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From: wendy@fc.hp.com (Wendy Milner)
Subject: Exercise FAQ
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1993 20:53:04 GMT
This is the first pass at an exercise FAQ. Please feel free to
send corrections and additions to me.
FAQ on Exercises for the Rider
There are lots of exercises discussed for our horses. But we also
need to remember that we as riders need to exercise as well.
The two major concerns of most people are sore backs and keeping
your heels down when you ride. These along with a few other
concerns are addressed in this FAQ.
OBIGITORY DISCLAIMER ________________________________________________
Before starting any exercise program, see your doctor. If you have
any physical malformity, injury, or concern, see your doctor. The
exercises described here are for people who are generally in good
health and free of injuries. While you are recooping from an injury,
you should be doing exercises that have been prescribed by a doctor or
physical therapist. Do not self-diagnose a problem. Seek
professional help.
EXERCISE PROGRAM________________________________________________
When we want our horses to perform a particular exercise, we do not
just take our horses out of the stall and make them do that exercise.
Instead, we begin with a gradual warm up, followed by some simple
exercises, followed by more agressive exercises, and ending with
a gradual cool down. So it is when we exercise ourselves.
1. Warm up
2. Simple exercises
3. Agressive exercises
4. Cool down
WARM UP________________________________________________
This is the most important part of your program. If you don't warm
up, everything else you do will work against your goals. If you try
to stretch cold muscles, you will tear them down. If you try to
"jump on the horse and go", you'll find yourself tearing muscles and
being very sore for a long time.
Warm up means raising your body temperature. This tells your body
that you are asking it to perform for you. It gets you ready for
more strenuous work.
Warm ups come in two parts: joint movement and aerobic activities.
Joints - an often forgotten part of the warm up.
--------------------------------------------------
Think about getting up on a cold morning and going out to feed the
horses. You can hardly get your fingers moving sometimes. Your
fingers are cold, blood is not flowing in suffient quantities to get
heat to them. And your fingers hurt.
Many of us in the colder climates ride in freezing weather all winter
long. During this period, we know we are cold. However, even on
warm summer days, we need to prepare our joints for the increased
activities we ask of them.
Repeat each exercise 5 to 10 times.
1. Start with your fingers, open and close your hand: make a tight fist,
then open your hand.
2. Next work your wrists. Circle them clockwise and counter clockwise.
3. Work your elbows. Pretend you are lifting weights, curl your
arms in and out.
4. Circle your arms, working your shoulders. Circle forward and back.
5. Shoulder rolls forward and back. You can also pretend that you
have a hard to hold horse, take the reins in your hands and pull
back then move forward.
6. Circle your neck. CAUTION. Those with neck problems should make
sure you do not over stretch at this point. Just get your neck
limber. Instead of circles, you can lean your neck to the right -
try to touch your right ear to your right shoulder. Then lean to
the left. Drop you chin down. Then look up.
7. Upper back roll. Till you get the feel of this one, stand with
your back to a wall. Keep your waist to the wall. Bring your
shoulders forward and down. Straighten up, then roll forward
again.
8. Middle back roll. Similar to the upper back roll, only go a little
farther down. Go slow, no jerking motions.
9. Lower back tilt. (Also known as pevlic tilt) Using the wall again,
Scoot your bottom up the wall. Then scoot it down. The rest of
your body should remain fairly static. This is also a good
exercise to do on the floor. Pretend there is a string attached
to your belt. It lifts you up, then sink your tummy into the floor.
10. Twists. Once again, no jerking motions. This is very important
for those with bad backs (and to keep those with good backs from
getting bad backs. Hold your hands together, chest high, elbows
out. Twist right and left.
11. Side bends. Do this standing in front of a mirrow the first time
to get it right. Your hips should not move off center. Put your
hands on your hips, lean right then lean left. Pause in the center.
12. Hip circles. Hands on your hips, rotate your hips clockwise and
counter clockwise.
13. Knee circles. Hands on your knees, rotate your knees clockwise
and counter clockwise.
14. Ankle circles. Put your right foot back, circle it clockwise and
counter clockwise. Repeat with left foot.
Aerobic warm ups
----------------
Instead of lunging your horse, how about running beside the horse.
Or jog in place 5 minutes or so until your heart rate is up and
you can feel yourself getting warmer.
Tight tummys mean stronger backs. Lift your knee up and across,
touch your left elbow to your right knee. Put your foot down,
then do right elbow to left knee. Repeat for a full minute or two.
Bring your leg up straight and touch your left toe to your right
hand, right toe to left hand. Repeat for a full minute or two.
