Training muscles while riding: study proves how effective equestrian sport is

Created: 01/07/2022Updated: 01/07/2022, 2:37 PM

From: Lara-Sabrina Kiehl

Riding trains many important muscles.

Above all, those who spend a lot of time at their desks can benefit from regular balancing in the saddle.

Seosan (South Korea) - Riders are often allowed to hear that horse riding is not a real sport.

Those who have already ridden a horse know perfectly well that this statement is wrong.

Scientific findings also refute this claim.

But how well does riding really train our body?

Scientists have answers and one thing becomes clear: Riding effectively trains many important muscle groups, as Landtiere.de reports.

Muscles while riding: study proves how effective equestrian sport is

According to research, riding training three times a week significantly increases the percentage of muscle in the body.

Scientists came to this conclusion after an eight-week experiment with 30 women.

All of them are rather unsporting people who have never sat on a horse.

For safety and to protect the horses, some of the women sat on a riding simulator three times a week for about 25 minutes.

There they completed training with step, trot and step-trot transitions.

The other part did not do any sport during the eight-week study period and spent 25 minutes three times a week on the switched-off simulator.

Riding trains many important muscle groups.

(Symbol picture) © Frank Sorge / Imago

Muscles while riding: ideal exercise for constant use

As soon as the eight weeks were over, the riding women showed significantly improved muscles in the area of ​​the hips, thighs and upper body.

In some cases, their muscle mass had even doubled.

In the control group, however, there were no changes.

“Equestrian sport activates the thigh and hip muscles.

In addition, the trunk extension muscles are significantly strengthened by an upright posture and the muscles around the thighs and hips, ”reports Yong-Seok Jee from the Research Institute for Sports and Industrial Sciences at Hanseo University in Seosan, to the US magazine“ The Horse ”.

He also believes that horse riding can help treat and prevent musculoskeletal disorders caused by prolonged sitting.

Muscles while riding: Rhythmic tensioning and relaxing trains effectively

However, other studies also prove how healthy and effective riding is.

Above all, the different gaits train the rider's muscles perfectly.

The body always has to adapt to the horse's movement in every gait.

And in order to be able to do this, the muscles must rhythmically contract and relax.

Different muscle groups are addressed in each gait.

In addition, the back and abdominal muscles are trained while riding.

And so it should now be clearly proven: Riding is very much a sport.