Pre-Riding Dynamic Warm-up, Part 1

Pre-Riding Dynamic Warm-up Series 

I wish I had known more about personal fitness and had resources available to improve my body's capabilities while I was competing as a junior. One of the main reasons I chose to start this blog was to offer a resource to riders interested in becoming a complete rider, which includes specialized fitness. I had always focused upon my horse's training while neglecting my own and don't want that to happen to you.

If you watch sports at just about any level, you'll notice that the athletes have a warm-up routine that includes dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching is performed by moving through a series of movements that challenge range of motion. In contrast, static stretching is a stretch that is held for an extended period (typically a period of 30 seconds or more), and it is most effective during the cool-down period.

DYNAMIC STRETCHING

1. It activates muscles used during workout. For example, a lunge with a twist is a dynamic stretching exercise that engages your hips, legs, and core muscles. Whether you are doing weighted lunges in the gym, or lunging for a soccer ball, the muscles involved have already been engaged during your warm-up. 
2. It improves range of motion. So if you feel like you can barely bend over to tie your shoes after a long day at work, a dynamic warm-up routine can help you feel more limber. 
3. It improve body awareness. If you don’t warm-up and hop into a soccer game, it may take a while for your body to perform optimally. Moving as you stretch challenges your balance and coordination; skills that could help your performance. 
4. It enhances muscular performance and power. Studies reveal dynamic stretching before a workout can help you lift more weight and increase overall athletic performance compared to no stretching or static stretching . If you are trying to get stronger, build more muscle, or simply perform better, a dynamic warm-up routine is likely your best bet. 

I have found the following dynamic stretches to be effective: 

Lunge with a Twist
As the name implies, this is a combination of two different moves: a forward lunge and a horizontal twist. The forward lunge helps stretch the hip flexors and activates the legs, glutes, and hips, while the twist stretches out the upper and middle back and activates core rotation. As you do the lunge, step forward, then drop your hips. Avoid lunging too far forward where your front knee extends far beyond your toes. After you have stepped forward into the lunge, slowly twist toward the side you are lunging for a more intense hip flexor stretch.

Knee to Chest
This exercise mimics the top of a running stride as you bring your knee toward your chest before striking the foot toward the ground. You can alternate each leg while stationary or do it while walking forward. Focus on bringing your knee to your chest by hugging your shin while stepping onto your toes with your opposite foot, which will give you more leverage.

High Kicks
High kicks help warm-up the hamstrings and improve range of motion. You can do them while alternating as you walk, or my preference is to be stationary while focusing on one side at a time. If starting with your right leg, extend your left arm straight out. Kick your leg up while keeping your leg and hand straight so that your toes hit your palm, while making sure to keep your foot flexed (toe towards shin). Keeping your foot flexed activates your hamstring muscles. Try to progressively kick higher, but complete this exercise while staying under control.

Hip Stretch With A Twist
This dynamic stretch helps open up the hips and groin while stretching the core, upper, and middle back. It's important for riders to open up their hip flexors due to the closed angle of our hips while in the saddle. Start in the push up position and bring your right foot up to your right hand while keeping your hips down and lower back flat. Take your left hand, twist to your left while extending your arm and reaching toward the sky. Come back to the starting pushup position and repeat on the other side. A possible substitution for this exercise is a side lunge to help work on your lateral movement.

T-Push-Ups
A T-Push Up is a great exercise to help warm-up your upper body, especially the shoulders, while also activating your entire core. Start out in the push-up position, and then lower yourself down towards the ground. As you push back up, extend your right arm toward the sky while keeping your left arm stable and your hips from moving down, or up. Bring your arm back to the starting position, do another push up, and then repeat with the left arm

Check out Pre-Riding Dynamic Warm-up Part 2, where I'll address shoulders. 

GIDDYUP AND BECOME A BETTER RIDER FOR YOUR HORSE!

