A Rider's 15 Minute Workout

There has been plenty of writing about workouts for riders. Some teachers recommend Pilates. Other highly successful riders have used some form of Cross-Fit. And the flexibility that yoga can produce is invaluable for riders. Although I am somewhat reluctant to add to this body of work, I have developed a virtually painless yoga-based daily routine that I find helpful in maintaining supplenesss and core strength and promoting symmetry.

Before getting into the specifics of my routine I would like to point out that any exercise you do in addition to riding will be helpful in developing and maintaining the strength you need to ride. (Be careful, though, about considering stall cleaning and barn sweeping as components of this regimen. Both are excellent exercise, but most people cannot do them symmetrically, and so they can increase rather than decrease your asymmetry.) A few years ago The New York Times published a 7-minute workout that I would recommend as a kick-start to getting into shape. The Times offers an app with detailed instructions for the workout. https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/for-a-7-minute-workout-download-our-new-app/. And The Times recently published a 9-minute muscle-building workout that is also very good. https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/how-to-build-muscle. If you like to take classes or receive one-on-one instruction for your exercise routine, a good Pilates instructor or a good yoga class can be very helpful, and I encourage any rider with the time to do so to enroll in such a class. If you’re like me, though, you find the idea of actually traveling to a gym or studio for exercise anathema. I put about 35,000 miles a year on my car traveling from barn to barn, so I am not inclined to spend another minute behind the wheel. On the other hand, if you want to be an effective rider you must do some exercise in addition to the ride(s) you do every day. If you want to ride one horse effectively you must ride two horses every day (and that’s not really fair to the second horse!). Hence this routine that I can do every morning regardless of how little time I have.

Dressage does not require superhuman amounts of strength. The equestrian sports traditionally have been the only sports in which men and women compete against each other, so upper body strength is no advantage. The best riders’ aids are invisible, so the ability to muster a good kick with a leg of steel is probably more of a hindrance than a help. Our sport does not use strength to overpower the horse. We use the horse’s innate sensitivity to explain to it in the most subtle ways possible how to perform, at our request, actions that are already within its repertoire of movement. When the words “subtle” and “sensitivity” occur in the same sentence describing dressage, as they often do, you know that bench pressing 250 pounds is probably not going to help your riding. At the same time, perhaps you have found that trying to sit the trot for more than two minutes leaves you winded. What this means is that the strength dressage requires is the strength to remain more or less motionless as the horse moves. Only by sitting quietly can you hope to be able to influence the horse with subtle aids. A horse can feel a fly landing on it, so it can certainly feel your leg. It can also feel a blade of grass on its lip or its tongue, so it can likewise feel every bit of pressure on a bit. Only by having the core strength to keep yourself in the same spot in the saddle without clamping on with your legs or holding on with yours arms can you hope to minimize the noise of your body so that the horse can distinguish your aids and respond to them appropriately. Pilates’ emphasis on core strength makes it a useful training system for riders.

In addition to having the core strength not to get bounced around on top of the horse, the dressage rider (like the dressage horse) must be supple. If you carry tension in your hip flexors or your back or shoulders or legs you will be unable to apply subtle aids—the tension will increase the pressure of certain aids and at the same time block the horse, preventing it from responding to the aids. Accordingly, your workout should encourage stretching, suppleness and relaxation.

To develop both core strength and suppleness, my routine is more or less yoga based. I have incorporated in my routine some yoga asanas or poses. Disclaimer: I am not a trained yoga teacher and I am not claiming to teach yoga with this article. I am merely incorporating some yoga principles into an exercise routine for the purpose of making it more effective for riders and easier to understand. (I was discussing my routine with my daughter, who knows a lot more about yoga than I do, and made a similar disclaimer statement to her. Her response was, “If you’re breathing, it’s yoga!” Considering all the variants of yoga that exist, perhaps she’s right, but I’ll leave that determination to others.)

So here it is. (As with any exercise program, be sure to consult your doctor to make sure the program is appropriate for you.) To start, a couple of general principles. First, most of the poses are held for 8 breaths. That means comfortable, normal breaths, a little on the slow rather than fast side. No cheating by panting to get it over with faster. Second, if a pose/exercise is not stationary, you inhale when expanding the front of your body and exhale when expanding the back. This is important for cat stretches and sun salutations, among other poses and procedures. Third, the order I describe below is not magic, just the order that seems to make the most sense to me.

1. Cat stretches. This one might be familiar. It’s a nice first pose to tell your core that it’s not an inflexible knot and that you’re not going to overwhelm it right away with anything terribly demanding. On all fours, inhale while arching your back and looking toward the ceiling. Use your spine to push your navel as close to the floor as possible. Avoid dropping your head back or sinking in your shoulders. Direct both your tailbone and your gaze toward the ceiling. Exhale while rounding your back by lifting your navel as far as you can toward the ceiling while pressing down with your palms, fingertips and lower legs. Do 8 repetitions.

