workout plan with you for a rider who only gets to ride 1-2 times a week.


Professionals need to use


their training to prevent repetitive strain injuries, and to maintain a muscle capacity greater than what they need in any single ride. Short workouts that are more in- tense are my usual recommenda- tion. The balance and proportion of focus on strength, stamina, flexibility or other corrective training is then set based on the rider’s discipline and individual needs.


Workouts for amateur rid-


ers are a little different. They are usually more about making sure your body is sufficiently tuned to be able to get the most out of your ride. Most amateurs do not get enough saddle-time to reach rid- ing goals at the same pace as a professional rider. As a result, you need something else to keep you physically and mentally, sharp and provide you the stam- ina to stay sharp through your ride. Injury prevention is impor- tant, but when you are only in the saddle one or a few times a week, every minute is at a premium as far as your ability to use it to progress. If you have to keep re-


start. Move your body more, in many different ways if you can’t be moving it in a saddle as often as you’d like. That said, I’ve worked with peo- ple that ‘moonlight’ from their riding in other sports they take seriously or semi- seriously, such as running.


Not all cross-training benefits your riding. Some of it can create tightness or imbalances that are not good for your riding. I love tennis, but I had to


really minimize it in my life and just play now and then because I can’t play equally with both hands. That makes tennis an ac- tivity that promotes one-sided- ness, reinforcing a right hand dominance I’m always working against when I’m riding. So, even though I let myself play now and then for cardio and fun, I make sure I do something more equally bilateral after I’ve played tennis, and before I ride. Some of my clients have developed imbal- anced hip muscles from tight psoas and weak gluteals doing long distance running, and it’s worked against their riding. So we’ve had to develop plans for them that ensure that their train- ing for their run event is not dur- ing an important show season. In another example, one of


my clients that played polo had to scale back his hockey season so that he didn’t risk a hockey injury that would cause him to hang up his mallet. On the other hand, he kept playing hockey in the polo off-season, because it was great for balance, co-ordination, car- dio-vascular stamina and team skills which he also needed for polo. What was missing for him between the two activities though, was more work on his core strength. The other category of am-


ateur rider that I meet is the one who loves riding, and is not really


This plan follows my


‘rider fitness training scale’ © . In the scenario with my Infre- quent Rider, the strength areas we started with were her back and shoulders. The area of tight- ness that we focused on was her psoas and adductors (hip flexors and inner thigh). She also had some asymmetry in her back, so she will spend the first few weeks of her training balancing her body in preparation to take on more. Fitting fitness into her schedule is also new, so to make it achievable we have kept the workouts short. If you are a rider who is


all that sporty otherwise. They may have active lifestyles, but they ride because they are drawn to riding, and by definition are not interested in gym workouts or group fitness. By the time these riders are into their 30’s and older though, they need some fitness activities to prevent aging, stiff- ness and muscle atrophy from re- ducing their potential as a rider. My sample client for this month’s newsletter is in that boat. She is not alone.


I mostly develop


home-based workout plans for clients because a large percentage of riders fit that profile. My sample client, I’ll call


her Infrequent Rider, because she is able to ride 1-2 times a week commutes to a job in a nearby city (45 minutes each way), where she sits at a desk all day. She is a healthy body-weight and leads a relatively active life, walking on the weekends. How- ever, sitting in a car and at work has tightened her hip flexors. Also, she doesn’t do any of what I call deliberate acts of exercise. When we did an assessment fit- ness test, she had weak arms and


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shoulders, a weak core, and was very tight in the hips. This state puts her at risk for shoulder and back injuries or strain while rid- ing and working around the horse. It also compromises her ability to properly sit her horse. To help her ease into the habit of training her body, we start sim- ple. Here is an example of the workout plan that she (and many clients like her) would use:


First three weeks: establish a daily habit of stretching and core strength training for at least 15 minutes. You can’t add power or strength demands on a body that has noticeable asymmetry, weak- ness around joints, or lack of core engagement because you’ll put the spine at joints at risk. Also, this is a major lifestyle change for her, and it takes time to be- come a habit.


Week 1: Core and stretching


only. Week 2: Add 2-3 basic strength exercises that target trouble spots, and 2-3 deeper stretch ex- ercises that do the same. Main- tain the routine and slowly build stamina for Weeks Two and Three. Week 4: Increase core strength training load, and scale back to 4 days a week. Increase strength training routine, and drop to two days a week. Introduce cardio component for 15 minutes, three times a week. Week 5: increase core strength training load but drop to three days a week. Build on strength training and switch to alternating with the core workout days. In- crease cardio to 20-30 minutes, but drop to twice a week. Week 6: Shift core training to maintenance mode. Shift the rest of the workout to more disci- pline-specific, or related to spe- cific riding issues.


just starting to take your fitness seriously, the best way to get started is to just get started with something you are likely to enjoy and keep up. The biggest hurdle is the habit. They say it takes three weeks to create a habit. I find it takes something more like three months to make it a lifestyle, and about 6-12 months for it to be the real ‘new you’. If you want some ideas for


stretching or core training, you can download my ebooks on those


topics at


www.equifitt.com/ebooks4rid- ers/ . You can also use just about any resource for stretching and core training available to you. The key is to do it and to monitor your progress. Happy riding and train-


ing! You have it in you!


© Heather R. Sansom, PhD. www.equifitt.com


Personal Trainer, Riding Coach, Recreation Therapist Fitness, biomechanics and riding instruction. Personalized Coaching Available online Check out the 9 week rider fit- ness plan book- available in print or


as a download!: www.equifitt.com/fit2ride/ Staying Ready to Ride When You Aren’t Riding Enough


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