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Leg strengthening exercises????

23K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  tempest 
#1 ·
I am getting back into riding after a long 7 years off, due to car accident, work, and raising my kids. I am looking for any ideas on exercises I can do on my non-riding days to help improve my leg muscles. I am 5'2", and will be riding a 16.1hh OTTB. I am concerned that I haven't ridden in so long that I will need to be working on building my legs back up every day. I will be riding 3 days a week, with weekly lessons. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I also suffer from some minor balance issues due to a bad car accident and head injury in August of 2002. I've been working on posting at the trot with no reins, and also staying in my half-seat for several minutes at a time. The mare I'm riding has a great trot, and such a bit stride that I'm getting more comfortable with my balance, but any added input would be much appreciated! Thanks everyone. Also, if anyone here has facebook, my name is Wendy Cable, and I live in Pa. Feel free to send a friend request and we can talk horse even more!
 
#6 ·
Yoga, pilates, and cylcling have gone hand in hand with horses recently. Another thing that does wonders is trotting stirrupless. That will really give you a work out believe me. I did it once for 3 hours straight and I couldn't sit the next day I was so sore.

Squats are good too. And if you aren't into the big barbell fiasco never fear! Just grab some canned food around your house and hold those straight down and do squats. Oh and then while you are doing that just do Straight-leg Dead Lifts. Scary name, but not that bad. Just hold them w/ your arms down along your sides then bend over like you are touching your toes.

Wall sits work too, but I personally don't like them.

Another thing I do is ankle weights. Just to wear them around the house to make me a little bit stronger w/o really noticing.

I also have a thing called "Leg Magic" Just got it today, but I'll let you know how it works. It's a pretty inexpensive piece of exercise equipment.

Hope that helps
 
#7 ·
Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm going to get on the old bike and give it a try. I'm getting ready to go to Wal-Mart to pick up ankle weights. Yay! Mlkarel2010, let me know what you think of the "Leg Magic". I'm having surgery on my arm on Tuesday the 30th, so I won't be riding for about a month, but hopefully with these ideas I'll be able to get my chubby stumps back in shape while I'm off!!!
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the great ideas guys! I started working with ankle weights last night, and I'm already feeling it. Doing some squats and also standing on the step with my heels hanging off and raising up with my toes and back down. Geez that hurts after 15 minutes! Well, surgery is in 2 days, so please say a little prayer for a speedy recovery so I can get back in the saddle ASAP! Happy NEW YEAR!
 
#10 ·
good luck with your surgery!!!
i jog alot and i dont mean just running up and down the road no, what i do is i loosen up do a few sprints or suicides(?) to get warmed up so i dont hurt myself then i start jogging REALLY SLOW lol im not kidding really slow, it gives my calves some serious work but surprisingly it makes you breath really hard so dont overexert yourself then after a while of that i relax for a minute and do some more sprints or suicides(sp?) my calves are rock hard and from the suicides my thighs are pretty toned too lol
good luck again!
 
#11 ·
Stand on the bottom step of any set of stairs, and as if your feet were in the stirrups, stretch your heels downward towards the floor. Hold it there for about five seconds, then stand on your toes - Heels facing upward - for about two seconds and repeat this process. This breaks in tall boots excellently and will also give you a stronger, more secure leg.

Hope I helped. :smile:
 
#12 ·
Thank Picture Perfect. I was doing some of those step exercises, but only up on my toes. I didn't stretch my heels down. I'll give that a try. As far as sprinting and doing suicides, haha, I don't know how well that would work. I have a serious case of the "bounce issue" if you know what I mean, lol. Well, I'm going to try all of these suggestions, and hopefully will have some riding pics/videos to post after my surgery recovery! Thanks for the well wishes!
 
#13 ·
Cycling is definitely a great way to strengthen legs!! My hubby and I are triathletes (swim/bike/run for those of you not familiar with the sport!) and I definitely noticed that when I started really getting into that sport, the cycling built up my leg muscles (esp. calf muscles!) which did wonders for my horseback riding as well! :)
 
#14 ·
Hey Hoofprints! I saw all your triathlon pics on facebook..Pretty impressive, I must say! Sandie is sooo cute, too! I'm going to try several of these ideas, and see what works best for me. I don't have the "typical equestrian body", which frustrates me even more. I see all these pics of you guys, tall and thin with LONG legs, and I wanna cry, lol. I'm 5'1" on a good day, not exactly skinny, with a SERIOUS "bounce issue". If anyone has any ideas for THAT issue, I'm all ears, lol. I'm tired of wearing 4 shirts to keep things in place!
 
#17 ·
I know another person said they didn't like wall sits but I think they are wonderful, so give them a try. If you don't know how to do them, then here goes: Lean against the wall and go down like you are going to do a squat, and when your legs bend at a 90 degree angle, stop, and wait and see how long you can do this. It's harder then it looks. After riding for about three years, I can only do a few minutes.
 
#21 ·
I have the same bouncy issue that i think u are talking bout. And it hurts having them flop around!!! All i can say is bra up! Go get fitted for a sports bra. I actually wear mine a little small. Im an f cup and i wear a dd sports it holds things down better, also wear one of those camis with the built ins on top of it, they will help.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#22 ·
I'm not sure if anyone noticed but this thread is 4 years old. Not that there isn't good advice being posted. I just thought that I'd point out the thread's age.
 
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