Knowledge
Chukka Wellness
India Parker-Smith is the founder and owner of Chukka Wellness which provides the leading training and movement methodology designed for the equestrian athlete to enhance suppleness, stability and strength in the saddle. India is a Personal Trainer who offers online and offline fitness training designed to elevate the well-being of the equestrian athlete. Using her knowledge of seven years she has created a series of masterclasses, a virtual membership hub and online training programmes all designed to complement the equestrian’s health and wellness both in and out of the saddle. You will find more information on India’s services on her website www.chukkawellness.co.uk and Instagram page @chukka_wellness
Reduce Injuries New year, new bulletproof body!
A constant issue of being a polo player is that your risk of getting injured is pretty high. Sometimes injuries are unavoidable; a horse tripping or falling, a horse standing on your foot or from a questionable ride off! So, let’s once again focus on what you can control; joint stability, suppleness, and overall strength to help bulletproof the body. Maintaining physical stability takes more than a single structure working in isolation to
provide joint support. Instead, lots of parts — muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and other soft tissues — all have to work together to produce a stable joint. Stable joints help you avoid injury, such as shoulder dislocations and ACL sprains. The factors that help maintain stability are usually broken up into separate categories: the active mechanisms (the muscles) and the passive mechanisms (everything else, like
Reducing Injury Strategies 1.Ensure that your workout programme includes compound exercises that simulate the movements of polo during a game.
These could be squats with rotations or single leg balance whilst simulating the swinging motion.
the ligaments, bone shapes, cartilage, joint capsule, and so on). The components from each type of mechanism must communicate with each other to provide stability. If the muscles (active restraints) don’t fire as they should or are weak, stability is compromised, and if the ligaments, tendons, and so on (passive restraints) have been compromised, injury may result as well.
2. Add in exercises that include single leg and arm work to improve your balancing skills and identify any weak areas. Single leg see saw, plank with arm reach.
Plank with arm reach
3. Muscle activation exercises encourage passive muscles to wake up and activate to support the joint during movements. Try adding in a few of these pre-ride or preworkout: Glute bridge, single leg balance, superman, back extension.
Single leg balance whilst simulating the swinging motion
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Polo Times, February 2022
Glute bridge
www.polotimes.co.uk
