7 Simple Hacks for Your Best Performance Ever
Have I ever told you how much I hate the word Hack? I see it all too often on social media and in other forms of marketing and it grates on me every time. Marketers keep doing it because it works to catch our attention and appeals to our desire to make life more simple and easy… right? I mean, isn’t that the reason why you clicked through to read?
Yup, I did a bait and switch on you! Sorry, not sorry!
When it comes to fitness, riding, and really anything worth pursuing in life, a “hack” is almost never going to get you there. There is no shortcut to a beautiful dressage test, a 100 mile endurance ride, or a healthy and well functioning body. The basics always work. We put in the 20m circles and the long slow distance on our horses knowing it will pay off in the long run. Then we see equipment, devices and techniques that set the internet ablaze with their ingenuity, promising to help us shorten the duration of these critical steps. But what is lost when we skip ahead?
We know from our horses that things like various types of tie downs, sharp bits etc might help you get the end result, but has your horse learned anything in the process? Have YOU learned anything in the process? And have you or your horse built the required strength and endurance to perform if you were to take away that equipment or supplement? Is that ribbon or performance worth it? Has a shortcut EVER worked with your horse? Remember when we wanted to ride just for the sake of riding, if we were still doing that, would we really be looking for shortcuts?
Now lets think about ourselves. I scroll through instagram and I see all sorts of wild and wonderful fitness challenges from strength to mobility. Influencers and trainers showing how to do all these exercises that you never would have dreamed up! I don’t know about you but I have a ton of these posts saved, intending to go back and give them a try… but then I never do because they are flashy and my impulsivity gets the better of me. Hey, I want to be impressive too! Don’t you? Many of them promise things like “do this exercise and you will never have sore knees again!” or “here’s a simple hack to have better heels down in the saddle” followed by exercises that honestly don’t seem all that simple!
Then don’t get me started on all the nutrition hacks out there. That is another whole mess of confusion. How are any of us supposed to get it right?!
I see a lot of riders flit between workouts and diets without any direction or plan as a result, because social media and marketers are great at capturing our attention with complicated ways to simplify our workouts, nutrition, and our lives. I see them stall progress, I see them stressed out, overcomplicating with the intention of simplifying, when all we need to do is look at it like we do with our horses.
Do those 20 metre circles (in humans: squats, deadlifts, pushups, overhead presses, lunges, carry). Do the long slow distance (zone 2 cardio). Eat the stuff your mom told you was good for you way back when (veggies and protein). It may be boring, but I can tell you right now, spending time on consistently the basics will get you a lot farther than jumping ahead with a hack. Then when you have built that, maybe then try the hack to get you that last 1%.
And back to my point about just riding for the sake of riding. Can you learn to enjoy other processes too? Can you find the beauty in perfecting your squat form? Can you go for a jog to just to clear your head? Can you slow down and eat your veggies because you love the taste or texture and really appreciate it? Can you pat yourself on the back for showing up for yourself?
Yes you can, I know you can and I believe in you!
So here’s to no more hacks, and cheers to finding the beauty in the basics.
-Sarah