Chukka Wellness -Ladies Polo Foundation training day

Chukka Wellness had the honour of offering their fitness services to The Ladies Polo Foundation’s first training day

The LPF Ladies Polo Foundation was set up to provide the training and tools to the younger polo generation allowing them to maximize their potential within the sport. Within the foundation there are 6 ambassadors - all top UK female polo players including Nina Clarkin, Tamara Fox, Rebecca Walters, CC Colthurst, Tiva Gross and Sarah Wiseman.

The first LPF training day was held at Cirencester Polo Club where attendees received coaching on an array of different polo skills from some of the ambassadors.

Chukka Wellness were glad to offer their support in the form of fitness training sessions and some give away goodie bags. Each group session began with a mobility routine followed by some muscle engaging exercises, fun team exercises and to finish off some strength work using resistance bands.

The aim of the fitness session was to raise awareness to players that fitness training doesn’t mean spending hours in the gym or sweating away to see results. You can still create a quick and effective workout using minimal equipment that can be performed anywhere, how about the polo field, your living room or even on the yard!

We also wanted to stress that there are simple strategies you can implement into your training programme to reduce the risk of injury. Players who suffer with common polo injuries such as ongoing back pain, shoulder tightness and weak wrists tend to strap everything up to mask the injury. But inevitably the body will give up and players may be forced to retire early for good!

We thought we would reiterate this message to LA LOW GOAL readers and share with you Chukka Wellness’ top tips on how to reduce the risk of injury.

1. Build out a personalised polo-specific dynamic warm up that targets any ‘problem’ areas. It only needs to be 10 min max and try to complete the warm up before every ride. (see our Instagram for some inspiration)

2. Eat for recovery – Protein helps build and repair muscles so make sure to have a protein filled post workout snack or meal. Examples: Chicken wraps or Egg on toast.

3. Trigger Pointing - Grab a hard ball (tennis ball, trigger point ball) and place it in any sore muscles adding pressure until it has fully relaxed. Trigger pointing allows you to work deeper into the muscles and helps to release them quicker than foam rolling or stretching. (We have a whole trigger pointing video in our 6 week pre season exercise programme)

4. Swimming is a low impact activity that can help to reduce muscle soreness and keep the body moving. If you have access to a pool, we recommend trying some gentle swimming and walking backwards & forwards in the pool.

Just by implementing a few body maintenance strategies into your weekly schedule can make the world of the difference and prolong your play time!

The next Ladies Polo Foundation training day will be 15 th September. To book your spot and have the opportunity to train with some of the best female British UK polo players and Chukka Wellness please email ladiespf@outlook.com