In all of my training with clients; 121, group, or online we do lots and lots of Glute work. That’s booty work to you.

Why? The Glutes are the biggest muscle in the body and a major stabiliser for the pelvis and spine. So that’s a stabiliser for your Seat, Core and Upper Body -pretty important for riding huh?

This also feeds into the reason we always start with the Pelvis when assessing dysfunction both off and on horse. The Pelvis is the foundation of the body and its stabiliser. If the Pelvis is not stable the rest of the body cannot be stable.

So it makes sense when training to improve rider performance with off horse exercise that we focus on working the muscles that support the Pelvis. Booty gains it is then!

If you’re working out in a gym you can’t beat a Barbell Hip Thrust.  

Using less equipment?

You can still do them using a Dumbbell, Kettlebell etc and swapping a bench out for a Gym Ball (Can be wedged against a wall to stop it slipping) or even the Sofa! Keep you Pelvis tucked under and your Chin tucked as if you’re holding an apple under there. Make sure you have equal push through your feet and hips and if it feels more Hamstring than Glutes bring your feet a little further under you. Do 3-4 sets of 10.

You have probably all seen that friend on Social Media or maybe you’ve even done it yourself. “Gym done-Arms day, 5k run…….Day 2-Legs day, had salad for lunch…..All out for a few days, maybe even a few weeks………then nothing. They didn’t carry on this new way of life.

I see this a lot, and the thing is, people do genuinely start with the best intentions but they tried to go too hard too soon. If you want habits to stick they need to realistically fit into your day to day life. You are unlikely to go from no exercise to all of the exercise over night.

If you’re thinking that you’d like to start healthier habits start small. Your aim is to make habits that stick for the long term not just a few weeks.

If you want to add exercise into your life be realistic about how much time you have to dedicate to that. If you’ve got a horse, a full time job, a family etc are you really going to spend 2 hours in the gym 5 times per week? It’s totally doable with some early starts and late nights if you want to do that, but it might be more realistic long term to aim for 2-3 30 minute workouts per week.

This is why my Online Programme has workouts at just 20 minutes long, so they are easy to fit around a busy life.

If you want to change your diet, maybe start with one meal; for example breakfast. You could try swapping your sugary breakfast cereal for porridge or eggs for a week, then once that’s just what you have for breakfast now try swapping lunch for lean protein such as chicken or fish and salad or vegetables.

Swap fizzy drinks for water or herbal teas -I’m working on this one myself!

Whatever it is, start small and aim for the long term not just a few days of Social Media.

What habits would you like to adopt?

Horses respond and take instructions from us via our body language and cues.

These can be on the ground whether just moving your horse around, doing schooling in hand and of course when on board.

Think about how some horses will move back or over just by you moving your body towards them with the intention of asking them to do that.

We give aids with our voice, hand, leg or whip. How we do that, what tone, energy or how accurately we do that impacts the outcome.

If we aren’t aware of our body language we can be giving mixed messages and be unaware that we are doing so.

When I’m working with riders we will often do exercises that although not difficult from a muscular strength view they are focused on precision from the movement of limbs and being aware of what separate parts are doing. When we’re doing regular exercises I will ask whether there is equal weight in the feet, are they level? If we do an exercise that involves stepping a foot out, does it land in line with the other foot or slightly ahead or behind?

Can you land feet level without having to look down and check?

If you do an exercise involving your legs and arms are you aware of what is happening with both of them? If you did a side lunge with your hands as if holding reins, do they stay still or move closer or further away?

Are you aware of how you stand when just watching or talking? Do you put more weight on one leg, do you habitually cross your arms in a closed posture or are you in an open posture? The positions themselves are not wrong it’s just being aware that you are doing them that is key.

Off horse training isn’t all about getting stronger, it’s also about being more in tune with your body and being able to use that information to communicate with your horse more effectively.

It’s accepted that training a young horse from unbacked to well schooled takes time. 

Yet so often people will train with me, come to my classes, start the online programme etc and expect things to change very quickly. 

You don’t expect your horse to improve from one schooling session so why would you?

If you were teaching your horse new things you’d teach it in small chunks and expect only a little bit of progress each time. Some sessions might feel like there was no progress at all, but you still come back to it and keep trying.

If your horse is coming back from injury you don’t take him from one session right up to advanced work in a couple of weeks.

These things take time, patience small steps done consistently to see real improvement.

You are exactly the same!

One exercise class won’t make you Lottie Fry! 

It might make you a little more aware of what you need to do or what your body is up to but you’re still going to have to keep taking small steps, putting in the work consistently and over time things will start to feel different. You can’t skip the steps in the middle though. 

Think of your own training like your horses training. Look at your strengths weaknesses, consider how to address them then start putting in the work with small steps consistently.

Miracles don’t happen over night, but if you stick with it you might just get magic!