Lower Back & Inner Thighs, Part 2

As riders, we all want to stay in the saddle, and to do that strong adductors (inner thighs and hips) are important. But in order to balance our bodies and avoid injury, we must also train our abductors (outer thighs and hips). Together, our hip adductors and abductors are responsible for hip stability and alignment. Women are at particular risk for weaknesses due to the Q-angle of our hips, which is the angle from the hip to the knees is V-shaped (knees go inward).

So let's review the muscles we need to train in order to improve our leg strength and make them look that much better in the rare occasions we actually wear shorts!!

The gluteus maximus is a hip extensor, which moves your leg behind you and it is also involved in the forwards and backwards tilting of the pelvis. The gluteus medius is a hip abductor, which moves your leg out to the side, and is a major player in the in controlling the sideways tilting of the pelvis.

The gluteus medius originates at the dorsal ilium, right below the iliac crest, and inserts at the top of the greater trochanter (top of femur). It is the major abductor of the thigh, meaning it moves the leg away from the midline of the body. The anterior fibers rotate the hip internally and the posterior fibers rotate the hip externally.

Gluteal Muscles

Hamstrings

Two super effective ways to train your hip adductors are unilateral exercises (using only one limb, at a time, such as a single leg squats or a one-armed pushups) and wide stance movements (when legs are more than hip width apart, such as a ballet squat).

I know you're thinking, "Get to the exercises already lady!" Here they are:

1. Goblet Squat: Stand with feet slightly turned out, hip width or a little more apart. Holding a dumbbell or kettle bell to your chest, squat down and let your elbows slide past the inside of your knees (it's ok if they push your knees out while you descend). As you stand back up, make sure to squeeze your glutes at the top (when legs are straight). Do 3 sets/15 reps, start with 10lbs-15lbs.

Goblet Squat Positions Movements

2. Single Leg Bench Squat: Using a bench or box, start in the seated position. Extend your arms forward, raise one leg and leaning forward transfer your weight into your planted foot. Once standing, sit back down slowly, and let seat touch the bench lightly. Do 3 sets/10 reps.

Single Leg Bench Squat Movements

3. Dumbbell Split Squat: Stand with dumbbells at sides, facing away from bench or box (or tack box!). Extend one leg back, placing foot on bench. Squat down, making sure your knee isn't going past your toes on foot that's on the ground, and knee of rear leg is almost touching the ground. Be sure to keep your torso upright during the movement, for it's a vertical motion. Do 3 sets, 12 reps. Start with 10lbs-15lbs dumbbells.

Dumbbell Split Squat Movements

Check out Part 3 of this series, where I'll unlock all the secrets to performing PERFECT clam shells, which will strengthen tidy up your hips and seat! Yay!

So Giddyup and become a better rider for your horse!!

Fight soreness with lower back and adductor exercises

I have vivid memory of my father walking a circle around a feisty Connemara, where the end of her dorsal stripe was announced by red ribbon at the top of her tail. He skeptical evaluated her out as if he were the kicking tires on a used car, pretending to know horses. I was the youngest of four, and the only sibling obsessed with horses. Thankfully, dad agreed to purchased Sweet Arrival, the name of this medium. Sweetie showed me the ropes by testing me every chance she got, but thankfully never hurting me.

I started riding when I was five, and have been riding consistently since then. Every time I return to riding after time away, I come away feeling quite sore from my time in the saddle. The sorest area is definitely my lower back, followed by my adductors (inner legs). So I'm going to give you key exercises to strengthen your lower back and inner thigh muscles-yay!!

Lower Back Exercises

Supermans (3 sets, 15 reps)

To begin, lie straight and face down on the floor or exercise mat. Your arms should be fully extended in front of you. This is the starting position. Simultaneously raise your arms, legs, and chest off of the floor and hold this contraction for 2 seconds. Slowly begin to lower your arms, legs and chest back down to the starting position while inhaling. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions prescribed in your program.

Tip #1: Squeeze your lower back to get the best results from this exercise. Remember to exhale during this movement. 

