Monthly Archives: December 2022

Turn the page

I know it’s totally a cliché, but a New Year really does make you want to turn the page and start writing new chapters in your life.

Let’s start making plans!

First off what do you want to have achieved by this time next year? Is it working towards a big goal that will need breaking down into smaller steps? Or is it a series of little goals? Be as clear as you can at what it is you want to achieve-otherwise how will you measure your success?

A really important step for any goal is knowing your why. Why do you want…….do you want to lose weight to be a lighter load for your horse? Do you want to go up a level in Eventing because you know your horse is capable and it will feel amazing when you achieve it?

Be clear about your action points -what steps will you need to take to achieve it

Who’s your team-who is going to help and support you

What are your Plan B’s? This sounds like an almost negative one, but I think it’s important to ant have alternative plans for when Plan A starts to go awry.

What will you eat to keep you on your healthy diet when you get in late, haven’t done the food shop etc…. For me it’s either stopping into a co-op and buying some soup, or if I’m straight home then porridge, peanut butter on toast or scrambled eggs are usually available.

If you haven’t got time to ride your horse, or the facilities aren’t available, what will you do with your horse and/or time instead? Groundwork, Stretches and Physio Exercises in the stable, a workout for you instead?

Struggling to fit the hour off horse workout in you promised you’d do? Have you got a back up 30-minute, 20-minute or 10-minute workout you can do instead?

Who is your support team? Do you have a great Coach who can help you take the steps you need but also encourage and support you when things are tough? Have you got the people you live with on board with your diet plans? A trainer or exercise buddy to keep you accountable to those workouts?

Want some help? I’m that trainer that can help you action those diet and exercise goals in person or online…….

Breathing and Balance

Staying still, free of tension, breathing

I was recording the Yoga session for my online programme today and in it we did some balance work and optional closing the eyes during weight transfers and standing balances.

The focus of the whole session was breathing to promote relaxation and flow through the various postures. Breathing is both incredibly simple yet incredibly complex. Simple because we do it without thinking day in day out, you must be or else you wouldn’t be here, but complex because it has a huge impact on the body, how it performs and how you feel depending on how well you are breathing.

Day to day we don’t give it much thought, we just go about our business…….breathing.

Yet, how often have you been in a lesson and your Coach has told you to breathe. Weren’t you breathing already? Surely you’d have passed out by now if you weren’t. That is true, you were breathing but you weren’t breathing deep into your belly, or filling out your rib cage.

You weren’t allowing your body to take in maximum oxygen, to give it energy for your ride. You weren’t allowing your Diaphragm to activate and thus activate the Vagus Nerve to send a relax signal to your brain. The reason your instructor asked you to breathe is because you were braced and full of both physical and metal tension.

The reason I use breath work with balance work is because it gives your brain a different focus, the relaxation effect prevents you from over gripping and it is good practice for stillness and stability that can be transferred into your riding. Often switching focus to breathing improves balance. Maybe it’s a mental switch as it stops us overthinking the balance, maybe it’s the release of tension allowing the stabilising muscles to react to the postures and absorb movement rather than fight it.

The eye closing? Well it takes away another of your senses and point of reference for where your body is in space, which makes it more challenging for you to stay relaxed in your body and remain still.

Why not give your breathing some extra work this week. Just standing still, focus on breathing in and expanding your belly and your rib cage then breathing out fully allowing your body to relax.

Then try playing with it, breathe in this way whilst moving, walking, standing on one leg, during sitting trot………

If you want to add this kind of workout into your week join my online programme for just £5 per month-yes really!

Online Classes

Don’t F&ck it until January

This past few weeks I have been sending out Goal questionnaires to my clients. Naturally, the subject of weight loss has arisen in many of those forms. Of course we’ll be honing in on achieving those goals come 2023 however what about the meantime?

It’s incredibly tempting at this point to f*ck it until January, go all out from now until then and inevitably find yourself another half a stone or so up on where you are now.

Instead start focusing on the new habits you want to adopt as part of your weight loss regime and begin to find ways of implementing them now. Call it a practice run.

Sure, you’ll have some celebrations going on from now until January and that’s fine you can totally enjoy them, but since come January I want you to be making sustainable healthy habits to aid your weight loss you don’t need to start feasting like it’s the last supper between now and then.

Remember January 2023 is not going to be nil by mouth, all green detox season. Your weight loss mission next year is going to be built from healthier day to day habits that still allows you to enjoy food, doesn’t ban any food groups and will be sustainable long term.

So, why not start now? If you’re out doing Christmas stuff then sure celebrate but all those other meal times are a chance to be more mindful of what you’re eating and how this will make you feel in the moment from a nutritional and energy point of view and how this will contribute to your long term goals.

Need some pointers to get you started?

  • Stay hydrated – Water, Juice, Herbal tea. Good hydration is vital for overall health (cell renewal, organs etc…..) it therefore maintains your energy levels and keeps your brain sharp.
  • Keep your protein levels up – Lean meat, Fish, Eggs, Meat substitutes, Beans. It keeps you satiated, helps you repair and build muscle.
  • Add more vegetables! Obviously great from a Vitamins point of view-read overall health! Also helps to fill you up so remember that if you’re Sprout dodging on Christmas day………

Pushing out of your comfort zone

If you want to achieve something you’ve never done before you’re going to have to start with steps you’ve never done before.

To achieve new things you’ll need to step outside your comfort zone.

As some of you will know I’m in the process of introducing my Fell pony Gwydion to new life experiences. That means him and me are doing lots of little steps outside of our comfort zone.

It can be hard and of course scary to take new steps and do things you’ve never done before.

For me & Gwyd that’s going to new scary arenas and going on tiny hacks – those things are super scary to me I promise!

For you that could be attending a new Pilates class or having a lesson with a new instructor.

If there is something you really want to achieve but it seems too scary break it down into smaller steps. I’m not saying those smaller steps won’t be scary too but if they’re a bit smaller they can seem more achievable.

For example if your goal is to compete at Dressage but the whole going to a new venue, warming up, doing the test etc all seems a big ask break it down and make it smaller.

Start with just going to new venues.

Start with doing online Dressage at home.

Go to a test riding clinic so it’s almost the same but not a competition.

Go to the venue on foot on a competition day so you can scope out where everything is, what the atmosphere is like etc.

Then lot’s of the elements such as the venue and the test riding bit aren’t new to you so it’s just joining them altogether that’s the new bit. Which is now a much smaller jump because you’ve got the other steps there already.

Want to join a Pilates Class or invest in a Personal Trainer but the thought of exercising in public terrifies you? Start with an online class, then once you feel more comfortable convince a friend to go with you to a class. Or top tip sign up to be one of my clients and I promise you’ll be so busy chatting horse nonsense and laughing and you’ll completely forget you’re even exercising!

Whatever it is, remember if you want to grow you’ll need to step out of your comfort zone……but those steps can be as big or small as you make them.