Lockdown fitness

Dynamic power is the focus of this fitness session with chartered physio Sarah Claridge – to hone your muscles for rising trot, the two-point canter and landing after a fence

Honing your riding muscles through dynamic power

LOCKDOWN may finally be easing, but there’s still no prospect of gyms being opened within the next few weeks, so we need to keep ourselves ticking over in our own homes.

However, now that schooling venues and equestrian centres are beginning to restart their business, and our riding horizons are opening up, it’s essential that we keep our bodies in tip-top condition.

Here’s a batch of exercises – stretching, cardio and dynamic power – to hone your muscles and target those areas riders typically need to work on.

Simply keeping fit is a good baseline, but riders have very different requirements from other athletes, from hip and spine flexibility to enable you to absorb your horse’s stride, to working the key muscles that give you stability around the hips and pelvis for lateral work.

And check out the equestrian kit props suggested this week – lunge line for skipping rope; mounting block, bales or even a salt lick for your stepwork. There’s no excuse; let’s get stepping…

TAKE CARE: With any new form of exercise, your body needs to build up gradually to avoid strain. Seek the advice of a chartered physiotherapist if you are unsure if you should do any exercises due to underlying health conditions. Particular caution applies if you have any cartilage injuries in your knees or joint replacements; avoid the cardiovascular exercises if you have any unstable cardiac health problems, acute disc bulges/prolapses or referred leg pain, pins and needles, numbness, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, gynaecological conditions – or if you are pregnant or undergoing cancer treatment.