Stretching and Exercising

I highly recommend stretching before you ride. There are a lot of good books and exercises to do while riding also! Start to incorporate a few exercises into each day's ride.

Equestrian sports and exercise. It would seem if you rode a horse, actively... posting, 2 pointing,etc, your legs would be in shape. I have a 10 session Groupon at Cross Fit that I started using yesterday.... oh, I'm feeling the thigh muscles today. The key is to get in shape, then stay in shape! I wonder if I'll do these warm up exercises daily, as its obvious that I need to!  Just the few minutes of lunging (and I think of lunging a horse when I say this, but it's not... leg lunges), 2 days in a row, and my thighs know it.  I think it will be easy to keep this going... If I remember all the variations.

One thing I will always try to remember is to lunge, with say your right foot forward, and turn your body one way, then lunge again with the other leg and your left foot forward, aand turn your body the same way as the first time.  With each motion that you do with your body, you are to do it twice, on each stretched leg. 

Make sense???

That's what I have learned the last 2 days... that and to wear longer gym shorts, maybe capri length, as now my thighs have a rash from the mats!  Yesterday, I did squats, situps, pushups and pull ups with the rings.  No rash this morning, but a rash has developed after I came in from outside.  I'm not on any meds, so no allergic reaction to the sun.  I've put cortisone cream on the rash so hopefully better tomorrow. 

Yesterday's exercises were the leg lunges, about 10 different types, then 40 squats, 30 situps, 20 push ups (which just about did me in) 10 pull ups and 500 meters on the rower.  I did this in 9 min 59 sec.  I was sweating, but I did go at noon yesterday, and no air conditoning at that gym!

Today was same leg lunges, then work with the kettle ball.  I was to swing the kettle ball from between my legs to up and just over my head (I never quite took it that far!)  I was to do 10 groups, and in between groups, i was to run/jog a short distance.  Starting with 10 kettleball thrusts, each group had 1 less kettle ball thrust until I was down to 1.  I did this in just 10 minutes.

I hope my legs survive the next 2 days, then I'm off Fri-Sun from the gym!