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Riding-specific exercise

shadowkat57
shadowkat57 Posts: 151 Member
in Social Groups
What exercises do you do, or recommend, to improve your horse-riding? And what weaknesses do you need to address?

I'm a big fan of Pilates and Yoga, for core strength and general flexibility and body awareness. Ballet is great for this too! Plus bodyweight strength exercises - push-ups, crunches and reverse crunches, fire hydrants, clam shells, any and all core/ab exercises...

I know I need to improve my cardio fitness, so that I can keep going without getting puffed, and my core/pelvis/leg strength, to improve my position - I lean forward, and my left leg slips up and back, so I need to bully myself into sitting right! And getting my weight down would no doubt make these a lot easier, as well as being good for my horse.

Replies

  • AnnaE
    AnnaE Posts: 53 Member
    Much the same as you Kat...
  • Michelle_Padgett13
    Michelle_Padgett13 Posts: 417 Member
    My best complementary workout to riding is taekwondo. I take a class twice a week. It's an hour long, and the master runs us HARD for that hour. It's a thousand calorie burn that works your core, shoulders, legs, and especially hips. Nothing like 5 minutes of front and side stretch kicks to open up your seat. Bonus: you're working on your self-defense skills. :glasses:

    I also do yoga as needed to stretch and strengthen my core and keep my hips open.

    I'm also a runner, which gives my legs more strength and my mind more endurance. This translates to more endurance in the saddle.

    I haven't tried pilates, but I might give it a go and see what magic happens.

    Good topic. :drinker:
  • Michelle_Padgett13
    Michelle_Padgett13 Posts: 417 Member
    I forgot to mention that my hips are my problem after a fall 10 years ago (ALWAYS CHECK YOUR GIRTH BEFORE MOUNTING, PEOPLE!).

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