SIMPLE EXERCISES________________________________________________
The exercises you choose should be a mixture of stretching and
strenghtening. Some of the exercises you can do just before riding,
or you might want to do these every day, or every other day at home.
Weight training should be done every other day (not every day).
For a good weight program, see an individual advisor.
All stretches should be done till you feel the stretch, but not to
the point of pain. If you want to say ouch, you've gone too far.
You should hold the stretch anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds. Count
slow when counting the seconds. When you release from the stretch,
try to relax the muscle, then slowly go back into the stretch.
My heels won't go down.
----------------------
For those with tight calf muscles there are several exercises to help.
Do these every day if you can. Bare feet is best, but you can also
do them with flat shoes on. If you wear high heels, or high heeled
boots, you should remove your shoes or boots.
1. Stairs. Standing on the edge of the stairs drop you heels down
till you feel a stretch. Hold 5 to 10 seconds. Raise up on your
toes, hold 5-10 seconds. Repeat.
2. Wall press.
a. Stand arms lengths away from the wall. Put left leg
as far back as is comfortable, keep the left leg straight, bend the
right leg, press against the wall. You should feel the stretch in
your calf. Hold 20 seconds. Repeat with right leg back. Repeat
5 times with each leg.
b. Stand arms lengths away from the wall. Put left leg as far back
as is comfortable, bend the left leg, bend the right leg, press
against the wall. Hold 20 seconds. Repeat with right leg.
Repeat 5 times with each leg.
I've got a bad back
-------------------
To keep your back in shape, you need to do both stretching and
strengthening. If you've had a recent injury see your doctor,
chiroprator, and/or therapist.
1. Pushups. Yep those good old pushups we were forced to do in
school. If you have to, start doing 10 pushups from your knees.
Then do 1 pushup from your toes. Do this for a week, then try
to do 5 pushups from your toes and 10 from your knees. Keep
adding more each week. Pushups help your tummy get stronger,
which supports your back. They'll also strenghten your arms
and shoulders.
2. Leg lifts. If you feel any pain in your back, stop and do not try
again. Lay on the floor. Put your hands on the floor by your waist.
Bend your right leg. Keep your left leg straight and raise it off
the ground. Hold for 5 seconds, lower leg slowly. Repeat with
other leg. Repeat 5 to 10 times, gradually increasing the number
of repetitions each week.
3. Lower back stretch and twist. Lay on the floor, curl your knees
to your chest. Place your arms out straight from your shoulders.
Roll your knees over to the left till they touch the floor. Keep
your shoulders on the floor. Bring your knees back up, roll to the
other side. Repeat 5 to 10 times.
b. Alternate. Place your right leg straight, left leg bent, knee
to chest. Roll the left leg over to your right. Touch your
left knee to the floor. Bring left knee up, then straighten
left leg. Bring right leg up bent, roll to the left.
c. For the flexible. Keep both legs straight. Lift your left
leg up and over, and try to touch your right hand. Repeat
with right leg to left hand.
4. Cat stretch. On your hands and knees with your back flat.
Curl your back up, like a halloween cat, hold for 5 seconds,
bring your back down to starting position. Drop your back
down, hold for 5 seconds, bring back to starting position.
Repeat 5 to 10 times.
5. Lower back stretch. This is a good one to end with.
It's also very good for after you ride if you get low back pains.
Lay on the floor, curl your knees to your chest. Put your hands
behind your knees (not over your knees), pull your knees gently
into your chest, hold 20 seconds.
AGRESSIVE EXERCISES______________________________________________
This is where you are riding. Here you use those muscles you've
warmed up and stretched. Some time when you are riding and not
having to think too much about what you're are doing (like during
a lesson or with a troublesome horse), think about the muscles
you are using.
As you walk your horse, think about how your hips move. You can
duplicate this motion with the pelvic tilt.
As you jump a horse, think about how your body moves forward.
You can duplicate this motion while sitting in a chair.
When you design your exercise program, remember these motions and
add them to your program.
COOL DOWN _______________________________________________________
Instead of riding at the walk to cool down your horse, walk beside
the horse. Those leg muscles you've been using will benefit from
the easy stretch that walking gives them.
If you've had a hard to hold horse, stretch out your arms. Twine your
fingers together, and push out, palms outward. Hold this for 5
seconds then relax. The muscles which pull in when you're holding the
horse in, need to be stretched out. This will help.
Do a few of the stretching exercises to stretch out those muscles
you used to hang onto the horse.
--
Wendy
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Wendy Milner HPDesk: wendy_milner@hp4000
Hewlett-Packard HP-UX: wendy@fc.hp.com
Mail Stop 102 Telnet: 229-2182
3404 E. Harmony Rd. AT&T: (303) 229-2182
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