I have probably talked about this before, but that’s okay because I think it’s an important topic! In all my years, of riding and fitness’ing, I have found that some of the BEST types of workouts to help me in my riding are body weight workouts. I have ran, lifted, dance, yoga’d, and done almost every type of workout imaginable. However, I get the most riding benefits from good old body weight workouts!

What are body weight workouts? Think yoga, pilates, barre. However, I have also done MMA style workouts that are great and have a bit higher intensity than the others. Basically, and workout where you are using your own body weight instead of lifting weights. Don’t get me wrong, lifting is great too, I just find that I develop great control over my body when I am using my own body weight. And that control is VITAL in the saddle. These types of workouts also tend to heavily work the core which is also essential for riding.

Right now, I am doing Piyo (my favorite Beachbody workout program), which is fusion of yoga and pilates. It’s faster paced than just straight yoga, but still focuses on developing flexibility. I just started doing it again last week, and man oh man was I SORE after that first workout. I must add too that it was my riding muscles that were super sore! Soreness often shows us that the program is working ;). Since I am running so much, with this marathon on my calendar, I am only Piyo’ing about twice a week – but I am expecting to see good results!

What body weight workouts have you tried? How did they affect your riding?

{For more information on Piyo, click here ! To browse other Beachbody products, or to learn more about my fitness coaching groups click here  and then hit “shop” in the lower right corner, or send me an email.}