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Starting an exercise program is an primary decision, but it doesn’t have to be an overpowering one. Establish a healthful habit that lasts a lifetime by planning cautiously and pacing yourself. Motivate yourself by writing your plan on paper and reviewing it frequently. Keep the following points in mind as you design your fitness program:
1. Map out your fitness goals.
Are you starting a fitness program to support lose weight, or do you have another motivation, such as preparing for a 5K race? Having clear goals will aid you gauge your progress.
2. Determine a logical progression of activity.
If you are just beginning to exercise, get started conservatively and progress slowly. Consult your doctor or physical therapist for help designing a fitness program if you have an injury or a medical condition. Be sure to ask for a program that gradually improves your range of motion, strength and endurance.
3. Build action into your each day routine.
Finding time to exercise may be a challenge, so make it having little impact by scheduling time to exercise as you would any other appointment. Watch your bestloved show while walking on the treadmill, or read while riding a stationary bike.
4. Include dissimilar activities.
Different activenesses (otherwise known as cross-training) may keep exercising from getting boring. Cross-training likewise reduces your chances of injuring or overusing a specific muscle or joint. Alternate activenesses that emphasize dissimilar constituents of your body, such as walking, swimming and strength training.
5. Allow time to recover.
Don’t work out too long or too intensely. Doing so will result in sore or injured muscles and joints. Plan time amongst sessions to give your body a probability to rest and recover.
When starting an exercise program, do not forget to write it down. If you lose motivation, set new goals or try a new activity. Exercising with a friend or taking a class at a fitness center may help, too.
Exercise Program
Get your horse in shape and maintain his overall fitness, irrespective of his age or abilities. Equine Fitness shows you how, with a simple conditioning program made up of fun exercise routines distinctively designed to heighten your horse’s strength and agility. Clear, step-by-step instructions and elaborated illustrations make the exercises easy to follow, and the book includes a handy set of pocket-sized cards that you may tear out and use while on horseback or in the ring.
About the AuthorJec Ballou has trained dressage horses of all breeds and taught riders of all levels for 20 years. She ran a classical riding school for assorted years and now trains Andalusians and Lusitanos. she has written for galore publications including Chronicle of the Horse, Dressage Today, and Western Horseman. Jec lives in California.
Exercise Program Picture
Exercise Program Pic
Exercise Program Picture
Exercise Program Pic
Most helpful client reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
 Finally I recognise what, when, and how to aid my horse
By Katherine Sierra
I have purchased three copies of this book so far: one I gave away to my trainer (who loved it), one to mess with (cut out cards, write notes on, drag out to the barn, etc.), and one to keep on the coffee table for continuous reference. Just the chapter and exercises on the horse’s neck were, for me, the best and clearest description of how to aid build your horse’s top line in the most effective, healthful way was worth much more than the price of the book.
I have gained a lot more selfconfidence from Jec’s clear, careful explanations and the splendid illustrations, so that I now have a plan when I go out to work with my horses. As winter and rain season approaches, I also now feel like I have exercises I may do even in a very little space, and even if it is too wet to in truth ride. I expended the last year working on getting one of my gaited horses to trot, and trot with a good stretched top line and also ‘on the bit’, but was still engaged in a struggle until Jec helped put the rest of the pieces together.
Just a few of the specific things I have learned to do in this book include:
How to do a proper warm-up
Vary the workouts allround the week and month to better “cross-train” my horses for better sustainable fitness
How to beef up the hind end
The importance of working on getting the rectify bend, and tools for helping make it happen
How and why NOT to make the most mutual fault of “forcing” contact in a frame the horse is not ready for (and how to valuate what they ARE ready for)
How to fetch a horse back from a vacation or other layoff
How to work the older and/or stiffer horse
But mainly, I now have a much deeper understanding and rich toolset for helping my horses become better athletes in a way that is sustainable, healthful and feels good for both horse and rider.
I have Icelandic horses — all gaited — and altho this book does not address specific development of gaited horses, everything in it is incisively what my horses need to work better in all gaits, and particularly to heighten their “special” gaits (tolt and flying pace).
What the book does NOT address (or undertake to) is rider performance and fitness. So, that needs to
be the next book please! Because as terrifi as the book is, it is clear that a great deal of of what horses need to become better athletes is plainly for us to become better riders.
Overall, this is the best cash I have expended on a horse book… all three times!
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
A Masterpiece!
By Linda Rose Schaap
Jec Ballou has written a Masterpiece work which is a cummulation of her studies, experience, equine knowledge, and love and respect for this fantasti animal. This book is a ought to for anyone, from beginner to experienced level, and will support principally in achieving a balanced, healthful horse who enjoys his/her work, and will take pleasure in years of soundness and athletic performance that may only come from a proper foundation. I found that the way she has written the book, the application of her program may be enforced at any stage, whether you are just starting a youngster, want to purify the movements of your horse, or keep your senior associate sound and willing. The pull out cards that you may take with you while working are great, too. I want to buy a second one just to save for my library.
6 of 6 persons found the following review helpful.
Another good book from Jec Ballou
By Megan Rust
Equine Fitness is as good as 101 Dressage Exercises, the other book by Ballou. The exercises in both books are easy to perceive and utilize to numerous situations. Ballou’s step-by-step program for introducing a horse to a fitness regime is well thought out, and I plan to use it as I rehab my CWB mare, Juno, when she in the end recovers from a year-long lameness episode which was due to a shoulder injury.
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