Our lives are busy, we equestrians. Whether we ride professionally or as amateurs, it’s a sport that can’t be played at our convenience, whenever we find a few minutes. A soccer ball we can just pick up when we can. We can go for a run anytime. Our tennis rackets don’t need to be fed three times a day, nor does it cost much of anything at all to keep our bowling balls or surfboards healthy, trained and well cared for.
Most riders are juggling their riding and care of their horse with at least one day job, plus a family and/or significant other and/or some modicum of social life, and god forbid you have any other hobbies. Where, then, does one find the time and inspiration to stay fit? Riding is certainly a physical activity, but as someone who is usually riding 5-6 horses a day, it’s not nearly enough to keep me trim, and I know I’m not alone.
So I make the time to exercise, which is sometimes easy and sometimes hard. So here’s a few of the things that inspire me to get up and get moving, even when the couch is calling.
1. White Breeches. I mean, really.
2. Taking a class. Back in Virginia, my town pool and gym has a fabulous schedule of classes on all kinds of schedules – early morning, late evening, mid afternoon. They also offer something called a “class pass,” where I get 10 visits to a class for a reasonable fee—any class I want, or any combination of classes. So if I find myself with a spare hour, I pop in. The classes are FUN, and not just big beefy guys lifting things, which is what “going to the gym” sometimes feels like. (My two favorites, for what it’s worth, are Zumba (which is more cardio) and Les Mills’ ridiculously-named BodyPump, which is weight training to music. Whee!)
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And money talks – if you’ve paid for the class, or the membership, you’re way more likely to show up.
3. Running. But I can’t run, you say. My knees hurt. I’ve never run before. Running is for skinny people. I am not a doctor, so if you’re dealing with pain you should, of course, consult with one before beginning ANY new exercise regime. But I’ve met many a runner who started as an adult, even an adult staring down an AARP membership. And one look around your local 5k race will show you that running isn’t just for people with 7% body fat. If you’re thinking of starting, have a look at a Couch to 5k program. There’s tons of them that offer apps for your phone.
4. White Breeches. There’s not enough Spanx in the world.
5. Buddies. When I got into triathlon, I met up with a local bike group. They have a beginner ride, an advanced ride and a badass mother hill climber ride, so there’s something for everyone. And the people in it are just normal people, some of them fitter than me, some not. But they’ve become my friends, and since we all like hanging out with out friends, the desire to do so keeps me coming back on Monday nights. Whether it’s getting to know the people at your spin class, or having a jogging partner, or just a friend to go lift with, a crowd makes exercise less like exercise and more like a party in motion.
6. Peer pressure. I’m a competitive jerk, so if hanging out with my friends isn’t compelling enough, trying to one-up someone is. Go to the gym and identify someone cute. Then try and lift more weight than them. Voila! Inspiration. Here in Wellington, it’s less about cute people and more about inspiring people. I had the pleasure of working out next to George Morris earlier this week. You want motivation? Use a machine after a living legend in the equestrian world and realize that you have to put some gumption into chest pressing more weight than a 70+ year old man. Yikes. (For the record, he was incredibly nice when I introduced myself, and did not call me fat, correct my position on any of the machines, or make fun of my brightly-colored shoes. Win.)
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7. A great coach. After much browbeating, I accepted that I needed yoga in my life to stay healthy. But it took me a couple of tries to get it right. It’s not that my first two yoga schools weren’t perfectly adequate. It’s just that they weren’t Sylvia.
Sylvia is a Middleburg, Virginia sensation, and anyone who’s anyone takes her classes. This is because she is everything we want in a coach at anything—funny but still serious, high-energy but not frantic, and gifted but still completely approachable. I love her, and I love her class, and it makes me want to come back every week.
8. Entering something. A deadline is a great inspiration. So enter something competitive. If traditional running races aren’t your speed, do something fun like a color run or an obstacle race. If running isn’t your speed, consider an aquabike, which is the first two phases of a triathlon, the swim and the bike. Having a goal to train for keeps inspiring me to train.
9. Tracking progress. When I run and bike, I use an app called MapMyRun. It tells me how fast and how far I’ve gone, and while it’s not always 100% accurate, it’s a nice (free!) way of seeing how I’m getting faster or able to go farther, which is a big confidence booster. Some people I know write down the amount of weight they lift on the various machines, to watch that number go up over time.
10. And last but not least… have you ever put on white breeches?
