thinking of quitting the gym...will riding keep me fit?!

[impresario08]

I only have time to go to the gym two or three times a week and am trying to save money to help pay off a rather large vet bill. I am thinking of cancelling my membership (I will also have more time to ride this way), but will riding keep me fit?!

 

[kobi]

If you pootle about in walk probably not. If you school hard, trot for miles, do lots of yard work and regularly end up very sweaty, working hard 6 days a week then probably yes.

 

[pixie]

Riding? Not so much - most top riders still do gym workouts.

All the associated horse jobs - grooming, mucking out, poo picking - YES!

 

[Shady]

If you pootle about in walk probably not. If you school hard, trot for miles, do lots of yard work and regularly end up very sweaty, working hard 6 days a week then probably yes.

agree^^^^ i have muscles like you wouldn't believe and a six pack, strangely tho my bum isn't any smaller which is weird! i also look after 7 acres with an industrial size strimmer, i love this tool so much iv'e named it Frank!

 

[AmyMay]

Riding? Not so much - most top riders still do gym workouts.

All the associated horse jobs - grooming, mucking out, poo picking - YES!

This. I was never fitter than when I was doing horses full time.

 

[Holly Hocks]

No I don't think it will. Even going to the gym twice a week, if you're working out hard, getting out of breath and working your muscles and building a sweat up then you're increasing or at least maintaining your fitness level. If you stop this, you will lose your fitness. I've done the giving up of the gym and despite mucking two out and poo picking and doing all the other yard stuff, there is no way on earth I could maintain my fitness. I then rejoined the gym and realised how much fitness I had lost - I could hardly do anything that I had been able to do previously!

 

[Moomin1]

Erm, I thought you said you weren't able to ride currently due to an injury?

 

[bumper]

Erm, I thought you said you weren't able to ride currently due to an injury?

I'm confused too!

 

[DJ]

I'm confused too!

Me three ...

 

[FestiveFuzz]

Erm, I thought you said you weren't able to ride currently due to an injury?

I thought the same but then wondered if my Christmas drink addled brain had got confused. Perhaps OP means once they're given the ok to ride again?

 

[OwnedbyJoe]

No, it won't. I ride endurance and I still need to do other exercise to be fit enough to finish a 50 mile ride in good shape.
Give up the gym and run instead if money is tight: I spend a lot of time jumping on and off park benches, doing tricep dips on them, and press ups and planks get done in the lounge room in front of the TV.

 

[Red-1]

No, it won't. I ride endurance and I still need to do other exercise to be fit enough to finish a 50 mile ride in good shape.
Give up the gym and run instead if money is tight: I spend a lot of time jumping on and off park benches, doing tricep dips on them, and press ups and planks get done in the lounge room in front of the TV.

^^^ This. Running is free, and I did a load of Pilates and Yoga at home, there are some great CDs and DVDs out there. I bet there are numerous workouts on Youtube.

To me fitness is not just about the cardio-vascular fitness, it is also about keeping the range of movement high, as this protects you against injury. If you stretch beyond what you need on a day to day basis whilst in a warm room and well warmed up and under controlled circumstances then when you ride and the horse has a spook or whatever you have the spare capacity to cope without pulling something.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

No. I was going to the gym 3 times a week and running and I had to curtail a lot of it due to my horse was on box rest and not having time with work as well. I had to muck out twice a day and hand walk twice a day and hand graze plus do all the usual jobs such as poo-picking and since doing so have put at least half a stone on and lost my exercise mojo to some extent. However I wasn't riding.

Before my horse was on box rest in the last year my riding greatly improved from better and more even core strength and from aerobic fitness and my instructor could really see it too. A lot of stable work is one sided. Even when riding regularly I've never been as fit and strong as since going to the gym. I have a PT to keep me going.