Tip #2: When holding the contracted position, you should look like Superman (or Superwoman 😀) when he/she is flying.

Superman Variation

You can also perform this exercise using one arm and leg at a time. Simply elevating your left leg, arm and side of your chest and do the same with the right side.

Plank (30 secs - 3 mins...Start holding for 30 seconds and work up to 3 minutes)

Hold your body straight (like in a push-position), and use you elbow to prop up your body. Be sure to draw navel towards spine and keep gaze just past fingertips.

Side plank (30 secs - 3 mins)

Start on side, place forearm under shoulder perpendicular to body and stack legs. Contract your core and raise your hips until your body is in a straight line from head to feet. Hold this without letting your hips drop.

Understanding Adductors (Inner thighs) 

Structure

The adductors are a group of five inner thigh muscles: adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus, pectineus, and gracilis. These five muscles originate at or near the sit bones and branch out to end (see insert) along the inner thigh bone (medial portion of the femur) and the shin bone (tibia). Together, they resemble an upside-down Japanese fan.

Illustration of Adductors

Function

As their name implies, the adductors are responsible for hip adduction. Adduction occurs at the hip when you pull the legs toward centerline—an imaginary vertical line along the center of the body dividing the left and right sides. Any time you bring the legs together, the hips are adducted. The hips are adducted when you’re sitting in a chair with your legs crossed. 

Strengthen

As an example, when you strengthen a muscle by lifting weights, tiny micro-tears develop in the muscle fibers. When you rest after strengthening, the body sends the necessary nutrients to repair the damage to that muscle, and to stimulate its growth to prevent future damage. It is this process of repairing the micro-tears that strengthens the muscle.

Anytime you pull the legs toward centerline—in or out of the gym—the adductors are strengthened. In everyday life, the adductors are strengthened each time you stand on one leg while removing gum from the bottom of your shoe, ride horseback (squeezing the horse with your legs for stability) or squeeze the legs together while trying on a too-tight skirt. In the gym, popular adductor-strengthening exercises include clamshells, adductor side-lying leg lifts, standard squats, and chair pose in yoga. In all these scenarios, the legs are moving toward centerline.

Adductor Exercises using a Pilates Ring or Ball (like the one used for kickball)

V-Sit Hold (30 secs - 3 mins)

Start in a seated position with your knees bent and feet slightly raised above the floor. Your chest should be open and lifted. With your arms by your sides, slowly unfold from your seated v by simultaneously lowering your torso and legs toward the floor. Stop when your legs are around a 45-degree angle, or when you feel your lower back arch away from the floor.

If you’ve ever held a V-sit, then you know how challenging it is for your core. But if you place a power ring between your feet and hold the V-sit, your inner thighs are going to be working just as hard as those abs! This is one of the greatest exercises for inner thighs!

Standing Leg Presses (30 secs - 3 mins)

If you want to make the side leg presses more challenging, you can do them while standing up by placing the circle around your legs just above your ankles. Now press the circle outward and make sure you are standing upright throughout the exercise. Don’t forget to engage your core! 

Roll-Up (30 secs - 3 mins)

The roll-up is a traditional Pilates exercise, but when you add a power ring to it, you can effectively engage your upper body as well. Lie flat on your back with your arms extended overhead. Inhale arms to the sky, exhale and slowly roll up into a “C” curve reaching for your toes. (Think about threading your belly button to your spine, and activate your transverse abdominus.)
Inhale and start to slowly go back in a C curve. Exhale as you uncurl your body one vertebra at a time back into the mat. The key is to keep your feet on the ground. Use your abs and back to gracefully articulate down to the mat and avoid using your hip flexors and glutes. If you have trouble keeping your feet on the ground, have someone hold your feet or use a resistance band around your feet and hold the handles in your hand. Or bend your knees as you come up. It’s always okay to modify!

