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Tight hips is the most common complaint I get from dressage riders. While I’m not a physical therapist and diagnosing and treating pain is outside of my scope, my practical experience as a former equestrian combined with my knowledge as a strength coach gives me a unique lens through which I’ve developed practices that have successfully helped my equestrian clients not just mitigate their pain and discomfort, but also increase strength and improve performance in the saddle.
A quick google search will lead to any number of stretches to address tight hips, but as anyone with tight hips knows, these stretches at best provide temporary relief. Stretching may have a place in a client’s program depending on the purpose and if it’s prescribed correctly. However, no data (nor my practical experience as a coach and athlete) has shown that stretching prevents injury or muscle soreness and most data shows that the benefits of stretching are short lived and diminish quickly. An effective and long-term solution to tight hips for dressage riders and equestrians has to address the root cause of that tightness, and not just put a band-aid over the discomfort.
Most dressage riders develop tightness in their hips because their position in the saddle puts the most amount of muscular stress and load on the front side of the body, and the least amount of muscular stress and load on the back side of the body. Especially for those riding multiple horses for multiple hours each day, the muscles that support the hips from the front, the quads and adductors, become overworked and tight, while the muscles that support the hips from the back, the glutes and hamstrings, become underworked and weak.
Understanding these mechanics, it’s clear that in order to address hip tightness, dressage riders need to:
- Follow a training program that emphasizes building strength in the glutes and hamstrings, year round. Strengthening these muscles will improve alignment and stability of the hips and the pelvis, and also take some of the load and stress off of the overworked quads and adductors.
- Avoid stretching the glutes and the hamstrings. The position in the saddle already causes these muscles to become lax and overstretched, which contributes to their inability to properly support the hips and pelvis. Supporting muscles like the glutes and hamstrings need to be able to create and hold a certain degree of tension in order to stabilize the joints properly.
- Be strategic about how much and when they’re working the muscles of the front of the hip, the quads and the adductors, in the gym. Strengthening the “riding muscles” is important, but during busy show seasons they can quickly become overworked, leading to pain or injury. My dressage clients do the bulk of their quad and adductor strengthening during their slower show seasons, and back-off to the minimum amount of work needed to maintain strength in those muscles during their busiest show seasons.
Smart strength training creates long-lasting changes in the body that are crucial to decreasing pain and improving functionality and performance. Want to learn more about how I can help you train smarter to ride better? Go to https://www.wilddogathletics.com/join-the-pack to connect with me and schedule your free consultation today!
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