Ok, back on track. Last week was a whirlwind getting ready for our first show of the season, but I'm home and ready to write again. Hopefully you all have become fairly acquainted with the Pilates breath, the correct Pilates pelvic tilt, and how to connect your breath to the use of your abs. Before adding another exercise I want to elaborate on a more advanced version of the One Hundred we did in week one. The original One Hundred or beginner version has the legs at a 90 degree angle in the air as you are laying on your back. To increase the difficulty, straighten your leg legs to point towards the ceiling. Now, only straighten as much as is comfortable for you. The straighter the legs the harder you will have to work in both the abs and in your legs. Eventually you will be able to straighten your legs completely AND lower and hold them at about 45 degrees from the floor. This is very difficult, so be patient. Eventually you will build the strength in your abs and legs to be able to do this, but it will take time.

Our new exercise for the week will work the obliques helping you to control lateral movements in the saddle. Similar to the one hundred, we will lie on our backs, pelvic tilt and abs engaged, and lift your legs off the floor toes pointing to the ceiling. Remember, if you can't keep your legs straight, bend them slightly to your comfort level, you'll get there eventually. Now, legs are together, knees, ankles, and feet touching, arms by your side palms down. Now draw a circle in the ceiling with your toes starting clockwise. The circle should only be about 6 inches in diameter, so very small. Complete one clockwise circle, stop at 12 o’clock, and then go counterclockwise. Continue doing circles alternating clockwise and counterclockwise remembering to stop at 12 o'clock each time before switching directions. Do about 10 then increase the size of your circle to about 12 inches. Make sure not to swing the legs. Move with INTENTION and don't use momentum to move you. Really engage those abs and obliques to move your legs and don't let that lower back come off of the floor. We're using our abs, obliques, and leg muscles here, NOT your lower back.

Enjoy and as always, consult your health care professional before starting any exercise program.

Have a great week!

While recently reading about the origin of Pilates I came across a great description of its benefits that I think a rider can really relate to: (1) Enhanced muscle definition (2) Increased energy (3) Keener body awareness (4) More efficient movement (5) Improved coordination and athleticism. Numbers 3-5 are ones I can really relate to and really seek as a rider using Pilates to become more effective in the saddle.

This week we'll be doing a Pilates exercise to help strengthen the obliques, the muscles on the sides of your abdominal area. Strengthening your obliques will not only help to shrink the waist by tightening and trimming laterally across the stomach, but will help with balance in the saddle to keep you centered when turning and jumping as well as moving laterally on the flat.

To begin lay on your back knees bent. Make sure your core is engaged and your pelvic tilt is properly positioned as we have done in both previous exercise making sure there is no space between you lower back and the floor. Lift your feet off the floor so you are creating a 90 degree angle from your toes to your hips. Make sure your knees are over your hips and not over your stomach. This will really require you to engage those abs to hold this pose. To make sure your knees are in the correct place, press your palms on your knees and push away until your arms are straight. This is where your knees should remain. This is also a good tool to use while doing the One Hundred to make sure your knees are in the correct place. Next, bring your hands back to your head and gently touch your flat handed fingertips to your temple. Lift you shoulders, remember not your head, off of the floor to engage the entire core. Remember the lift comes from the chest and shoulders not the head and neck. This is the starting position. So, your elbows are out and knees are bent over your hips, now twist the body bringing the right elbow to the left knee WHILE straightening the right leg in front of you. The distance the straight leg is off the floor is up to your comfort level. Higher in the air is easier, while lower to the ground is harder, but remember not to let that lower back lift off the ground. Now come back to center bringing the right elbow and right leg back to starting position then switching reaching the left elbow to the right knee and straightening the left leg. Now flow through alternating sides making sure to move with intention and don't let momentum power you. The push comes form the abs and obliques not swinging the legs and elbows back and forth. Do as many as is tolerable and do a couple of sets, resting after each. I could tell everyone to do 3 sets of 10, but 10 may not be enough. Often you have to do as many as 20 and in only 2 sets. The idea is we want to push the body to feeling, but not to pain.

Continue to do the exercises in week one and two as well and enjoy this new exercise!

Ok, round two. I hope everyone enjoyed the One Hundred and is ready to add another exercise to their weekly routine. So, we talked last week about connecting with your breath. Finding how the inhale and exhale help to straighten your spine, relax your hips in the saddle, and calm our minds. This week I'll encourage you to continue the One Hundred as we did last week and add a new exercise called the Roll Up. The Roll Up is also another fundamental Pilates exercise. As always we will continue to use the Pilates breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Lying on your back just as we started the One Hundred, make sure your pelvis is tilted up, lower back flat, so that nothing could fit between the floor and your lower back, not even your hand. This is a standard Pilates form, so practice is often. Lay your legs out flat and straight, toes soft point, arms by your side, palms down. Remember to keep that pelvic tilt with abs engaged. Lift your hands over head palms now up so you now create one long line from tip of toe to tip of fingers. Breathe in and lift your hands and arms straight over head like you're reaching for the ceiling. Now engage the abs, upper, middle, and lower and lift with your shoulders NOT head, lifting the spine one vertebrae at a time up off the floor as though you are now in fact reaching for the ceiling with your fingertips until you are now sitting up fingers still facing the ceiling. Sit nice and tall, flex your feet, exhale, and roll your shoulders and chest forward to touch toes as far as you can go. If you can not touch your toes, no worries, only go as far as is comfortable. You should feel a comfortable stretch in your hamstrings and even calves, but it should not hurt. Now go backwards. Inhale, sit tall again, fingers reaching for the ceiling, exhale, then lower one vertebrae at a time lower back first until you are flat on the floor again being careful to move slow and with purpose. Engage your abs to control the speed of the movement. To review your breath, the inhale comes with the lift off the floor, and the exhale comes when you roll forward. Inhale again lifting up out of the roll, and exhale as you lower back to the floor. Do this as many times as is comfortable, again moving intently and at your own pace, but do not let momentum take over and swing the body up and down.

