9 Important Points That are Inevitable for Your Progress and Well-Being

Let’s dig into the 9 important points that are inevitable for your progress and well-being (from the Equestrian Athlete article!)

1.    Make a Work Out Schedule  

Weekly Example:

Monday: Easy day.  Lunge lesson or long and low dressage session or OFF.

Tuesday/Thursday: Work-out (1) on weights (30-45 minutes)  Work-out (2) dressage work transitions, sitting trot w/ no stirrups, etc (med. hard)

Wednesday/Friday: Cardio (run, bike, swim) for 30-60 minutes.  Ride poles jumping, dressage movements.

Saturday: Ride on trails or dressage day

Sunday: Long cardio workout for you.
 

2.    Have a Coach and/or Work Out Buddy

Choose someone whose riding or training that you admire or are curious to try.  Choose someone with experience in what you are doing.  Ask questions and THINK about the answers

3.    Read/talk/experience as much about your sport as possible

Surf the net… we all do that, right?  Read Anthony Crossley, the German Federation books, Walter Steinkraus, Kyra Kyrklund... for starters.  Ask questions... THINK about the answers.

4.      Take care of your body/mind and SLEEP

NO, you do not do well on 5 hours a night.  Try 8 (more if you are young) and see if you feel refreshed.  Learn to get up early… at least by 6am or (horrors) 7am… which means you need to get in bed by 10pm or 11pm at the latest.  Just GO… your brain WILL learn to shut off.  I KNOW this one is hard.  It is my hardest thing… and I pay for it anytime I am “bad.”

5.   Take care of your body/mind and EAT WELL

I am just gonna go “postal” here for a brief moment...bear with me.  STOP junk food.  STOP sodas.  Toxic, toxic, toxic... Yeah, I love a donut now and again but I KNOW that I need to have a pretty clean system beforehand to stave off the ill effects of this kind of ZERO nutritional food.  I am not saying to give up everything (I LOVE my coffee shops!!!) but you HAVE to give an athletic body the food it needs to do its job.  Kraft macaroni and cheese is NOT a food group.  How about vegetables???  Real fruit???  Do you ever drink WATER?????  The more I work on my body, the more my body tells me to stick to a “vegetarian leaning” diet.  No fast food… YUK!   Personally, I try to stay away from red meat (and actually most meat… getting my protein from fish, some dairy, peanut butter, eggs and whey protein powders – I am not a fan of beans)  I eat lots of vegetables… salads, sweet potatoes (yum,) and different cooked vegetables.  Fruit with or without nuts is my main snack but I don’t eat a lot.  I don’t do a lot of breads, rice, or pasta either although I increase these if I am feeling hungry.  And, of course, my main vice, an Americano and a cookie or pumpkin muffin are on my list once in awhile as well.  My running training (an effort for me, as your riding is for you) causes me to supplement my diet with a multi-vitamin, extra calcium, E, C, CQ10, and electrolytes.  I also have cereal every morning with 100% of my iron (HUGELY important for women athletes.)  I also use ACCELERADE work-out drink to have during prolonged work-outs to keep my body from destroying its own muscles AND I use ENDUROX recovery drink within 30 minutes after a hard work-out to keep from getting sore.  You can get both of these at GNC or Runtex and they are a HUGE help.  Research them on Google if you are curious.  Changes in diet can take awhile because of the experimentation needed to see what works best for your own body.  I used to be convinced that I needed a high protein diet but I had indigestion a lot.  Well, indigestion and running do not mix so I was forced to experiment.  Lo and behold, I am much more efficient with less protein and more vegetables.  You just have to try things.  Educate yourself as much as possible.  Stay as natural as possible.  And learn to avoid junk food and sodas like the plague if you are in training.  One word about alcohol… it is poison… you know this, right??  That said, wine supposedly helps your digestion (in moderation) and beer (also in moderation) makes your hair shiny (I added that part in…)  One more word…this time about caffeine… it does dehydrate you (so drink more water) but it has never been proven to be really harmful.  Personally, I think it dehydrates my skin (great for looking wrinkly… yuk) but I just try to drink more water! 

6.   Listen to your body

Americans are pushed to go overboard on the hypochondriac mode (thank you all you perverse pharmaceutical companies!!!)  Our youngsters have one ailment after another when half of these could be fixed by turning off the computer or TV and booting them outside (without a car or credit card for fast food.) Our older generation tends to not listen to their aches and pains because “x, y, or z” drug or treatment can alleviate some of the problem.  It is time we all learned to pay attention to the things already mentioned, get our bodies in better working order, and take care of them without padding the drug pushers pockets.  Yeah, sometimes Advil is my friend but not before ice, rest, massage, heat, body work, eating, sleeping, training… oh, and a GREAT sports therapist (hooray for Performance Wellness of Austin!)


7.   Work the Whole Body

Riding needs CORE strength.  Good posture is important (Can I slam the TV and computer one more time??)  Weight training is wonderful for developing core strength.  Low weight, high reps for strength without bulk.  At least 30 minutes 2x a week will give benefits.  Work on stomach muscles for SURE.  Include latissimiss dorsi (lats,) back, biceps, triceps, deltoids, pecs, quads, adductors, abductors.  I have a weight routine for anyone interested.  Riding, since it IS a sport, also requires cardio-vascular fitness to ensure that your muscles (including your brain) are getting fed the proper amount of oxygen to work efficiently. (Sitting on an exercise bike with a Cosmo is not my idea of cardio…)  Try running, biking, or swimming… or something that causes you to have to propel your own body… get the heart rate up… breathe a little harder

8.   Compete!

Horseshows - big or little…OR group lessons…OR find out who can walk the fastest!!!  Test yourself to see if you can post without your stirrups for 3 straight minutes.  There are many ways to compete.  Competing gives you inspiration.  If you try and win, you can congratulate yourself and go on to the “next level.”  If you try and fail, you can analyze what your weak points are and work on them.  All of that is a win / win for you.  If you are not competitive, why not???  Think about it, I am sure you want to do well… that is competitive.  And, it is good for you.

9.   Enjoy!

Recognize the benefits of your training.  This may take a little time in a committed training program but recognize everything that comes easier to you because of your higher level of fitness.  This helps you to stayin focus when the “rest of the world” is partying at the lake until 2am every night, or you have to skip happy hour because of a training run, or you “just say no” to a big helping of chocolate cake (or fast food!)  I never feel jilted when I “just say no” to anything… I know that I am satisfied and happy when my body istreated with more respect and that is my main focus.  It is easy.  I am enjoying the benefits of my own training.