rider fittness when not riding.....

[posie_honey]

ok i'm needing help from anyone who knows about fittness...

i've been on a bit of a diet and am nearly down to a happy weight

( *cough* well *cough* over 13stone

to 9½ stone! 2lbs to go

) - i am managing this by healthy eating and lots of exersise (riding horse/daily horse chores/walking dogs etc)

anyway - i'm off on a holiday of a lifetime - to NZ for 3weeks touring in a campervan

. now obviously i'll not be doing half as much exersise so will try to eat accordingly but wondereed if you lot could come up with say 30mins exersise routine i could do daily to keep my fitness up?

pretty pls??

thought stomach crunches... lunges maybe?? what will help my rider fittness as well as burn calories?? i'd hate to get back and find i'd piled on the lbs and was unfit for my first comps in march!

(and no - i can't do it be diet alone - i'm like a chuffing sh*tland - live off fresh air

)

thanks in advance

 

[BBP]

As a Personal Trainer and someone who has spent a year in NZ both grooming and just general backpacking in my van I would say the best thing would be just to make use of being in the most beautiful country in the world and go walking!

I tend to find that lunges etc are great in theory but in reality once you are out there you just wont want to and you'll end up feeling guilty for not doing it. Every place you park your van will have the most incredible walking opportunities, plus there's the white water rafting, bungee jumping, kayaking, dune boarding, horse trekking (I worked at dart Stables near Queenstown - if you go, give all my boys big pats from me!), etc etc etc. Its the most outdoors loving country i've been to, opportunities for keeping fit are endless...without even having to try!

Just make sure if you walk, you spend at least 30 minutes doing it at a pace that raises your heart rate and gets you feeling slightly out of breath, rather than just strolling around at a leisurely pace.

The last tip is to lay off the beer/alcohol, its easy to overindulge and it does nothing but add empty calories to your daily total! Most of all, have fun!!!

 

[posie_honey]

thank you

luckily i don't really ever drink (boring old git me!) so that's easy!
but - alas we wont be doing all the lovely fun activities you mentioned purely becuase this is a trip that is on a total shoe string - but of course we can walk lots

 

[Kenzo]

jogging, its cheap and anyone can do it.

 

[BBP]

Good point, it did cost me a bomb! I spent the rest of the year grooming to pay it all off!

Honestly, don't put too much pressure on yourself, walking is terrific exercise and its a fabulous country to do it in, even if you aren't into serious hiking. Once i spent out on all the madcap stuff, walking was all I did. I really don't think you'll have a problem as the diet is pretty healthy over there too.

If you really do want to do something extra that could benefit your riding I would say do some stretches every day. Stretches for hip flexors and quadriceps are really good for helping you to relax your knee down when riding rather than drawing it up, so this would be a good opportunity for you to improve this area. Tight muscles here lead to you tipping your pelvis forwards - plus chest stretches, as many of us are prone to getting tight through the pecs as we sit and type or drive all day, this pulls your shoulders forwards out of alignment which pulls your head forwards, changes your centre of gravity and can lead to you tipping forwards and your lower leg position becoming less secure.

If you look these stretches up and spend 10 mins a day whilst you are away stretching it could really help your posture and effectiveness in the saddle. Just an idea!!!

 

[posie_honey]

thank you - i'll have a search for those stretches

Kismaskenzo = thanks for jogging idea - used to do it - upto 6 miles daily - but buggered knees in process and got fat becuase i couldnt run anymore

i'm pretty motivated to stay trim over the hols - comps when i get back and wedding in the summer

so doing them daily should hopefully not be an issue

i'm quite paranoid to not put the weight back on as i've worked so blooming long to get it off

 

[Kenzo]

yes I used to do alot myself, did the same to my back, can only do odd bits now and then my back plays up again, so I chose just to get fat

 

[Archangel]

Have you tried skipping? Sounds a bit daft but I found it quite addictive.

Congrats on losing the weight though *round of applause*