If Your Core Fails You What Else Is Failing You?

If your core is failing to function properly then it is likely other parts of your body are also failing you.

Horse Riders have been instructed to “Use your core” Strengthen your core”  “More core” Bring in that core” over and over again. If you are one of the many hundreds of riders who have heard this and still don’t know how then you may well be suffering from a postural body breakdown.  

So What is a Postural Body Breakdown? 

Well, this is another one of my interpretations and common sense diagnoses. 

 A postural body breakdown is when the seven most common postural muscles fail you and refuse to do their part of the work to carry you around and keep you in good alignment. 

The arch collapses, the knee cap moves out of alignment, the hip loses strength, the core fails, the pelvis stiffens up, the shoulder blades become uneven and the neck pokes forward.

These are the seven most common areas the body lets go with age, habits, poor movements, a lack of stretching, and poor biomechanics.  Past and current injuries also have a big influence on these seven body parts.

Pain is a primary inhibitor of the core muscle. This is commonly known by Drs and Physios. It is not known by the general public and even most fitness coaches do not know this. The failure of the core often leads to other body parts failing too.

Now how does this affect your riding?

If your core fails you your body has no structural stability. The biomechanical alignment from your feet up is not correct and this creates abnormal stresses and tension in areas producing pain, inflammation, and more failure.

Your ability to ride is compromised. If your feet fail you and collapse as you weight bear on them then the whole body will be out of alignment Now we don’t weight bear as much when we ride so why do you care about your feet?

Well, you don’t ride all day and you will not magically become biomechanically aligned in the saddle if you are not out of the saddle.

Your instructor can tell you all day long to bring in your core and it still will not happen unless you adjust the failures in your body.

As A physiotherapist treating common repetitive injuries, I have discovered over many years there are seven common body areas that I seem to keep retraining. In each person, it has affected their daily life, their work their rest, and their skills as a sports person. Horse riders seem to think more riding is the key.  In my experience NO.

Each area must be independently isolated, and woken up to be re-engaged as part of a biomechanical movement pattern.

I start everybody with the foot arch muscle then the knee, the hip, the pelvic tilt, the core crunch, the shoulder retractors, and the neck.

I teach this as a movement pattern in my membership program.

As in the photo riding with a chicken, the neck upsets the whole outline of the image. This is the result of weakness between the shoulder blades as well as weak core muscles.

If you are having problems and need some help. Have a look at my online mentoring program

Online Mentoring Program

This is step by step program to train you to ride with good core strength and function.

Contact me for more information I can help you change the way you ride.

For more education on Posture and Riding watch my video here.