In our last blog post, we introduced the importance of muscle symmetry for equestrians and how to achieve Left-Right Symmetry.

When muscles are balanced, they are able to work together effectively and efficiently, allowing for optimal performance and reducing the risk of compensations and imbalances that can negatively impact riding. In part 2, we will talk about Antagonistic Muscle Symmetry.

ANTAGONISTIC MUSCLE SYMMETRY

Antagonistic muscle symmetry refers to the balance of strength and flexibility between opposing muscle groups. Opposing muscle groups work together to create movement around a joint. For example, if you bend your elbow, your biceps muscles contract and your triceps extend to make that happen.

Some other examples of opposing muscle groups are your quads and hamstrings on the front and back of your thighs, your adductors and abductors on your inner and outer thighs, your glutes and hip flexors, and your pecs and lats in your chest and back. When one muscle group is significantly stronger or more flexible than its opposing group, it can lead to compensations and imbalances that can negatively impact riding performance and can potentially lead to injury.

PROGRAMMING TO IMPROVE ANTAGONISTIC MUSCLE SYMMETRY

Achieving this kind of symmetry isn’t about specific exercises per se - more how you program different exercises into your workouts.

The most important thing here is making sure you are working out those opposing muscle groups equally throughout the week. You can choose to do this within a single workout (e.g. working your chest and back in the same day) or across multiple workouts throughout the week (e.g. working your chest one day and your back another day).

I personally prefer to strive for balance within a single workout because I can always make sure that I’m balanced in a week even if I miss workouts. I will also say that this was one of my biggest challenges with organized group fitness classes like Barry’s Bootcamp or Orange Theory - while I loved the group fitness energy, unless I was going several times a week which just didn’t work for my schedule, the workouts weren’t hitting all of my muscles evenly.

Bonus Tip!

If you’re looking for an efficient workout, you can superset exercises that work opposing muscle groups with less rest between each set. For example, a set of push ups (targeting your chest) alternating with a set of rows (targeting your back), repeated 2-4 times.

Here are some exercise pairings to add to your next workout:

• Goblet Squats and Romanian Deadlifts

  

• Glute Bridges and Planks

  

• Push Ups and Dumbbell Rows

  

• Chest Flys with Reverse Flys

  

Try these today! And if you want help with this, let me know. Equestrian Fitness programs include all of these components to help you become a symmetrical, balanced rider.

Courtney