2. Child pose. From cat stretch position, with the tops of your feet flat on the floor, without moving your hands from cat stretch position, lower your torso onto your thighs and hold the position for 8 breaths, stretching your arms forward along the floor with each exhale. Rest your forehead on the ground (or as close to the ground as you can get it) and try to sink your hips back toward your heels. If having your knees together is uncomfortable you can spread your knees wider than your hips.

3. Cobra pose. Without moving your hands, knees or feet from Child Pose, lift your torso forward and up, arching your back and looking up, pushing your navel toward the floor and your shoulder blades down toward your waist. Hold for 8 breaths. If you think you might find this transition from child pose to cobra difficult you can go from child to lying prone with your hands below your shoulders. Press into your hands and lift your head, neck, shoulders and upper chest off of the ground. Lift your navel to engage your core and protect your back while opening your shoulders and stretching your neck long.

4. Lion pose. From cobra pose, bend your knees and drag your hands back to your knees until you are sitting on your heels with your hands on your knees. Inhale deeply and then exhale, opening your eyes wide, sticking your tongue out as far as you can and opening your hands, spreading your fingers apart as far as you can. Do 3 or 5 repetitions (or as many as you want—this exercise feels ridiculous, but it’s almost as good for waking up as a cup of coffee!).

5. Bird dog. On all fours, lift your right arm and left leg so that both are parallel to the floor. Lift your navel toward your spine, and stretch the fingertips of your raised arm toward the wall in front of you and the toes of your raised leg toward the wall behind you. Hold for 8 breaths. Repeat with the other diagonal pair. Do 3 full repetitions (i.e., 3 reps for each diagonal pair). This exercise is good for your whole back.

6. Sideways plank. With your feet together and your left hand on the floor, lift your hips into a side plank position and stretch your right arm up straight away from your body. When you are in position you should look like an airplane supporting itself on one wing tip and its tail. Hold for 8 breaths. Do 3 repetitions on each side. This pose can be somewhat challenging. You can make it easier by doing one of the following alternatives: (a) bend the bottom leg so that the lower leg rests on the ground and you are distributing your weight between the foot of the top leg and the knee and lower leg of the bottom leg, or (b) rest on the elbow and forearm rather than just the hand.

7. Warrior pose. From a kneeling position step forward with your right foot so that your right foot is farther forward than your right knee. Then on breath 1, slowly lunge forward for maximum stretch of your left hip flexor. Your right shin should now be perpendicular to the floor. On breath 2 raise your arms from your sides so that they are outstretched on either side of your body and parallel to the ground. Hold for breath 3. On breath 4 raise your arms straight above your head so that the palms touch. Hold through breath 8, then let your hands fall slowly again to your sides. Repeat on the other side. Do 3 full repetitions.

8. Boat. Sit with your feet on the floor and your knees drawn up in front of you and your hands on the floor slightly behind you with your arms straight (from the side you should look like an M). Lift your feet so that your shins are parallel to the ground, draw your navel toward your spine and balance, raising your arms above your head and then stretching them out beside you parallel to the ground. To increase the benefit of the pose straighten your legs out in front of you, lifting your feet as high as you can, with your toes pointed. Hold for 8 breaths. Return to initial resting “M” position. Do 3 repetitions.

9. Sun salutation. There are many versions of the sun salutation. They range from very easy (the version I do!) to quite strenuous. If you don’t like my version, I’m sure the folks at Google will be happy to direct you to alternatives! Start standing with your arms at your sides. Inhale, raising your arms straight above your head. Exhale, touching your fingertips to the floor in front of you (or as close to the floor as you can get). Inhale, lifting your head up and stretching your left leg out behind you. Exhale, moving your right leg into position next to your left and raising your hips into the air so that you are in downward facing dog position (hands and feet on the floor so that you look from the side like an inverted V). Inhale, raising your head and lowering your hips into a plank position and then pushing up and rolling over your toes so that you are in cobra position (resting on your hands and the tops of your feet with your back arched, looking as close to the ceiling as you can and keeping as much of your straight legs on the floor as possible—see cobra description above). Exhale back through plant position into downward facing dog. Inhale, lifting your head and bringing your left foot forward so tat it is between or just behind your hands. Exhale, bringing your right foot level with your left and returning to toe-touching position. Inhale, raising your arms straight over your head. Exhale, returning your arms to your sides. Repeat, reversing right and left legs. Do at least 8 reps (4 each side).

You can tell as you go through this routine which parts are geared more toward strengthening and which more toward suppling. Strengthening requires diligent repetition. You will not see results instantly. Suppling, n the other hand, while it can increase over time, can be a more instantaneous benefit of stretching. Thus it will not ruin your riding career if you skip a day of workout. It may, however, adversely affect your ride if you skip the suppling portion of the workout. If you really don’t have the time for this whole routine on any given day, you can get away with just the suppling/stretching parts—cat stretches, child pose, cobra, warrior, and sun salutations. And then don’t forget to breathe when you ride!

Published in The Contact, Spring 2018 Newsletter

Mina LawtonMay 15, 2018