Hip Bridge (30 secs - 3 mins)

This is another pilates staple that intensifies with the addition of a power ring. Lying on your back with knees bent, place pilates ring or ball between your thighs just above your knees. Lift hips off floor while squeezing the ring or ball.

Be sure to read Part 2 of this lower back and inner thigh series. I will go into further detail and provide more exercises.

Become a better rider for your horse! 

Ankle Flexibility & Stability

Heels Down!! Who hasn't heard this during our lessons?? We spend hours with our feet in stirrups focused on lengthening our calf muscles in order to create stability in the saddle. What most people don't realize is how ankle mobility and flexibility affects their entire body. Improving your ankle strength and mobility will positively impact how you ride. 

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Ankle pain and dysfunction can cause issues all along the kinetic chain. Our ankles connect the foot to the lower leg bones (tibia & fibula) and they form the lower portion of the knee joint. So any ankle injuries or issues affect the knee joint. Where the tibia and fibula meet in the knee joint also connects to the femur, which affects the upper leg and pelvis. Movement of the pelvis affects the sacroiliac joint, which connects to the spine. This connection affects the movement and position of the spine as well as the shoulder girdle, head and neck. 

In order to address any issues, start by foam rolling (see below for defintions of words in bold) the surrounding areas of your ankles, which should include the soles of your feet and calves. Tight calves, hamstrings and feet can really restrict the fascia of the ankle joint. You can promote circulation and elongate the the muscle fibers in these areas by rolling the soles of your feet and the muscles of your calves (gastrocnemius and soleus). This allows myofascial release, which addresses:

• Tightness of the tissues that restricts motion or pulls the body out of alignment, causing individuals to favor and overuse one hip or shoulder, for example
• A sense of excessive pressure on muscles or joints that produces pain
• Pain in any part or parts of the body, including headache or back pain

Myofascial pain can have two sources. Pain can be generated from the skeletal muscle or connective tissues that are 'bound down' by tight fascia. In addition, pain can also be generated from damaged myofascial tissue itself, sometimes at a 'trigger point' where a contraction of muscle fibers has occurred. In either case, the restriction or contraction inhibits blood flow to the affected structures, thus accentuating the contraction process further unless the area is treated. While foam rolling, be sure to allow time to focus on trigger points which exhibit more pain by resting the foam roller on them and taking deep breaths for at least 30 seconds.

You want to have direct pressure on these areas so the best mobility tools are going to be a lacrosse ball or a hand-held roller. Sit on the ground, cross one leg over the other and start by placing your calf on a lacrosse ball. Apply pressure to the ball as you roll it up, down, forward and back over the muscles of your calves. After spending about 2 minutes on this area, switch legs and do the same to your other leg. Be sure to focus on any tender areas by keeping pressure on them for at least 30 seconds and taking deep breaths. 

If you do not feel any relief, I suggest focusing on rolling the bottom of your feet. You can either purchase a nubby ball (Amazon has a good selection for a great price) the size of a golf ball, or use an actual golf ball if handy. The fascia encapsulating your feet can become very tight over time, so rolling a ball on the soles of your feet while sitting can be very beneficial. If you feel pain in your heels or cramping, this may indicate lower back issues, which I will address soon. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have about this in the comment section below.

After you finish rolling, move on to stretching and dynamic movements (I'll address dynamic stretching soon). I'm a big fan of ankle windshield wipers: sit on the ground with legs straight and move your ankles left to right, like wipers on a car windshield. Then move them forward and back (point then pull toes towards shins), and finally, invert/evert, pull inside of feet towards inner calf, then outside of foot towards outer calf. 

Another highly effective exercise is heel lifts on a set of steps. Be sure to keep the same rate of speed as you raise and lower your heels. Start working both legs together and once you feel it's easy to do 3 sets of 20 reps, progress to one leg for 3 sets 15-20 reps. 