 

[misskk88]

My horse riding and my yard jobs, plus the occasional bike ride are my weekly exercise. Some weeks I can do a lot of walking too, this has pretty much always been my routine and does tend to keep the weight at bay. You would be surprised how many calories you can burn mucking out, poo picking, lugging water tubs about etc- although most of the tasks are very one sided so you have to be careful with building up a strong side. I also try to turning cleaning into a mini work out... so will add some lunges, squats, stretches etc. I must look slightly mad but I can't afford the gym, and it helps to combine a few exercises I probably wouldn't otherwise do!

Having said that, if you want to be fit in terms of actual cardiovascular health, a bit of running, or some home work outs will probably keep you at peak condition. I say this, because I know that my core muscles aren't as great as they can be, but if I did some weight training, gym, or some core muscle exercises at home- they would be a whole lot better! Riding certainly keeps them better than if I didn't ride, but I could work a bit harder to get them stronger, and that would only be achieved through other means of training.

Yoga/Pilates is also great, a home dvd is a cheaper option than gym sessions as you can use it as many times as you want, whenever you want!

 

[wench]

You can get some very good home workout DVDs. It's what I tend to use now. Few pounds each, plus a set of hand weights, and you will be well away

 

[impresario08]

Thanks all

Re injury, this is me thinking towards the future when I'm back on board.

 

[BBP]

The answer is that riding for 45mins will keep you fit enough to ride for 45mins. If that's all you need to be fit enough for then that's fine. If you want to go out and run 10k in 45mins then no, probably not. It's all relative. I go to crossfit 3x per week, train on aerial kit twice a week, ride 6 days a week and run when I can, but if you asked me to fight 6 rounds in the ring I wouldn't be fit for that.

So the question is, what do you want to be fit for?

(And I see a lot of people in the gym wasting their time and money because they never push themselves beyond what is comfortable, every workout is the same for years on end so it depends on what you put in, I spend more on crossfit than I did the gym but I finish every session ready to vomit and sweating like a trooper having worked my guts out, I'm getting better results because of it).

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I don't think you need to make yourself nearly vomit to get fitter in fact a lot of people are totally put off exercise because of that ethos. I managed to go from not running at all to running 10k without the need for vomit!

You can ride for 45 minutes but can you ride well for 45 minutes? That's the difference.

 

[MS123]

The answer is that riding for 45mins will keep you fit enough to ride for 45mins. If that's all you need to be fit enough for then that's fine. If you want to go out and run 10k in 45mins then no, probably not. It's all relative. I go to crossfit 3x per week, train on aerial kit twice a week, ride 6 days a week and run when I can, but if you asked me to fight 6 rounds in the ring I wouldn't be fit for that.

So the question is, what do you want to be fit for?

(And I see a lot of people in the gym wasting their time and money because they never push themselves beyond what is comfortable, every workout is the same for years on end so it depends on what you put in, I spend more on crossfit than I did the gym but I finish every session ready to vomit and sweating like a trooper having worked my guts out, I'm getting better results because of it).

Completely agree with this. I go to the gym 4x a week (2x spin classes, 30 minute run on the treadmill, and a pump class) .....on my 30 minute run, I tend to find it quite easy now I'm fit, so I do need to increase this. Spin classes are a killer, but amazing for fitness and fat burning!

I'm a lot fitter now than I ever was when I had horses, and didn't go to the gym.

Could you perhaps fit some runs in? Running is fantastic.

 

[BBP]

I don't think you need to make yourself nearly vomit to get fitter in fact a lot of people are totally put off exercise because of that ethos. I managed to go from not running at all to running 10k without the need for vomit! .

Of course not, I just meant that I'm working hard and out of my comfort zone compared to when I was in the gym and just thought I was working hard. (The vomit bit was an exaggeration...mostly!) That's why I said it's all relative to what you want to be fit for. If you just want to not be a burden to your horse then a lighter workload is fine, if you want to do an ironman triathlon then it's a bit different.

 

[impresario08]

interesting thoughts thanks guys