Equine Wellness - Focus on the Rider: Riding from the Core.
Are you
ready to find more balance and stability and precision in the saddle? How about reducing your risk of injury,
asymmetry, or even imbalance in your horse?
An
on-the-ground conditioning program may just be the perfect adjunct to your
training time in the saddle. This is a
rider-specific program, cultivating flexibility, overall strength and
endurance, mind-body connection and awareness and core conditioning. In this column, you can look forward to fun
and easy exercises and great advice covering all these facets of equestrian
fitness. First, we begin “riding from
the core”
Core
stability training, once thought to be just another fitness fad, is actually
one of the most sport-specific conditioning methods for the rider. Core is defined as the innermost part of
anything, or the central or most important part. Stability is defined as the capacity of an object to return to
equilibrium. Essentially, the ‘core’ as
it has come to be called, is made up of several muscles and muscle groups in
the torso and pelvis area, termed the inner unit. These muscles are the transverse abdominal, the multifidus, the
muscles of the pelvic floor and the diaphragm.
As the inner unit, these muscles work together to stabilize the lumbar
spine, an inherently instable structure, as well as the pelvis. They are integral to easeful, correct
posture, balance and stability, alignment of the spine and injury prevention.
It is
important to remember that unlike the major movers, like the hip flexors, upper
abdominals or biceps which fatigue quickly, the inner unit is very difficult to
fatigue as it is designed to activate prior to every movement. However, it is very common for someone to
have no idea how to activate these muscles!
You can imagine the stress this puts of the major movers of the body,
which were not built for stabilization.
In compensating for the malfunctioning stabilizer muscles, the major
movers become tight and weak, often pulling the structural system out of
balance, or placing the lumbar spine under stress.
So why is
core stability training so important for riders? First, it improves the ability of the rider to maintain a neutral
spine, where every joint is held in the optimal position, allowing an equal
distribution of force and preventing injury.
This not only increases your ease, but also that of your horse. And don’t forget the role of the core in the
development of effective posture. Many
riders suffer from poor posture in the form of a forward pelvic tilt, commonly
caused by an imbalance in the musculature surrounding the pelvis and the lumbar
spine. This leads to two common riding
errors (1) commonly termed the “toilet seat” position, where the legs are in
front of the centre of gravity and (2) a hollow back, caused by attempting to
bring the leg back onto the plumb line.
Both errors place you and your horse in an uncomfortable and often very
unbalanced position.
Thankfully
core stability training has come to the rescue! By training the inner unit to correctly activate, we can not only
correct or prevent these uncomfortable errors, but can also help you become a
more balanced, stable, and quiet rider.
To begin, we must learn to activate the stabilizers of the core correctly.
Getting to Know Our Core
Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Place your fingers inside your hips as shown in figure 1. Try to cough or laugh. Try it again. Did you feel the muscle come up under your fingers? It should feel like trying to zip up a really tight pair of jeans. Meet your transverse abdominal (TVA). This muscle acts like a stabilizing belt around your centre. The activation of the TVA will start a chain reaction which activates the remainder of the core, and brings the pelvis into neutral position. Try it again, seeing this time if you can hold this contraction for several seconds. How about 10 seconds? Don’t forget to breathe! This time try to relax every other muscle in your body except for the TVA. How did you do?
Next, roll a
towel up and place it on the floor with a pillow at one end for your head. Lie with your spine on the towel as shown in
Figure 1. Find your TVA and activate
for 10 seconds, remembering to relax and breathe. Once you have mastered this exercise, activate TVA and slowly
lift one leg off the floor as demonstrated in Figure 3. Hold the leg for 10 second, lower, and
repeat on the other side. Perform this
exercise at least one time per day, with 4 repetitions on each leg.
Progress slowly to lifting both legs up at the same time,
staying activated in the TVA throughout the entire movement.
It is my recommendation that you
practice using the muscles of the inner unit in all aspects of your life,
especially in the saddle. This
increases the chance of your body choosing these muscles to work, rather than
the easily fatigued mover muscles.
Don’t be surprised if you feel taller, stronger, more balanced and more
at ease from this one exercise.
Have fun getting to know your core. I promise you will be pleasantly surprised at the change in your
posture, balance and riding!