“Ten Rider Fitness Principles”
By Popular Demand we have re-published this episode. Each weekend we are choosing the most listened to and commented on episodes for you to enjoy.
This interview was previously published in 2019 Jason Hill 2 (508)
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First Chat (175) Jason Hill
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About This Episode
“Ten Rider Fitness Principles”
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“Ten Rider Fitness Principles”
Consider injury first and follow physicians guidance.
1. Mobility comes first.
– There are many therapies and modalities of training that can assist in the release of tight muscles and improve on range of motion of all your joints. We don’t need perfect range just adequate range for our chosen activity or sport. Mobility has a direct relationship with stability. When range of motion is increased on joints signals and feedback information to the brain increases. This provides more information about movement potential.
2. Stability follows mobility.
– Firstly stability surrounding joints! Joint stability which is part of the internal support structure are smaller long firing endurance type muscles that sit close to all the joints & provide movement information to the brain. This pathway of communication also innervates larger short firing muscles of the external support structure that control movement. The integrated communication between these two systems within the body enables you to stay on the horse.
3. Coordination and control.
– Absorbing motion through the horses body while maintaining coordinated movement is a task we must learn to be effective as riders and provide clear application of the aids to the horse. It is intrinsic with rhythm and clear channels of communication between multiple muscle groups. The fluid action & health of muscles & fascia to glide with ease across their planes and transmit energies with clear and accurate application. Fully integrated movement is functional to this role that we must play as riders. That is types of movement that involves lower & upper body movements together.
4. Muscle Balance is equal length of muscles on the front & back of the body, top to bottom & side to side.
– There are muscle tests you can do to understand some of the balance of the muscle & fascia system. Once again we don’t need perfect balance just adequate for perform at our chosen level. Better muscle balance improves movement patterning and is directly related to posture & alignment on the ground & on the horse reducing stress on all your joints & the horses.
5. Postural alignment is a neutral balance of all the joints in standing position where the skeletal structure is supporting your weight without muscles overworking to regain alignment.
– Depending on your vocation and what movements you do most of each day your body will adapt. For a population that largely spends long periods seated the body will adapt and shorten the front chain of muscle. To assist the body in re-balancing we need to release the front chain and activate the back chain of muscles that keep us upright and safe on the horse. The relationship between our thoracic and pelvic position is fundamental to our alignment on the horse and allows us to sit evenly on the sit bones with a neutral pelvic position without tension. This provides the horse with every opportunity to gain balance through their own structures & systems. The movement of the horse can then flow freely and without tension that helps us maintain our own rhythm and control of movement which cycles in harmony between the combination of horse & rider.
6. Core control is the gain of stability & control throughout all the muscle groups from top of shoulders to pelvic floor.
– Imagine a wooden barrel tightly spliced together with seamless lines and strong external support structure that tightens and contains itself and protects it’s precious contents. The splices of the barrel could represent our internal support structure and the iron that surrounds the barrel could be regarded as the external support structure. Having these components aligned and well constructed is fundamental to our balance & coordination on the horse. For example when our pelvic floor activates small muscles called mulitfidi activate simultaneously that align the spine to protect all the vertebrae. This communicates to the brain it is safe to output power & innervate with the spine stabilised. All this needs to be considered in the full chain of activation & movement that needs to occur throughout the whole body. The factors that assist good core function will ultimately help you gain control of your position on the horse.
7. Proprioception is feedback to your brain from all peripheral senses.
– Our body is full of proprioceptors that provide information about movement in order to protect the body. Our training as riders needs to provide the brain with as much information about movement as possible. It’s called variability training. Less reps more different sets of exercises. When the brain has more information about movement it can then protect the body more effectively which in turn de-stresses the brain and relaxes the muscular, fascial and other systems to work more effectively. Concentrated effort in training is fundamental to improve this response as it creates myelin wrapping. Myelin is like a coating the wraps around the neural pathways to speed up it’s response by up to 200 times improving your stability on the horse.
8. Response is governed by various components of your fitness.
– Essentially having fast coordinated stability and movement of all your joints.There are 3 movement platforms of the body that create movement. The movement platforms are ankles, hips & thoracic. Good mobilisation & function in these 3 segments will help us gain quality of movement with faster response. This broadens our movement spectrum which feeds more information to the brain about the full potential of our movement and how we as riders can be more effective at staying on & influencing the body of the horse.
9. Relaxation of our own body & the body of the horse is foremost in all of our training.
– All components of rider fitness accompany each other to gain this ultimate state. These are the components of mobility, stability, coordination, muscle balance, postural alignment, core control, good proprioception & response. Relaxation and independent balanced position enables the horse to travel freely underneath us and use it’s body more effectively with relaxation also.
10. Variation of movement.
– These are our tools in our toolbox. A different tool for a different job. Variation of movement is fundamental for riders to gain stability and control. Our aim is stillness on the horse and in order to gain stillness we first need to move. It is a funnel of movement starting with gross & larger movements refining to smaller micro adjustments and finally stillness on the horse. More movement a bigger toolbox! Less movement less tools for the job! To help our horses balance we need to balance ourselves firstly with a better variety of movement.
Time Stamp
00:49 – Background
01:25 – Introduction of topic
02:44 – 1. Mobility comes first.
04:01 – 2. Stability follows mobility.
04:37 – 3. Coordination and control.
05:35 – 4. Muscle Balance is equal length of muscles on the front & back of the body, top to bottom & side to side.
07:26 – 5. Postural alignment is a neutral balance of all the joints in standing position where the skeletal structure is supporting your weight without muscles overworking to regain alignment.
09:47 – 6. Core control is the gain of stability & control throughout all the muscle groups from top of shoulders to pelvic floor.
11:25 – 7. Proprioception is feedback to your brain from all peripheral senses.
13:20 – 8. Response is governed by various components of your fitness.
16:20 – 9. Relaxation of our own body & the body of the horse is foremost in all of our training.
18:15 – 10. Variation of movement.
25:54 – Contact details see below
Jason’s Contact Details
Phone: 021 981 559 New Zealand
Email: jason@equestrifit.co.nz
Website: www.equestrifit.co.nz
Facebook: Equestrifit
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