Working Out
It’s not a secret that I’ve been a proponent of working out at the gym for many years and that I believe all riders should be responsible about their fitness. It’s not just because a fit rider looks better on the horse or even that they have increased stamina while riding. It is more that, if I were a horse I would hate carting around some over-weight, panting sack of potatoes on my back. I just would feel it was unfair, it would made me sore, and I’d get pissed!
Horses don’t sit around trying to analyze why their masters decided to go out and binge eat because they were depressed over a bad score. They basically think like tiny infants. They know when they are content, scared, hungry, and uncomfortable and the reasons behind those feeling are of little concern to them. That’s why it is our responsibility to do our very best to “think like a horse” when we are dealing with them. And that empathy is again why I say, “Stay fit!”
I have a fantastic personal trainer, Bob Gutowitz, who I’ve introduced to many new clients like George Morris, Jane Clark, and Bent Jensen. Bob is an amazing trainer who, at just over 200 pounds, has shoulders which span the width of George’s and mine when standing side by side while having a 32 inch waist. You get the picture.
Now I’m not saying riders should look like body builders. That shape is not elegant on a horse, but the discipline Bob brings to training produces a lean, sculpted torso, strong legs, and a sound cardiovascular system.
And Bob believes in and practices yoga and stretching which I discussed in an earlier blog. They bring suppleness and balance to the body that is so vital, especially as we get older. Exercising is like religion. There is no “only right way” to practice it, but rather many, many excellent ways to become and stay fit. Like Maryanne Williamson once said, “It doesn’t matter if you hate working out as long as you get up and do it.” And I promise you your horse will appreciate it too!
Tags: fitness, working out
Savannah Brentnall — February 19, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
I found this set of yoga stretches for riders on the athleta blog. Maybe it will be useful to someone else. http://www.athleta.net/chi/2008/06/24/cowgirl-yoga-poses-for-riders/
Christie Hanson — February 19, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
Hello again Robert-
Thanks so much for your blog. It’s rare to be able to hear from someone with your vast experience directly, unedited and regularly. As I have said I am on a weight loss journey and I am determined to ride again. I did get very depressed and overweight and becuase of it. I knew better than to keep riding and now I haven’t in a long time. Many debates are held on the horsey bulletin boards about this topic and man do they ever get heated. I don’t know at what weight to start to ride again and I know I am still far from it. I don’t want to be that “over-weight, panting sack of potatoes” you refer to. I know you are blunt about what you expect of a rider and it is to be an athlete. I saw a new debate starting online just today about how Anne Gribbons referred to riders calling them athletes and some people actually thought it was incorrect. I don’t know what they are thinking. I think they must not ride very well-I have never seen an unfit person who could ride well including myself. Yes the horse is an athlete too but not without the rider.
So me and my boot camp trainer Tiffany are on a long journey back to my fit riding weight. I couldn’t do it alone and she will get a HUGE amount of credit for my success. I have dropped 23 pounds so far. I am glad that you are and have been a big advocate of fitness for riders. I wish I had never let myself get so far off track since it will take a long time to get back but I am determined to do it!
Thanks, Christie
RDover2 — February 19, 2009 @ 3:19 pm
Hi Christie.
I applaud you for your great determination and, whenever you feel ready and are in the Wellington area, I will be honored to give you a lesson for free.
You sound like a wonderful person who is trying to strive for a goal which is for the best interest for not just your horse but your own health.
Again, all the best of luck and I hope someday to see you in my arena. Soon, I hope!
RD
Bernie — February 19, 2009 @ 3:44 pm
Robert,
You could also express the mental benefits for riders of working out way better than I am qualified to do, but in terms of focus, getting free of tension and ‘centering’ concentration I can think of nothing better than power yoga!
Best,
Bx
Christie Hanson — February 19, 2009 @ 4:54 pm
Thank you Thank you Thank you! This is the kind of inspiration and goal I need! I will get there as soon as I can and I will be riding fit and ready when I see you! I called my hubby in tears, he thought something was wrong! This will keep me moving through the burn while I am working out and this summer when the heat in GA is almost unbearable I will grin and bear it thinking about my goal. I first was shooting for a small show in the fall…then I allowed myself to think…well maybe by the end of next winter I could even make a Florida trip…now I know exactly where I will be. Riding in your lesson. Thanks a million! Christie
deborah — February 19, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
I couldn’t agree more. My return to riding this past September was a reward to myself after losing 50 lbs. But it’s not all just about a the loss of the weight, it’s about being fit for “my” sport. I ran a marathon a number of years ago and have run numerous half-marathons, so I like to think that I have an “athlete’s” perspective on things. So I am trying to approach my return to riding from a more athletic point-of-view. One thing that I DID know when I started riding again was that I didn’t want my time on a horse to be all about how out of shape I was, I wanted to be in a place from which I could REALLY concentrate on the riding. Nowadays I spend a certain number of hours a week running and working out with a trainer to make me more fit. I actually find that when I consider this cross-training for my riding that I am better motivated than when I just vaguely think that I’m trying to lose weight or be in better general shape. I think of myself as an athlete in training. It may be a bit of a mental game, but it helps to keep me going (and especially through the dreary Winter).
-Debbie in New Hampshire
Niki Sackman — February 20, 2009 @ 3:09 pm
Boy I wish more people understood that riding IS a sport and exercise – you need to be fit to do well. It’s being fit that makes it look like you aren’t doing anything but sitting there with a smile on your face. At work we started a fitness program where we earn points for exercise. I was excited and commented that I should be able to get a lot of fitness points because I ride and clean stalls everyday. A co-worker actually said to me that riding wasn’t exercise and the rider just sits there while the horse does all the work. OMG!! I told him he was clueless and asked him if he ever saw a fat jockey (that was all I knew that he could relate to since I’m sure he has no idea about the different disciplines). Did he think riding a horse was like sitting on the sofa watching TV? I did all kinds of research on the physical benefits of riding, calories burned, muscles used, etc. and gave him a lengthy report; which I ended up putting in my GMO newsletter along with my editorial that was comical that month.
