I've found a fun way of building muscle!!

[Wobblydeb]

:D I've just discovered a great way of building up my muscles between lessons!

I've been trying to find someway of actually making sure I am getting fitter between lessons, because once a week is not enough to build up the muscles I need for riding.

And..... (drum roll please!)...... I've started adult ballet classes for complete beginners :)

What a laugh - we were even doing jumps last week .......well, in my mind I was leaping like a gazelle, but when I looked in the mirror, it was more a child-like skip :D

But what a good work-out it gives you! Every single muscle in my legs ached the next day, and the day after that I could hardly walk! Stairs were a complete none starter. It works on the muscles that cycling doesn't - all the inner thighs and calves as well as outer and front of thigh (not sure of the proper names!).

And hopefully with time I will stop falling over when standing on one leg.... ;)

Oh, and at £4.50 an hour I can afford to go every week as well as my riding lesson....

[KarinUS]

I just got back from a try-out Yoga/Pilates class they offer during lunch where I work and am contemplating getting a membership to the company fitness center.
But Yoga is the only thing I'd be interested in. Not sure if it's even worth it for once a week. The other stuff they offer is more along aerobics.
If they offered your ballet class, now that would be fun! Good for you.

[Trixie]

Its always said you shouldn't mix ballet with riding as ballet wants you to turn your toes out and down whereas riding wants them to be up and forward. You can always tell if a rider has done alot of ballet. This might only apply if you did ballet for years as a kid and as long as you are aware of this conflict you should be fine.

Plias (sp?) are great for stretching the calf and keepingthe bum tucked in and devlopes (sp?) work a treat for your inner thigh. Sadly, I've not done my ballet exercises for ages and I'm having trouble with my leg strength. I just can't squeeze hard enough for some of the riding school ponies and horses. I'm hoping to join a gym and have an hour with a trainer to develop exercises to improve this. Don't know how I'm going to describe it to him, maybe I'll just have to sit on his back and demonstrate:D

[gruss80]

believe it or not I purchased a Suzanne Sommers thigh master to help build up inner thighs....works great....(new to this forum....enjoying reading the posts} Just became the owner of Quincy 20yr. old gelding part QH part Draft....161/2hh...have been riding him and doing lessons with him for about 9 months....I hope I am really ready for this....I do love him to death...

[hometrotter]

I was so desperate for additional leg strength, I built myself a riding machine to practice on at home. Evidently, we are all devoted to riding in our own way. :D

http://home.netcom.com/~tdmt/hometrotter

[Wobblydeb]

Tell us more about Quincy! (I'm building myself up to owning my own horse next year or the year after).

I'd love to find an elderly statesman to learn from, but the good ones don't seem to come up for sale often! :)

[horsey_lass]

I need to get much fitter for riding - I had my first intensive riding lesson for years this week and I'm really feeling the effect of it i.e. my legs have seized up.
What does anyone find best for getting fit and building up muscle? I want to take something up but I'm not sure what to choose - balllet, ballroom dancing, yoga, the gym, aerobics? I'll try anything I just don't know whats best so any suggestions are very welcome.

[denise42]

My trainer told me I really needed to work on upper body stregth, not just my legs. As holding your self erect and not slumping forward requiers AB muscles and back muscles. Not to mention the legs. I re-joined the gym and do the eliptical machine for 30 min and then lift weight focusing on shoulders, back ,chest and of course those ABs.
Lets hope it helps as sometimes I feel like a rag doll when I ride. :(

[cvb]

HomeTrotter - you don't happen to have been to any Peggy Cummings clinics do you ? That "rotate" in the video looks familiar....

Thats an amazing device - there are various "mechnical" horses over here - but they tend to be expensive so are owned by trainers or organisations. But your idea turns it into a DIY project !

