Consult
with your physician prior to beginning an exercise program. If you have any of
the following risk factors; history of heart or lung disease, hypertension, past
difficulty with physical exercise, chronic illnesses, muscular skeletal
problems, recent pregnancy or surgery, age over 40 for men and over 45 for
women, you must discuss your health with your physician prior to beginning an
exercise program.
If
you are in satisfactory health, you should be able to start an exercise
program. Regular exercise can help improve your endurance, balance and
flexibility while riding.
Improving
your fitness level can help your horse as he will not have to compensate or adjust
his back to accommodate a rider who is off balance or inflexible. His
performance will improve as you improve your level of fitness.
If riding your horse gets you out of breath you
are definitely working too hard on your riding! Horseback riding is not
considered an aerobic exercise.
There are many benefits to aerobic
exercise. Aerobic exercise burns calories. Burn 3500 calories and you’ve lost a
pound! In addition to weight management, the benefits include improved
cardiovascular endurance and increased muscular strength.
There are some simple lifestyle changes
that you can make immediately that will jump-start your exercise plan.
Remember
your S.M.A.R.T. goals. Can you fit any of
the following into your daily or weekly routine?
·
Park your car further
away from your place of employment or barn.
·
Use the stairs
instead of the elevator whenever possible. If your destination is a very high
floor then use the elevator only part way.
·
Start a walking group
with co-workers or friends for lunch instead of meeting in the cafeteria or a
restaurant.
·
Find a book on tape
that you’ve been planning to read and listen to it only when you are
exercising.
Getting your aerobic exercise through
outdoor activities can be fun. Bicycling, rollerblading, cross-country skiing,
snowshoeing, ice-skating and swimming all provide enjoyable options for
exercising. Walking or jogging with your friends, dog and even your horse is a
great way to increase your heart rate and improve your aerobic level of
fitness.
Just
as you make sure that your horse is outfitted with the correct tack for your
discipline of riding, make sure that you are wearing the proper safety gear and
shoes for your activity.
Sometimes the weather or outdoor
location does not permit you to exercise outdoors. There are a variety of
machines that can be found in fitness centers or purchased for your home that
are designed to help you improve your body composition. Some of those machines
include indoor stationary cycles, treadmills, elliptical machines and stair
steppers.
Before
making the investment in purchasing one of these machines, make sure you are
comfortable with its operation and feel. Try out each one for comfort and easy
of operation. Many machines are available with pre-programmed fitness routines
based on your level of fitness. These programs can help to keep you interested
and challenged. High tech electronic gadgetry is not always necessary unless
your physician recommends it to monitor your heart rate or for other reasons.
Some
machines come outfitted with water bottle storage bins and fans. These luxuries
can make your exercise time more pleasurable.
Be
sure to check with the sales representative for warranty restrictions and
discuss who will be available to perform maintenance and repair if
necessary. The machine you like the best
is most likely the one that you will use regularly. Advice from a friend is
nice, but make your own decision.
What works for your friend, may not be right for you.
Aerobic classes can be found in many
locations from fitness centers to senior centers. Ranging anywhere from 30
minutes to 90 minutes, aerobic classes are an exceptional way to improve your
cardio-vascular fitness and burn calories while having fun. Classes vary from
beginner to advance levels.
As
learning how to do a posting trot on the correct diagonal, aerobic classes are
a learned skill.
If
you’ve never taken a group exercise class before, it is best to find a nationally
certified instructor who teaches a basic or beginner class. Talk to the
instructor before class and tell him or her that you are new. Make sure you
mention any health issues the instructor needs to know about such as previous
injuries or things your physician thinks are relevant.
Be
patient with yourself. It takes time to learn the language and movement
patterns. Just like learning to post, it takes more than one class to learn how
to do aerobics!
No,
you do not have two left feet. No, it’s
not necessary to be able to dance. It is
helpful if you can hear the beat of music. Can you tap your foot to the beat of
a song? If so, you are hearing the beat!
Aerobic
instructors take pride in their classes. They want to help you to get a good
workout while having fun.
All aerobic exercises should include a
warm-up, an aerobic workout and a cool-down.
Does
this sound similar to your horse’s workout? It should! A good warm-up at low to
moderate speed will help increase blood flow to the working muscles and get
them ready for the main part of your workout.
A
proper cool-down is essential to help bring your heart rate back to normal.
During aerobic exercise your heart rate increases. Your heart pumps faster and
stronger in order to increase blood flow to the working muscles. Those muscles,
during exercise, help to return the blood to the heart. If
you slow down suddenly or stop exercising the heart will still continue to work
at a higher rate. This can cause excess strain on the heart. It can also
create excessive blood pooling in the extremities, causing swelling.
Make
sure your routines always include a good warm-up and cool-down; they help
reduce your chance of exercise related injuries.
Following
the F.I.T. principal will help you to keep
your aerobic goals manageable. Increasing the Frequency
of exercise will increase your level of cardiovascular fitness and burn more
calories. Increasing the Intensity of
your workout will increase your level of cardiovascular fitness and burn more
calories. Increasing the Time or
duration of your workout will increase your level of cardiovascular fitness and
burn more calories.
It
is not recommended that you increase all of the above at the same time. Varying
each section of the F.I.T. principal
will help keep your routine interesting, increase your cardiovascular fitness,
burn more calories and reduce your chance of exercise related injuries.
There are many factors that affect the
number of calories you burn per hour. A
person weighing 130 pounds will burn calories at a different rate than a person
weighing 155 pounds or 190 pounds. Your metabolism and level of conditioning
will also affect the amount of calories that you burn. Consider the following
information to determine an estimated calorie cost per hour, per activity and
body weight.
130
pounds 155 pounds 190 pounds
·
Aerobics
354 422 518
·
Bicycling
outdoors 472 563 690
(Moderate effort 12-13.9 mph)
• Running 590 704 863
(6 mph - 10 min. mile)
• Walking 207 246 302
(Moderate pace - 3 mph - walking dog)
• Swimming 354 422 518
(Leisurely)
• Horseback riding 148 176 216
(Walking)
Following the F.I.T.
principal and finding an aerobic exercise that you enjoy will help you achieve
your cardio-vascular goals and burn calories. Once again, remember that it
takes a reduction of 3500 calories to lose a pound. Increasing your activity
level by 350 calories per day, 5 days a week will allow you to lose 1 pound in
2 weeks.
REVIEW: aerobic
exercise is the key to stimulating your body to burn calories and reduce body
fat.
In addition to
reducing the likelihood of injury to your horse, reducing your body fat and
improving your fitness level will reduce your fatigue while riding and allow to
you to be a better rider.
Increasing
your physical activity in your daily life, through activities other than
riding, will help you and your horse to be a better team. So, stay
moderately active on a regular basis and you will be successful!
Click
here for an aerobic activity log.
Assignment:
Describe
several different ways that you can increase your aerobic activity. Discuss the
frequency, intensity and duration of these activities that you feel is
attainable for your lifestyle.
Please
e-mail answer to norma_fay@yahoo.com
Include ‘Fit To Ride Lesson 3’ in the subject line.