I told my co-worker how my ex-boyfriend made a similar comment one day when I came home after a hard lesson and was exhausted – “the horse does all the work and you just sit there.” Joe was a very fit guy with a very small % of body fat who played a lot of sports – a jock if there ever was one. I was able to get revenge that some of you may have dreamed of…he agreed to take riding lessons because it would be easy and I think he thought he was going to show me up. Well Joe lasted three lessons. My trainer did have him trotting by the third lesson (come-on, we all no if you know nothing about riding by lesson three you aren’t doing anywhere the amount of exercises an experienced rider is) but Joe admitted he couldn’t hack it and that he had never been so sore in his life before (we also weren’t very kind and give him the widest laziest horse she owned to ride for his lessons – a retired hunter that was 17.3 and built like a Mack truck). My only comment to him was that I couldn’t understand why he was so sore and tired because all he did was sit there and the horse did all the work. I never heard another comment ever again that riding wasn’t exercise or a sport.
Wow, you are such a nice guy to offer Christie a less!!! What a wonderful motivator and inspiration you are! Good good luck Christie and I hope you make it to FL for that lesson and most of all get the weight off that you want.
Melissa Hare Jones — February 20, 2009 @ 7:05 pm
I want to take an opportunity to remind everyone, but women especially, that thyroid disorder is often missed as a contributing factor in weight gain, depression, aches and pains in the head/neck/shoulders, lack of motivation and an incredible host of other problems you may experience as you age into your 30s and beyond. Searching the Mayo Clinic website will give you detailed information, but a simple blood test is all you need to find out if you’re affected.
As a lifelong rider and long-time instructor, I have always encouraged regular workouts at the gym, yoga, pilates, etc., and have done those things for my own health and riding. So imagine my despair when despite all efforts at diet and exercise that I kept gaining weight and feeling more and more miserable. Unfortunately, I just attributed it all to old injuries and general aging and stayed uncomfortable, grouchy and listless for years. When I got to the point where even grooming my horses was a terrible energy drain, I talked to my personal trainer about it and she mentioned hypothyroidism as a possibility. And now I’m kicking myself that I procrastinated for so long before I spoke to my doctor. I’m now on medication and regaining my old energy, shape and fitness level, and I hope this message may keep someone else from getting to the point I did before I sought answers!
deborah — February 20, 2009 @ 10:07 pm
I can relate, I’ve been hypothyroid for over 10 years. It’s very hard to lose weight with the condition, but it can be done. I usually have to have my medication adjusted every couple of years because it seems to get worse over time.
Kim — February 22, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
It is very refreshing to hear an equestrian athlete talking about going to the gym and working out. I am a personal trainer, and an avid runner who has competed in both dressage and jumpers and I have found it very frustrating watching riders in both disciplines attempting to compete when they are very out of shape. I also have to scratch my head at some of the comments from these individuals “I don’t need to go to the gym, riding is my exercise…” While riding is exercise it does not replace going to the gym; first off the demands that riding places on your body are going to lead to muscle imbalances if you do not also perform a balanced strength training routine, second of all you will not burn enough calories riding for it to ever be an effective weight loss tool.
I have always been most concerned about working out to maintain/improve fitness levels which will in turn at least in my opinion lead to a more efficient performance. I found it very interesting to move from a jumper barn to a dressage barn where I was told I would be absolutely exhausted after my first lesson, the thing they didn’t take into account even though I told them was that I was training for a half marathon at the time so a 45 minute lesson although challenging in terms of changing riding styles was not all that physically demanding (I will admit that it helped to have a horse that was very light and responsive to the aides).
I also agree with the concept that it is not fair to the horse to be expected to carry around a rider who has a lot of excess weight. We expect the horse to be in peak shape at the shows and do the work to get them there so why should our expectations for our self be any different? I am sure that many of the people out there would find a noticeable improvement in their horse’s performance and willingness to perform if they shed the excess weight they are carrying around. One of the most noticeable things which I found when selling my one horse was that his movement and his overall expression was largely impacted by the size of rider on his back.
I also feel it is important to mention that I feel it is just as detrimental to performance when I rider is underweight and trying to perform at a high level. From my standpoint the most important thing is to be at a healthy weight and fitness level. Most other athletes cross train to improve their sport performance why shouldn’t more riders take up this approach?
Sorry this may have gotten a little long…
Ellie Brimmer — February 26, 2009 @ 11:13 pm
Hello, I found your blog recently, I am a convert from the hunter world and I recently started taking dressage lessons this winter with my new horse who had upper level dressage training before someone bought him and retrained him as a Big Eq medal horse. I recently started working out with a personal trainer and she is really good about helping me do exercises that will improve my riding. For example, my horse has a very sensitive mouth, any bobble of the hands and he will shut down. To help quiet my hands my trainer is having me do weights that strengthen the forearm muscles and I do quite a bit of my cardio on the rower and the Upper Body Egrometer. I have Cerebal Palsy and I am also working with a Physical Therapy MD and I am going to start getting botox shots in my left leg to loosen the muscles.
RDover2 — February 27, 2009 @ 7:50 am
Dearest Ellie,
I have seen and watched you and I only have one word to sum up everything I think about you and all you are doing.
FABULOUS!!!!!!!
RD
Ellie Brimmer — February 27, 2009 @ 6:41 pm
Thanks! I’m having a lot of fun learning dressage, I feel like switching from hunters to dressage is like going from checkers to chess.
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