EUC's: Pilates on wheels?

[Mortal Coil]

Hi all,

When I first started learnng to ride I was quite sore around my lower torso. I put it down to all the swiveling micromovements that balancing on a single wheel required and the fact that I had a weak core (Never been anywhere near a Pilates class).

Now that I'm more experienced and better at riding that soreness has gone.I like to think because I have a stronger core, but it may just be that I'm not as twitchy and wobbly and don't require all the swiveling movements that I once did to stay balanced.

Was this other people's experience too?

 

[btl]

Yes, i can confirm the same experience. My pain in the lower back, that i had after a long work day in the office, has disappeared, too! So it's healthy thing to use your body not only for sitting ;-)

[RockyTop]

On 3/5/2020 at 5:03 AM, Mortal Coil said:

Hi all,

When I first started learnng to ride I was quite sore around my lower torso. I put it down to all the swiveling micromovements that balancing on a single wheel required and the fact that I had a weak core (Never been anywhere near a Pilates class).

Now that I'm more experienced and better at riding that soreness has gone.I like to think because I have a stronger core, but it may just be that I'm not as twitchy and wobbly and don't require all the swiveling movements that I once did to stay balanced.

Was this other people's experience too?

 

Both are likely true. If you are ready for the next step and continue to build up your core you might want to ease into light off road trail riding. If you are already there just increase the trail difficulty. Your riding skills will increase quickly and you will build up that core. I feel 5-10 years younger and I am lighter on the feet. 

[Rehab1]

My back pain diminished since I began riding 4 years ago but I also enhanced my core strengthening exercises around the same time period so it might be a combination of both. I do remember developing a pain in my butt back then. Sorry honey.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Rehab1

[EUC Custom Power-Pads]

I already had my first disc prolapse at the age of 16 and then 2 more the following years. The following 34 years were accompanied by pain with constant intake of painkillers. Strength training would certainly have helped, but I am such a lazy pig and decided to go with painkillers. Then I found a sport that was fun and strengthened my back. Jet-ski freestyle (those for standing, not sitting). The problems with my back got better. Then came the next disc prolapse, this time in the cervical spine.

Jet skiing did not help this time, but made the pain worse. So I became a lazy bastard again and didn't do anything sporty anymore. The pain in my back came back quickly and accompanied me until last year when I turned 50 years old. A few years ago I could not even carry my 3.5 kg daughter to bed without collapsing in pain. 

Then by chance I came to ride EUC. Already after 1000 kilometers of mostly difficult offroad trails my back became painless and I had no problem lifting the 24kg 16X over obstacles.

My knee problems (on both sides) were also magically gone. I could hardly walk 1-2 kilometers without knee problems before I started EUC riding. 

So I know for sure that really difficult offroad riding is an extremely good strength training. 

But what I also know now is that if you overdo it off-road and race over roots and stones, it is extremely hard on the ankle joints. Since New Year I have been fighting this problem and I can only drive carefully only onroad and I notice how my back problems are already coming back. 

Edited March 13, 2020 by buell47

[Grumly]

Same thing there, I've had chronic lumbar pain for 7-8 years before I got to EUC. It was dating back from a bad lift of a flooring sander (those things are bloody heavy and I didn't expect that much and received the weight unprepared).

From then I went to the osteopath every few months, sometimes no longer being able to lift a few kgs. And more commonly I'd be walking like a teletubbie and found it uneasy to run (or did it like one of those unholy antenna headed demons) until I got fixed.

After a few months of practice there was noticeable improvement. Now (almost 1 year) I no longer need those repair sessions.

The exercise that EUC provides to the inner muscles sustaining the spine is certainly no stranger to that. There is another effect, very noticeable when you are no regular sports practiser : this greatly enhances the feel and motricity of the spine and pelvis, when you otherwise only use these to sit your ass on a chair.

The ultimate advantage over pilates (even though they can be damn effective if you have the time and will to stick to them) is that riding my EUC for my daily commute actually replaces a part of my trip where I would sit in my car stuck in traffic jam. Replace 30 daily minutes of sitting static just getting tense, by the same amount of time riding an improbable one wheeled, unstable vehicle, this is certainly worth a weekly session of pilates, while requiring no additional time, and no motivation (this is more fun).

My ageing horse is also grateful to my EUC : I recovered a lot of the pelvis mobility I had when I was riding frequently in hikes or competitions (when we were both young, and I had more time to ride). Horses appreciate when their rider isn't a block of wood, and can accompany their pace.

[Mortal Coil]

I have a friend who’s a personal trainer / gymnastics instructor and she’s always banging on about ‘incidental excercise’ being the key to staying fit, not going to gyms and other formal forms of exercise.

‘We are made to move!’ Is her mantra

[Roadpower]

As a new rider my feet, I find myself building muscle in my feet. I suspect this is in particular because for decades I've worn boots which I think have kind of dumbed down my feet despite doing a lot of walking. So I've been doing short sessions to start with. I'm just very happy that I'm finally making some progress because the first wheel I bought was clearly too large for me to learn on. I hope to be riding it in six to eight weeks for commuting purposes, the learning wheel will be a great local wheel besides the training.

[Scottie]

I was riding on a local park trail last week. Due to many people staying home for the Corona disaster, they have the time to enjoy being outside more than usual. There was a family of about 6 or 7 people out walking and we were headed towards each other on the trail. Of course they were looking at the strange contraption coming towards them on one wheel and commenting to each other. A girl of about 14 or 15 years old made a comment about me to her family that I overheard. She said something like, "Well, he is not getting any exercise". Of course that made me smile and laugh inside my head. It was something of a compliment, even though it was not meant that way. I must have been riding well enough to make it look easy. And obviously she did not know how much exercise I was actually getting. She probably had know idea what it is like standing with knees bent for a long period while keeping the machine stable with leg muscles constantly firing and adjusting the wheel with many small movements.