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| Pilates or sex chamber? LOL |
Back in November I started going to pilates twice a week. A good friend teaches locally, and I thought not only would I be supporting her business but maybe I would learn something.
By no means am I a gym rat, or workout fanatic or crazy marathon runner.
But I sort of get it now. After every session of pilates I feel so much better. I feel loose, happy and strong. And hungry. haha.
I noticed a difference in my riding almost immediately.
And after several months, there are pretty significant changes I am noticing.
For example, my right foot. It has pointed OUT for ... oh I dunno ... more than 20 years. It is a left over habit from my hunter jumper days.
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| Look at my right foot. LOOK AT IT. |
While it is not perfectly straight yet, it now points forward without having to think about it.
My shoulders have "wings" and that has been pretty much my whole life. This will take a long time to fix, but now I can think "plug your shoulders in" and instantly my core engages and Hampton lifts his withers.
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| Great photo of my shoulder "wings" |
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| Keeping my shoulders plugged in |
My left wrist also has a tendency to curl and flop for whatever reason. Now I can think "point your knuckles to his ears" and that fixes that problem. (thumbs on top though!)
My seat has gotten stronger, and I have developed a "suction cup" feeling especially in the canter that really creates much more jump. It's gross but you have to think suction cup the horse into your hoo-hah. Sorry for that visual.
I am also MUCH more aware of where my body parts are. Especially my sit bones, and how I am turning them and weighting each one. This is made a difference in keeping the rest of me straighter, and therefore Hampton straighter.
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| Human has been riding better lately. Hmmm. |
My core is probably the strongest it has ever been in my LIFE. Which has helped with my lower back. It has made me hips straighter, my hip flexors more loose (minimal seizing up these days!), and even my toes have benefited! #workthosetoes
So while I think I will still have to start running again to up my cardio, I have found pilates to be challenging, rewarding and a major benefit to my riding. I think I'll keep it up!
Although when you find the pilates movements that makes your tempi changes straight please let me know.
Ahahaha. Love this. I find yoga essential for my riding, because running tightens my hips so much. But running is necessary for life, and so cannot be quit. Love that Hampton notices.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you're going to get some seriously weird hits on this blog, and I'm giggling.
I REALLY want to do pilates for my back/core, but it's so expensive here I can't afford to do it and keep up my riding. Ugh. Why can't I just be independently wealthy?
ReplyDelete"Sunction cup your horse into your hoohaa" may be the greatest blog sentence I've ever read.
ReplyDeleteThis really makes me want to give pilates a go. I tend to either get really bored in workouts or trigger a migraine, but I'm always looking for something to up my riding game. :)
I keep wanting to get into yoga for the same reasons, but pilates looks like it might be more fun! (Though, harder to do at home...)
ReplyDeleteI loved pilates for my riding. I did it for 2 years and that amount helped me SO much, but I found it had diminishing returns after that point so a combination of the cost and my studio shutting down made me stop.
ReplyDeleteWe call it the wizard's sleeve and I've always used that visual to lift the horse on the flat lol.
ReplyDeleteOne of the kids a the barn has winging shoulders and it really bugs me for some reason lol
Oh I would love to try pilates. Just going to the gym and adding weight lifting and cardio to my routine has made a massive improvement to my riding.
ReplyDeleteThis is so awesome! Those contraptions look fun.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been doing the 30 day yoga challenge... avoiding Pilates although I know the time has come to start them. I’ve already lost 13lbs trying to get fitter to be a better dressage rider. That’s for the Pilates reminder.
ReplyDelete