[gruss80]

Hi Wobblydeb....well for about a year I have been volunteering with a theraputic riding club for handicap children......Quincy is one of the clubs lesson horses....due to financial reasons the club is going to have to disolve.....I have been riding him and taking lessons on him....the owner whom I have become friends with ask me if I was interested in taking him as she has to find homes for all six of our horses....I can't bear the thoughts of not having him so I said yes.....I'm am 55 years old ....have been riding on and off for a while, but never owned my own horse....I do have a few friends that have horses, so I know I will have plenty of advice when I need it....also there are plenty of barns where I live (up=state New York) so I am not really worried about boarding him close to home...as for costs well I guess I am going to have to give some things up, but to me it will be worth it....it sure is addictive once you get involved.....Quincy is in great shape for his age and plenty active for me...for the most part I like to trail ride with a western saddle...I have tried english and like that also...my advice would be if you can swing it go for it....have a great day...

[hometrotter]

Thank you CVB. I am not familiar with Peggy Cummings. Is she from Scotland? I have seen some Mary Wanless videos (she's from England) and she demonstrated the sitting trot as a motion where the seat bones walk forward - and walla, there you have the diagonal.

Probably the best thing to do is just ride more often. That will really strengthen the riding muscles, but for those of us without our own horse it is difficult. Also sit-ups and crunches, no matter how much you hate doing them, will really improve your posture and upper body position.

[cvb]

Nope - Peggy's from USA ! Look up "connected riding" and you should find her :)

[Wobblydeb]

Trixie - I've been giving your reply some thought, and think that there is something in it for people who dance a lot (muscle memory being what it is) that my once a week will probably not be enough to put me into that position permanently.

I was there again last night, and was really watching what it was doing/not doing for my body. It is fab! :) We were doing lots of basic exercise which required balance (on one leg) inner thigh muscle use (moving the other leg and also turning the legs out from the hips) and core strength (tucking the bottom under like in riding and lengthening the back). You find by the end of an exercise that you've gone "duck bum" again, and it's really good practice for correcting it when the teacher comes along the line and straightens you up!

horsey-lass - I also go along to salsa, which is similar to ballroom dancing I guess. I find it isn't too strenuous exercise unless you get up for every dance (I'm too fond of a gossip and a glass of wine!!!) although it does exercise your legs and torso. I don't find 3 hours salsa as tough on my muscles as an hour's ballet though....

[horsey_lass]

Thanks Wobblydeb - I might try Salsa then. It does look kinda fun and it sounds like its good exercise without being too painful!

[devon lass]

Its always said you shouldn't mix ballet with riding as ballet wants you to turn your toes out and down whereas riding wants them to be up and forward. You can always tell if a rider has done alot of ballet. This might only apply if you did ballet for years as a kid and as long as you are aware of this conflict you should be fine.
:D

I have been doing ballet since I was 3 (well a week before I was 4) and wasn't allowed to ride , or my mumused this as an excuse for me not to ride, for a couple of years, when i was 7 i think i started up riding and I have found they go very well together, ballet tones the back/outer of the legs and riidng use the inner. I think they go perfectly together as in ballet you are learning to control your legs , which is a very useful skill in riding.

[domane]

Blimey Wobblydeb.... you certainly keep busy don't you??? :p

I would love to have time to visit the gym as I get free membership at the golf club where my husband is the Course Manager but by the time I have mucked out, lugged haynets, hauled water trugs, picked out heavy irish cob feet, groomed, tacked up, ridden, untacked and repeated feet and grooming, mixed feed and gone home I am shattered...... hey! That's a pretty good workout in itself!!! :D

[bexj]

I've just started doing Yoga/Pilates too - had my first class last week. Some bits I found easy, probably because of riding, and others I found really really hard (although they were the exercises when you had to lift your butt off the floor:eek: ). I'm also trying the exercise bike for at least 10 mins a couple of times a week.....

[nuttymanxmare]

I used to to adulty Ballet.. However I havent been able to find dance school down here that does adult lessons..

I also do Taekwondo and try and go swimming three times a week...

Mind you im still fat though!

:D

[cazrider]

I have a trainer who does circuits, pilates and weights with me once a week on Saturdays. It really does help my inner thighs, and my dodgy left hip, knee problem. I hadn't thought of ballet Wobblydeb. Good for you.:) I found that because I get so tired during the week from my job, that doing any kind of class gave me too much opportunity to opt out at the last minute. So one to one works well, as if I don't go I have to pay her anyway.;) It's also not as expensive as I'd thought.

hometrotter, I was gobsmacked at your machine:D That's what I call taking it seriously.