Tag: equipilates lancashire

When I discuss nutrition with clients it is often thought of as weight loss advice, however eating well is much more than a weight loss tool. Good nutrition has a huge effect on how you feel day to day and therefore how you interact with and train your horse.

Food is fuel. Yes it’s also tasty and I am a huge fan of all the good stuff. However I am also a huge fan of feeling energised and clear headed for as much of the day as possible.

This is where good nutrition comes in. I know it’ s the stuff of meme’s that the Equestrian diet is made up of Coffee and Chocolate bars, and Cheesy chips on show days but it’s really not the way to fuel yourself for a busy day.

Firstly good hydration is key. Some Coffee and/or energy/fizzy drinks is fine but existing on them alone is not fine. Try to get most of your hydration from water, zero sugar squash or some herbal tea. Get yourself a water bottle and aim to fill it twice every day.

I understand that 3 square sit down meals per day can be just not possible when you’ve got a full on day at the yard but that doesn’t mean surviving off sugar is the answer either.

Having access to healthy snacks can keep you feeling sharp all day without needing to stop for a full meal.

Some ideas could include:

Nuts -ok I just eat peanut butter out of the jar but whatever works.

Boiled Eggs-easy to pre prepare or you can buy them in the sandwich sections of supermarkets and petrol stations.

Fruit

Protein Shake/Smoothie-Made yourself or bought

Pre Cooked chicken-again you can make it or buy it

If you reframe your nutrition as a way to perform your best for your horse and your riding you’ll start to make it more of a priority.

Also, are Cheesy chips just for show days or are we supposed to be eating them at other times???

Do you ever think about the level of tension you hold in your body day to day?

Just walking around, sitting at a desk, driving, reading this……bring your awareness to how your body feels. Tense shoulders? Clenched fists? Often this isn’t even because we’re particularly stressed, we just get used to holding our bodies this way from times when we were stressed.

So, if we’re walking around holding areas of tension you can guarantee we handle and ride our horses holding these areas of tension.

Yet, we know any tension from us transfers directly to our horses. This could translate to our horse as nervous energy, blocking them, stiffness, heaviness or harshness when it is not intended.

If we want to achieve true softness and connection to our horses we need to get rid of this tension before we handle or work them.

The first step to dealing with this is to notice it, so if now you’ve brought your attention to it you are aware of it that’s a great start.

A pre ride warm up can be a great tension release, but sometimes it also requires a more mindful approach.

Next time you’re getting ready to ride or maybe just handle your horse take a minute to prepare your mind and body with a breathing exercise.

Start at the top of your body, notice an area of tension then take a breath in and as you breathe out imagine sending the out breath to that area and release the tension. Continue this throughout your body wherever you notice tension, or if you aren’t quite sure release your shoulders, hands, glutes and legs.

How does that feel?

Sometimes I take my online Friday stretch through this practice of releasing tension at the end of the session.  Friday Stretch is one of the 3 pre recorded sessions per week in my online programme. 

https://www.equestrianfitness.co.uk/online-classes/

We start most of my online workouts with a side bend to warm up and get moving. This is not just a great way to start mobilising and stretching out the body it is also a way of spotting any Asymmetries. 

Firstly, you might notice it is easier to bend one way more than the other, then if you dig a little deeper you might notice there are more things going awry.

As you bend one way you may find it’s not only a little harder, but your shoulder starts to round and your chest closes, maybe your hip starts to creep up or forward? 

Which means you then aren’t truly opening up that side in the same way that you’re opening up the other side.

If you aren’t addressing this Asymmetry from the minute you start the session it’s most likely that the Asymmetry will be there throughout.

This Asymmetry will then be present when you ride, meaning you may be ever so slightly tipped one way, rotated one way and find riding on a particular rein or turning in one direction difficult. 

There can of course be various bits of your body causing this issue but to begin addressing can be started with the basic side bend.

Standing or sitting, take one arm over. Think about weighting the same side hip down to allow you to really lift out of the pelvis. Keep your chest open and notice how the rest of your body aligns. Aim to keep yourself stacked as if stuck between two panes of glass. Repeat on the other side and aim for both sides to feel the same.

Try this as part of your off horse exercise routine and also as part of your pre ride warm up.

Want to check out the weekly side bends in my online programme? 

Sign up here for just £5 per month!

https://www.equestrianfitness.co.uk/online-classes/

For most people the main season of competition is over, and we’re switching horses over to winter routines. 

For my clients that means we’re looking at what they achieved this season and what that then means they’ll be aiming for next year.

This enables us to put in place a training plan through winter that works towards being ready to smash those goals next year. 

6 months can seem a long time but just think of that as an opportunity to completely transform your potential. 

As I work with people from other sports it’s quite common for winter to be a serious strength building time during the “off season “.

Equestrians don’t necessarily have an “off season” but I think for most people it’s a quieter time for riding activities so I like to do the same with my Equestrian clients and use this time to build a good base of strength and conditioning.

This doesn’t have to mean 5 days a week in the gym nor do you have to suddenly start doing 1 rep max lifts. However just adding 2-3 resistance workouts into your week will have you starting next springs training a much better athlete.

This could be at home with body weight, resistance bands or some weights or you could go to a gym and get acquainted with a Barbell.

If you’d like a done for you at home Kettlebell workout check out my Kettlebells for Equestrians Programme.

https://payhip.com/b/byNLo

I’ve been having various conversations this week about how different things affect our bodies and consequently how we ride.

These have included how Fascia and Scar tissue from previous injuries may not just be affecting the original area but also other parts of the body.

Then how our brain and mindset can also affect our body, how it moves and reacts.

Without wanting to over complicate matters (where my other over thinkers at……) this means there a few different factors to consider when working on our bodies off horse to improve our performance on horse.

If you have suffered previous surgeries, serious injuries, or Chronic pain we need to address the potential restrictions that may have created in your body.

If you spend a lot of your day in a fixed position-I train a few Dentists…….or that could be standing up stationary, sitting at a desk etc it all creates restrictions in your body that could be held even when you’re not in that position any more.

Then there’s your brain! How’s your day been? Is your head still at work? Are you anxious, angry at someone, sad or excited? Our emotions can affect how our body feels and moves. If your sad you may physically move quite heavily, if you’re anxious you may feel quite tense or jittery.

Our emotions can also have a physical energy that can be felt by our horse, which in turn can affect the way they react to us.

Our brain and body are not two separate entities, our body is a constant link of muscles, bones, tendons, nerve endings all co-operating together and with the brain. If there is a blockage in the body or a mismatch from the brain it can potentially affect the whole chain.

Therefore we need to consider both the body as a whole and the brain when we look at our off-horse training.

Consider whether your chosen form of exercise addresses what your body has been doing for the rest of the day. Does it put you in opposite postures than those you’ve been in all day? Does it make your body feel more relaxed?

How does your brain feel afterwards? Does it calm you down or hype you up? Depending on your individual needs either of those might be the right strategy for you.

How do you then use this information to prepare yourself to ride? Do you need to relax your body and create calm in your mind or switch it and get your focused brain on?

Have a think about these different elements of your body and brain and think of ways to implement it into your off-horse work and your pre ride warm up.

If you have any questions or want a little help let me know.

PS: If you want a done for you programme using Kettlebells to help you get stronger and fitter for riding, my Kettlebells for Equestrians Programme is just what you need!

https://payhip.com/b/byNLo

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.

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?