As Core Stability is mentioned so much when we discuss rider fitness it is often a surprise that I do so little ab work in my sessions. 

The thing is, although the abdominals are indeed an important part of your stability as a rider they are not working in isolation. 

The Abdominals are working in conjunction with the Back and Hip muscles which further then work with your Shoulders and Arms and Legs. 

That means your abdominals need to be able to activate whilst moving and co operating with a whole host of other muscles. 

So it would make no sense to train them in isolation if the goal is to make them stronger whilst functioning as part of your body’s team. 

What we actually do is lot’s of movement’s that require stability from your abdominals whether they be working isometrically or during movement.

Big Moves like Squats and Deadlifts, Upper body moves such as Over head press or Bent Over Row all require stability from the Abdominals whilst moving limbs and stabilising the Hips and Shoulders. 

We also do various moving Planks and Side Planks and standing balance exercises that all improve core stability without having to isolate the abdominals.

So if you want to improve your Core Stability for riding, think outside the box a little more than traditional ab exercises.

Proper Training looks boring.

One look at Social Media will tell you that training has to be sexy and novel to be effective.

To be “Rider Specific” Social Media will show you mad balancing exercises and ever complicated moves requiring special equipment.

In reality proper training looks really basic and in all honesty not that sexy.

Riding is a sport and in all sports there will be Strength and Conditioning.

If we look at other sports such as Rugby, Football or Triathlon the Strength and Conditioning work initially looks the same.

Squat-Hinge-Push-Pull

Riding Strength and Conditioning should be no different.

That’s what the majority of my client sessions look like.

It’s not exciting, it doesn’t make for super fun Insta posts but it’s the foundations of a strong and efficient body.

Then there may be some accessory work that could be a little more novel or “riding specific” if that’s what you’re after.

Often the more novel exercises are used to help develop a feel for something or help join some dots together as to which muscles should be used and how this affects the rest of the body. But this will be a small part often at the end of the session-after we’ve done the proper work.

If you’re looking to work on your own fitness to improve your riding performance start with the basics.

 Squat-Hinge-Push-Pull

Do you get in your own way?

Sometimes we decide we can’t do things before we’ve even tried them or given them a fair trial.

Often people tell me they can’t do certain exercises, and maybe they  can’t on their first go, but that doesn’t mean they’ll never be able to do it. We just need to start smaller. Maybe we have to slow it down, make the range smaller or adapt the movement a little to strengthen the muscles required to perform the exercise correctly. Then over time we progress to doing the original movement.

This can be applied to any goal but let’s talk about it in a Rider Fitness context.

You may think that the thought of taking up exercise is just too big a task. You think you can’t do all of those fancy Yoga moves or do even 1 minute of HIIT. That’s ok, you didn’t even do rising trot in your first riding lesson. You just need to break it down into smaller steps.

An off horse exercise session doesn’t have to be an hour long, it doesn’t need to involve weights and you don’t have to get out of breath or really sweaty.

You can break it into smaller steps.

If you want to improve your cardio fitness you could start with a 20 minute brisk walk or if you want to try HIIT try 20 seconds of Squats rest and then repeat 3 -4 times. Or start with whatever you can manage.

If it’s those fancy Yoga moves you want to master then just do what you can, no matter how far removed you think it is from what it’s supposed to be just keep turning up and trying the moves-I promise if you persist it will get better.

What I’m trying to say is don’t decide you can’t do something before you’ve given it a proper go. We don’t get most things on our first go, we don’t start most things at the advanced level. Exercise is no different!

Break it down into smaller chunks.

Regress the movement to a simpler version.

Keep trying!

If you want some help I have 121, Class and Online Programmes so there’s definitely something to suit your needs and budget.