With the exception of a few urban areas, we live in a country that encourages sitting, because our towns and cities are planned around the automobile.
We sit at the computer, in front of the TV, on the job, at the movies, dining out, and commuting to work. .
In many cities and towns, sidewalks are inadequate for pedestrians, making the car an absolute necessity, even for short, walkable errands.
Prolonged sitting weakens our muscles, makes us lethargic, creates a weak core, which in turn, develops poor posture. Medical doctors consider sitting to be the new smoking.
Do you have a job where you’re sitting most of the day? Do you have chronic low back pain? Does your neck feel stiff? Are your muscles so sore you can’t sit down? Is the time spent riding your horse not as enjoyable as you’d like it to be?
Targeted exercise provides solutions to remedy these problems.
EQUESTRIAN FITNESS AND CORE MUSCLES
The muscles of the abs, back, pelvis and hips, make up the core. Strengthening these muscles is important, because the core stabilizes the spine, and protects it from injury,
While you’re moving, the core controls the position and motion of the torso over the pelvis. A strong core improves sports performance, and maintains healthy posture.
SOLUTIONS
Targeted exercise provides solutions to help you get rid of muscular tension, and weakness, develop better posture on and off the horse, and makes riding more effective.
PILATES EXERCISE
Pilates Mat and Reformer exercises are designed to make your core muscles strong.
If you’re not inclined towards Pilates, no worries, you can opt in to a fitness-based core exercise routine, using specialized core equipment to get the job done. Core exercises can also be performed without any equipment.
YOGA CORE EXERCISE
If you’re a Yoga fan, there are many poses that will strengthen your core muscles, stretch your Psoas, Back, and Hamstrings.
As you can see, there are many ways to stretch and strengthen your muscles. Here are a few suggestions.
Stretch the Psoas Muscle because this inner hip muscle tightens up when you do alot of sitting. Stretch your Back to release tension in tight muscles.
The Hamstrings are the muscles of the posterior thigh. Theses muscles tighten up from excessive sitting. If you frequently do stair climbing, or cycling ,you should be stretching your Hamstrings on a regular basis.
Strengthen ;your Back and Abdominal Muscles, because these muscles work as a team to keep your posture healthy, and your spine well-supported.
Copyright 2015 Irene Pastore and Tour De Core Personal Training
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