PILATES FOR DRESSAGE RIDERS

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PILATES FOR DRESSAGE RIDERS

• FINDING YOUR INNER POWERHOUSE

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REFERENCE BOOKS

• Pilates for the Dressage Rider by Janice Dulak
  2006
• A Gymnastic Riding System using MIND, BODY
  SPIRIT Progressive Training for Rider and Horse
  by Betsy Steiner with Jennifer O. Bryant 2003
• Better Riding Through Exercise by Linda Pearce
  2003
• The New Total Rider Health and Fitness for the
  Equestrian by Tom Holmes 2001

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Cited Articles

• A Body-Awareness Primer for Riders by Beth
  Glosten, MD (USDF Connection Nov. 2008)
• Pilates and Dressage Get the Feel for Common
  Dressage Principles Through This Popular Exercise
  method by Janice Dulak (USDF Connection August
  2006)
• Tool Time with Kyra by Jennifer O Bryant (USDF
  Connection Feb. 2009)
• Work Out with Steffen Shannon Peters by Kelly
  Sanchez (Dressage Today March 2009)
• Core Values Sport-Specific Fitness Training for
  Horse and Rider by Jennifer O. Bryant (USDF
  Connection Feb. 2008)

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Thanks to

• Edie Bryan and Ann Hochwalt Lending me books/
  talking to me about the concepts/ helping find a
  real Personal Fitness Trainer(Thanks Edie)
• Carole S. Schnug
• Licensed Massage therapist, personal trainer and
  Fitness Director Queen City Racquet Fitness
  Club in Sharonville, Ohio (12 years)
• Undergraduate Degree in Physical and Health
  Education, w/ emphasis in Exercies Sciences from
  Bowling Green State Univ.
• Post Graduate Degree Self-Health School of
  Medical Massage, Lebanon, Ohio
• Numerous Exercise Workshops and Fitness
  Certifications.

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Position Challenged?Symptoms of Lack of
balance/Lack of core strength

• Ever hear the following?
• Keep your shoulders back and your eyes up!
• Relax you arms and shoulders, and keep a steady
  contact.
• Sit into your right seat bone
• Keep your knees and heels stretched down and
  your legs long.
• Try as you might within a second of making the
  correction in your posture the problem is right
  back again!

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Practice makes PerfectDoes Your Instructor Make
the Same Corrections Every Lesson?

• Actually PERFECT Practice makes Perfect
• Fewer, precise repetitions train the body more
  efficiently.
• Many of us work very hard at our riding only to
  reach frustrating Plateaus. Persistent faults
  can be due to
• Horse or Riders Physical limitations. In case
  of the rider
• Irregularities in posture
• Muscle weakness
• Old injuries
• Poor aerobic fitness
• Lack of flexibility
• Riders are athletes To be the best partner we
  can be for our horses we ought to work out with
  effective suppling, strengthening and aerobic
  excercisesYes, this should involve more than
  riding and mucking out stalls.

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Improvements can be made without buying a 3000
new saddle or replacing your horse

• Regular Exercise Provides
• Stronger Bones/Ligaments Tendons
• Sharper Reactions
• Higher levels of concentration
• Better memory
• Increased Confidence
• Body awareness

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PILATES

• A Body conditioning programStrength and Stretch
  with Control
• Can be gentle enough for a person recovering from
  hip surgery or vigorous enough to tax a
  professional dancer
• Most of the excercises are low impact and
  non-weight bearing
• Emphasis on proper alignment of the spine and
  pelvis, correct breathing and controlled fluid
  movements
• Designed by Joseph Pilates (1880-1967 Born in
  Germany.. He was a frail child who became a
  circus performer/acrobat and later a fitness
  instructor in NYC. He called his technique
  Contrology. In his words Contrology is a
  complete coordination of the body, mind and
  spirit (that) develops the body uniformly,
  corrects wrong postures, restores physical
  vitality, and invigorates the mind and elevates
  the spirit He developed a series of gym
  equipment that is unique to his method. During
  WWI he used his techniques to help rehabilitate
  hospital patients. Later, his techniques became
  popular with dancers from the NYC ballet.
  Because of the precision required and the
  emphasis on breathing and muscle isolationit has
  become very popular with dressage riders.

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Your Powerhouse

• Pilates focuses on the core which is called
  The Powerhouse
• Muscles targeted in the powerhouse are
• Lower layer of abdominals
• Buttock
• Inner Thigh Muscles
• Small Lower Back Muscles
• Every exercise performed in Pilates demands that
  the Powerhouse be engaged

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Core Muscles A Strong Steady Torso. (The core
muscles need to be engaged not contracted)

• Obliquus externus abdominis(external obliques)
• Oblique internus abdominis(internal Obliques)
• Transversus abdominis
• Rectus abdominis (Structural muscleContracts,
  not a core muscle)

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Transverse Abdominis

• Deepest core Muscle.
• Expands horizontally around the waist.acting as
  a corsetflattening the abdominal wall when
  contracted
• Weakness in this muscle can cause poor posture
  and pain in the lower back

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Section of Multifidi

• Multifidi are small muscles that extend over 2
  3 vertebrae along the entire spine.
• Work in co-activation with the transversus
  abdominus providing stability for the vertebrae
  and ultimately the whole spine
• Other muscles further away from the joints help
  us with erect posture ex. The Long superficial
  postural back muscles extend all along the back
  from pelvis to neck

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Trapezius muscle

• Three sections converge to insert on the shoulder
  blades in different locations
• Upper sections are often overdeveloped and very
  tightdue to poor prolonged posture such as
  forward head and rounded shouldersComputer
  overuse syndrome
• Lower and Middle sections are often
  underdevelopedAs riders we need to address these
  imbalancesStrengthen the mid and lower section
  of the trapezius muscle in order to stabilize and
  brace the shoulders to attain proper posture and
  prevent future injuries

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Glutescute Butt

• Gluteus Maximus/Buttock Muscles/Hip Adductors
• Simultaneous activation of the gluteus maximus,
  external rotators of the hip and inner thigh
  muscles are required for most Pilates exercises.

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Engaging the spine.. squeezing the bottom and
wrapping the thighs

• As you squeeze your glutes, notice that your
  upper inner thighs can also engagethe movement
  of outward rotating in the hips can be described
  as the backs of the thighs wrapping around from
  back to front. For the rider, this hip action is
  not intended to rotate the legs outward! It is
  used to develop stability of the seat and the
  ability to use the upper inner thighs to
  communicate forward to the horse.

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The GoalAn Independent Effective Seat

• When a riders core is not adequately stabilized
  the rider will grip with their legs and or use
  their hands for balancethis incorrect and
  inefficient use of the body inhibits the clarity
  of the riders aids. The only way to have
  independent seat, legs and hands is to understand
  and maintain a strong and supple center by using
  the muscles of your Powerhouse