More Ankle Strengthening Exercises:

1. Walk forward and backwards for 20-30 steps

2. Walk forward and backwards with toes turned out for 20-30 steps

3. Walk forward and backwards with toes turned in for 20-30 steps

4. Walk sideways for 20-30 steps

5. Stand with toes pointed inwards (pigeon toed) while swinging arms and rotating torso 20-30 times

6. Stand with toes pointing outwards while swinging arms and rotating torso 20-30 times

Most importantly, I want you to feel good about all this extra work you're doing outside of the barn because it WILL make a difference in your performance!

*Fascia is the soft tissue component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body and that is part of a body wide tensional force transmission system.

Foam rolling is the most popular form of self-myofascial release, which is the type of myofascial release that is performed by the individual on themselves rather than by a practitioner.

To foam roll properly, apply moderate pressure to a specific muscle or muscle group using the roller and your bodyweight. You should roll slowly, no more than one inch per second. When you find areas that are tight or painful, pause for several seconds and relax as much as possible.You should slowly start to feel the muscle releasing, and after 5-30 seconds the discomfort or pain should lessen.

*Self-myofascial release is a fancy term for self-massage to release muscle tightness or trigger points. This method can be performed with a foam roller, lacrosse ball, Theracane, or your own hands. By applying pressure to specific points on your body you are able to aid in the recovery of muscles and assist in returning them to normal function. Normal function means your muscles are elastic, healthy, and ready to perform at a moment’s notice.

Trigger points are specific “knots” that form in muscles. They are unique and can be identified because they will refer pain. Pain referral, for our purposes, can most easily be described as the pain felt when pressure is applied to one area of the body, but the pain is felt or radiated in another area.

A common example of a trigger point is felt while foam rolling your iliotibial (IT) band as it causes pain to radiate up to the hip or all the way down the leg to the ankle. When rolling or working on tight/sore muscles you will experience discomfort or pain. Think of it like the pain you get while stretching. It should be uncomfortable, but not unbearable, and when you are done it should feel better.

What Causes Trigger Points and Tight Muscles?

Both have the same contributing factors including training, flexibility, movement patterns, posture, nutrition, hydration, rest, stress, and other lifestyle factors. Our bodies learn to compensate for what we throw at them every day, but we can exceed our ability to recover via too many intense workouts, poor posture, and other lifestyle factors.

How Does Self-Myofascial Release Work?

Deep compression helps to break up or relax tight muscles and adhesions formed between muscle layers and their surroundings. Imagine you are tenderizing your own muscles. They should be soft and supple like a baby’s muscles. However, if our muscles are not taken care of properly we can experience loss of flexibility, adhesions, and painful movement.

The deep compression of self-myofascial release allows normal blood flow to return and the restoration of healthy tissue. The body naturally wants to be healthy and strong, but sometimes an extra boost is needed to achieve optimal muscle and tissue health.

Giddyup and become a better rider for your horse!!

Focus on Your Fitness for Success in the Ring

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I would spend so many long days at the barn riding and prepping horses that the last thing I felt like doing was going to the gym. Wasn't all the riding and barn work enough? As we all know, training our horses is crucial to our performance in the show ring. Anyone who has started a green horse knows that getting them prepared and fit is a massive undertaking. So, I ask, why don't we do the same for ourselves?


Being a petite chick, I quickly understood what an asset overall strength is when riding a big strong horse (or strong-willed pony for that matter!)
Of course we know how to leverage the strength we already possess from thousands of lessons, but what if you could improve your performance in the saddle and address any potential or current injuries or discomfort outside of the ring? I'd bet I would hear a resounding YES!!!!"

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ride multiple horses a day, but some of you may only have a lesson 1-2x/week. How do you improve your performance when statistics show that one needs to practice AT LEAST 3x/week in order for your body to commit the movement to memory??

Well, I have the answer, and it's found at the gym.

I'm here to help you, so stick with me. I will address common riding issues and give you answers that can be solved in the gym, at home or at the barn. I promise you'll see incredible gains in your riding once you focus on your fitness and flexibility.


Become a better rider for your horse!! Giddyup!!