This is a great deep abdominal strengthening exercise to help engage and control the stride in the saddle. The abs do so much for balance and control in the saddle. Use this extra sense of control to guide the size of the stride. Whether rising or sitting, use your abs along with your breath to create a smaller or larger stride throughout your ride and not with the hands.

As always consult your health care professional before starting any exercise program.

Have a great week!

So, it's week one of exercises to help you be a stronger more effective rider. Those that are familiar with Pilates will recognize this first exercise. It's a fundamental Pilates exercise that helps you to recognize the connection between your breath and your core. This exercise is called the One Hundred. There are many variations to the One Hundred, but I'll describe the basic beginner One Hundred and we'll work up to the more advanced as the weeks go on. Lay on your back, knees bent, feet on the floor, hands by your side, palms facing down. Become aware of the lower back and tilt your hip so that there is no space between the lower back and the floor as though a string has been sewn through your belly button and into the floor. The Pilates breath is in through your nose and out through your mouth. While lying flat, take a few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth allowing your lungs to fill and depress without lifting your lower back off the floor. Keep those abs engaged with your spine straight. To begin lift the feet off the floor with knees still bent creating a 90 degree angle with your legs. Knees together and over hips not over your belly and toes at a soft point. With arms still by your side lift the shoulders, head, and neck off the floor like a crunch and hold it. Lift your straight arms off the floor and start pumping them up and down 3-6 inches off the floor, pumping the whole arm not just the hands as though you are slapping water. Breathe in for 5 pumps and out for 5 pumps focusing on how the breath allows you to tighten and control the abdominals, lower back, and legs all while keeping the lower back flat on the floor. Make very sure not to strain the neck. The lift should not come from the neck but the shoulders. If at any point you feel a strain in the neck lower your head and continue. As your core strengthens it will be easier for you to keep the shoulders up. So pump 5 in 5 out in 10 sets of 10 so that you will have pumped a total of 100 times, thus the name One Hundred. When finished slowly lower the shoulders, head, and neck, then slowly lower the feet. Allow your legs to straighten out in front of you and stretch your arms over head for a whole body stretch. Repeat this a few times to your comfort.

I relate this exercise in the saddle to help with rhythm and control especially at the seated trot. As you're walking around warming up practice the same breathing technique used in the One Hundred becoming aware of how it relates to the horses stride. When trotting especially sitting use that breath to help control the rhythm of the stride allowing yourself to focus strictly on rhythm and control rather on tightening the legs and becoming stiff to control the stride. Engage the core all the while to help sit taller, longer, and deeper in the saddle.

Work on this all week and next week we'll talk about variations and add another exercise to the routine. Until next week, enjoy your ride.

Starting the New Year, along with a few other things, I have made a resolution to try to be more aware of my body in the saddle. What are my limitations, what is hard for me, what is easier, what makes my horse move better, and what inhibits him? I am taking that awareness and discovering what more I can do out of the saddle to make myself a better more effective rider. I've been a Pilates lover for years, but have vowed to better connect with my Pilates and find a way to make it really reflect in my riding. Along with more effective Pilates, I have started incorporating more Yoga into my routine finding that flexibility is far more important in the saddle than I once thought. Between a new found strength and flexibility from Pilates and Yoga, I hope to find that balance and effectiveness that I’ve always sought. I’d love to take many of you along with me on this journey, so I plan to post a few moves and exercises the beginning of each week on Sunday or Monday. I hope that these moves help you as well to not only be a better rider, but feel better about yourself. I’d love to hear your feedback so post away. Here’s to a more effective 2009!

I want to begin a discussion of how competitive riders train and condition their bodies for peak performance in their event. It would include pre-event diet, warm up exercises, flexibility regimens and also mental exercises that help to focus the athlete on performing at peak levels during their moment.

I am curious about the nexus of riders who do yoga for fitness. I have never quite seen myself in a yoga class, but the benefits must be there in terms of flexibility, fitness and quieting the mind to enjoy the ride. I would love to hear from any and all who might have found that happy place.

I have helped in the over eating area by using a smaller size plate or bowl depending on what you are eating. The visual effect is that you have alot of food on your plate when you are really eating smaller portions. This coupled with eating with your opposing hand, (I'm left handed, so I eat with my right hand) makes you think before you take a bite as well as not being as well coordinated with your

I have horrible back problems from my old horse, he bucked, I stayed on and my back sounded like firecrackers went off. It was pretty bad. Now when i ride, my back hurts. And whenever I stand for 20 minutes it starts hurting. I haven't gone to the doctor for it because its not that bad yet... lol!

I believe there is something to do about it... but I have no clue what that is. help?

hi, im brice, :) im new to the group :D ok, im a lil chunky, always have been, im only about 10 pounds over weight for my age but still im always tryig to lose weight, any suggetions?? im currently out of the saddle cuz of an injury to my horse, ad when i ride every day i get realy skinny ad very musculer!! so what is a fun way to lose some extra pounds for riding??