NOVEMBER 2020 THE RIDER /43


Fitness for Riders: Improving Lateral


Strength and Control


By Dr. Heather Sansom We made it! This


month we wrap up our re- view of the six week ‘Killer Core for Riders’ integrated core training program. The final workout series in the collection is designed to bring together the skills and strength that you have de- veloped as you worked your way through your core fit- ness program. Core fitness is usually an aspect of your training, but some riders can benefit from spending some time focused on it as a kind of body awareness re-set. In my own physical training, I recently found that leg mus- cles I used frequently in other more intense exercises were over-active when I was riding. Consequently, I had to cease the exercises that were stimulating them off the horse, and focus more on core strength and finer mus- cle control. I have seen many cases where clients come to me because they need this type of solution because the ways they usu- ally keep fit have started to cause muscle activation or tension that works against their riding goals. The exercises we’re


focusing on this month tar- get your lateral strength and control. The first one is a side leg lift with a stepping over movement. It works your obliques and muscles in the outside of your thigh,


as well as the mus- cles in your hip that control rota- tion of your leg. This exercise is very useful for counteracting ten-


sion in the inner thigh, or psoas, and for helping con- trol your position laterally in the saddle. The second exercise


is the starfish, which is a static (holding) or isometric torso exercise that takes ad- vantage of the weight of your limbs at asymmetrical locations to train your torso stability. Although the exer- cise is done lying down, your torso (core) learns to maintain straightness de- spite uneven demand from one side. This is very impor- tant in things like sitting trot, or keeping or changing a canter lead. In these and other movements,


the


horse’s back comes up and nudges your seat bones at slightly different times. Less experienced riders can get nudged to the inside or out- side of the saddle, stimu- lated into compensating gripping patterns, or col- lapse their torso to one side. Instead, you need to be able to move a shoulder or allow a seatbone to move, without losing your basic, centred and stable torso position… without being rigid in your body.


Side Leg-Overs The exercise is de-


signed to really build hip stability (in the standing leg) while


also increasing


strength laterally (through the raised leg and side of torso lifting the raised leg).


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at the sky. Keep your body upright and facing forward so that your obliques en- gage. Allowing your torso to tip over would cause you to miss out on the full effort of the exercise. Count once over and back again, as one repetition. The exercise also


Leg Over 2


builds good strength in rota- tional


core muscles.


Strength in these muscles can be called on to prevent unwanted rotation (for ex- ample jumping or gaming sports), and also help you maintain control over varied terrain or in the instance of an unforeseen variable such as a spook.


Starfish Lie on the ground in


a position for starting a situp or crunch. Perform the crunch and hold the position at the top of the movement (head and shoulders off the ground). While holding the


It is important to focus on using your obliques and other core muscles to lift your hip, which lifts your leg.


Using a bar or other


object to force you to really put effort into lifting your leg around and over to clear the object, helps force you to use good effort. A com-


mon error is pointing the toe up and using the hip flexors instead of the side of your body and leg to do the lift- ing.


Only lift your leg as


high as you can keeping your toe pointing forward, such that when the leg is raised, your foot is parallel to the ground- not pointing


position with your abs, ex- tend a limb and continue to hold for 3-5 seconds. Work your way


around until you have used all four limbs. The exercise should


be done quite slowly, with an emphasis on maintaining core engagement with a neutral spine as you switch


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Starfish Leg


from supporting one limb, to the next. It may not feel like a dramatic exercise, but the asymmetrical loading will be putting your deep spine stabilizers into a pretty hefty workout.


Leading Equestrian Fitness since 2007. Fitness & Biomechanics Specialist. Personal fitness. Riding in- struction. Clinics. Mindset coaching. Available online almost anywhere


Starfish Arm


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