Rider fitness

lauren123

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2007
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East Yorkshire
After some advice from your lovely lot!!
I haven't rode in a week due to lack of motivation, but that is another story!

Though! I rode yesterday in the school :) the problem I have is Sox is quite fit. Where as, I arent! I schooled for litrally 8 mins yesterday and my upper thighs were aching so much I had to stop! 8 mins! So I am looking at ways I can improve my own fitness. I like the plank as a exercise and the wall. I am thinking of taking up running again and swimming. Though I am wondering if general weight training would help also? Looking at things that are generally easy to do at home when I say easy I mean cheaply. Anyone got any ideas?
 
I'm guessing things like squats would exercise similar muscles to riding and I know many people swear by Pilates for core stability. Would cycling build the wrong muscles since you cycle toe, not heel, down? Brisk walking or running may be good, certainly for overall fitness, but for running make sure you get good trainers to protect your joints and shins. How about joining a gym, you could maybe get advice on the best forms of exercise for what you want to achieve. And remember correct nutrition is as important for you as it is for Sox, you need it to build muscles and stamina x
 
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Wide legged squats are good for inner thigh, if you can go onto tiptoe and then stand up it also works ankles and balance. Squat, pause, tiptoe, pause, stand up, pause, heels down, back into squat etc. Then for fun you can do it all in reverse - stand up on tiptoe, pause, go into squat, pause, heels down, pause, back into standing. Remember to balance by engaging your core, keeping your back straight and tail tucked in. Part of a pilates warm up routine. Muscles often hurt because they're not getting enough oxygen though so you may need to breathe more deeply and improve your aerobic fitness.

Disclaimer - I am not great at achieving any of this at the moment šŸ˜•
 
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Running will be the cheapest and but weights can be really useful too, maybe look at circuit training, opt for a class if you can find one as youā€™ll need the trainer and company for motivation because itā€™s tough but really good fun as you just do a little one thing then move on quickly to the next exercise around the circuit
 
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You dont need to be fit to ride. It is balance and softness . I am not the only elderly rider back in the saddle post lockdown. But OH and I exercised with Joe Wickes on Youtube. I like him and his recipes are healthy but pricey
 
@Skib I think how fit you need to be depends on what you want to do. For a sedate hack on a polite horse with easy paces then I agree little fitness is needed. However if you want to school, as opposed to just ride in a school, an active horse with bigger paces or one that needs to be ridden forward or kept balanced by the rider then a fair degree of fitness is required, Likewise for longer rides at a faster pace. I have a good friend who is slightly older than you and when she rides her horse he wouldn't need much fitness from her (though given the width of him I'm in awe of how flexible this lady in her 80s is!) but when I ride him he is more active and forward going with a bigger step that would tire her sooner. Likewise I know that if I manage to get the horse I'm currently looking at I'm going to have to get a lot fitter to do him justice!
 
Oh don't talk to me about rider fitness! I haven't ridden regularly for 3 years (Ziggy was ill through most of his last year) and riding Sid on the bareback pad is killing me, inner thighs especially. I can't imagine how schooling would feel!
 
@Skib I think how fit you need to be depends on what you want to do. For a sedate hack on a polite horse with easy paces then I agree little fitness is needed. However if you want to school, as opposed to just ride in a school, an active horse with bigger paces or one that needs to be ridden forward or kept balanced by the rider then a fair degree of fitness is required, Likewise for longer rides at a faster pace. I have a good friend who is slightly older than you and when she rides her horse he wouldn't need much fitness from her (though given the width of him I'm in awe of how flexible this lady in her 80s is!) but when I ride him he is more active and forward going with a bigger step that would tire her sooner. Likewise I know that if I manage to get the horse I'm currently looking at I'm going to have to get a lot fitter to do him justice!

Yes. Sox is very bouncy and has a long stride. So it's hard at times to hold him together as there is so much of him!
Also when he is been lazy, it's hard to keep him going let alone work on me.
 
I do think fitness is important for riding. I think a fit rider can help a tired horse but an unfit rider is never going to help a horse, tired or otherwise.

I've personally found I need to be substantially fitter to ride longer, faster and over challenging terrain (we have a lot of hills and pretty undulating terrain) even 'just' for hacking. I certainly notice the difference being riding fit makes once my rides are over 20km with a decent amount of trot & canter.

Even today, although we only hacked about 15km when we were doing our interval training, I was pretty glad I've upped my work outs again as I could feel I was working keeping him balanced centering downhill.

I try to aim for a mix of cardio, weights and the strength training. So for me, that works out at two spin sessions a week or two power walking sessions with weights (or one of each), a weight session and a pilates and/or yoga session per week on top of day activity (like dog walking etc). I'd swim if I had time rather than spinning exercise bike but I struggle to fit in a trip to the pool & it's easier for me to just log into a virtual gym training session.

I used to HIIT classes but found the spikes in adrenaline really messed with me I'm not a generasly nervous person usually but a few sessions of HIT a week made me quite anxious. Whereas with more general training, exercise ie only a benefit to me.

Post lockdown, I'm not as fit as I was as (and P had time off this winter so I lost my motivation to stay riding fit and to stay under my ideal riding weight), I'm definitely getting some of the fitness back now though.

You can find loads of strength training/pilates/yoga sessions on YouTube FOV and if you own a bike and a stopwatch you can do interval training easily. Or interval training running or walking.
 
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