Many of the injuries experienced by equestrians do not occur during the ride itself. They actually occur as a result of not stretching once you are finished with your ride. Being upright on a horse is a killer workout! It taxes your upper-body, hips, core, and your spine. That’s why these essential 5 yoga poses are great for equestrians – they stretch the tight muscles to relieve tension and prevent injury.
There are many stretches you can do after a ride to help cool down and recover more quickly, but my goal is to show you the most effective ones, to ensure you are getting the most out benefit for precious time spent.
These are the 5 poses I recommend for this particular situation, but the best way for you to achieve the benefits these postures can provide for you is by following a results-focused yoga program and completing multiple weekly workouts on a regular basis. Learn more about how we help you with that at the bottom!
Here are the 5 best Yoga post-ride stretches for equestrians to prevent injury and recover quicker.
1. Wide-legged forward fold with Eagle Arms
This combination stretch addresses both hips and shoulders. The wide-legged stance stretches your inner thighs, which releases tension from your hips, lower-back, and knees, while the eagle arms up top releases tension in your upper-back caused by staying upright. Hold this one for 60 seconds total, switching arms half-way through.
2. Lizard
Lizard is an absolute must. When you are upright on the horse, your hip flexors are in constant flexion. They are being utilized, shortened, and tensed all at once. If they remain tense after a workout, they can pull on your lower-back and cause discomfort or even pain. In order to get these muscles to relax and recover, we need to get them into a lengthened or extended position. Lizard does just that, allowing the muscle to relax and recover. Your back will thank you, too! Hold for 45-60 seconds on both sides.
3. Reclined Figure 4
Your hips are extremely important to your ride, and the largest (or 2nd largest) muscle in your hips are your glutes – your butt muscles. On top of being used excessively in your ride, these muscles are typically in a tensed position throughout the day as a result of sitting or driving. Even if you don’t sit that often, standing doesn’t do much either. Your glutes are typically inactive during sitting or standing, and that means they get tight! Reclined figure 4 stretches your glutes, relieving tension in your lower-back, allowing these extremely important muscles to recover more quickly, even increasing the potential strength in your hips. Hold for 30-45 seconds on both sides. (Be careful of your knee here!).
4. Reclined Quad Stretch
Your quadriceps attach to your knees, and most us know how finicky those can be. In order to prevent knee pain or discomfort, we need to make sure to take care of the muscles that attach to them. This is a wonderful passive stretch for your quadriceps, which helps that muscle group to lengthen, recover, and relieve tension from the knee. Hold for 30-60 seconds on both sides.
5. Reclined Twist
Your quadriceps attach to your knees, and most us know how finicky those can be. In order to prevent knee pain or discomfort, we need to make sure to take care of the muscles that attach to them. This is a wonderful passive stretch for your quadriceps, which helps that muscle group to lengthen, recover, and relieve tension from the knee. Hold for 30-60 seconds on both sides.
Watch a video explaining each of the above postures!
This video explains how to properly and safely perform each posture, where you should be feeling the posture in your body, and how it affects your fitness as an equestrian. Enjoy!
Looking for A Program?
Want more yoga to prevent injury, get stronger, and feel better overall, BUT don’t know where to start? Man Flow Yoga has you covered! Try our FREE 7-Day Challange and get workouts everday!Sign-up below to try our 7-Day Challenge!
Signup for the FREE 7-Day Challenge
Additional Resources
You might be interested in some tips on starting off your yoga practice, so read on! 3 blogs covering some basics.
About the author, Dean Pohlman, Founder & CEO of Man Flow Yoga, Author of Yoga Fitness for Men, Expert on Yoga Fitness for Men.
Dean Pohlman is an E-RYT 200 certified yoga instructor and the founder of Man Flow Yoga. Dean is widely considered to be an authority on Yoga for Men. He has worked with physical therapists to create yoga programs for back health and spinal recovery. His workouts and programs have been used by professional and collegiate athletes, athletic trainers, and personal trainers; and have been recommended by physical therapists, doctors, chiropractors, and other medical professionals.
Dean is a successfully published author through DK Publishing (Yoga Fitness for Men), selling 35,000 copies worldwide in English, French, and German; in addition to being a co-producer of the Body by Yoga DVD Series, which has sold over 40,000 copies on Amazon since its release in 2016.
Man Flow Yoga has been featured in Muscle & Fitness Magazine, Mens’ Health, The Chicago Sun, New York Magazine, and many more major news media outlets.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
