The Muscles That Matter Most in the Saddle & Arena

One of the biggest mistakes I see athletes make in the gym is training muscles instead of training performance.

That might sound strange coming from a strength coach, but hear me out.

Most athletes walk into a gym and immediately think about the muscles they can see. They want bigger arms, bigger shoulders, a bigger chest, and maybe bigger legs. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look athletic. Confidence matters, and looking the part certainly does not hurt.

The problem is that rodeo does not care how impressive you look in a T-shirt.

The arena only rewards what transfers.

Over the years, I have worked with athletes who looked like they belonged on the cover of a fitness magazine but could not maintain position on a horse. I have also worked with athletes who looked completely average walking through an airport and then climbed on a bronc and made everybody else look like they were standing still.

That is when you start realizing that the muscles that matter most are not always the ones people spend the most time training.

When I think about riding events, whether it is bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, reined cow horse, cutting, or even portions of the timed events, I do not think about biceps first.

I think about stability.

Riding is ultimately a game of position. The athlete who can maintain position under pressure usually has a tremendous advantage over the athlete who cannot. That advantage starts with a few muscle groups that rarely get the attention they deserve.

The first is the glutes.

If you have spent any time around Champion Living, you have probably heard me talk about glutes more than once. There is a reason for that.

The glutes are responsible for producing force, stabilizing the hips, and helping control the lower body. They help you create strength through the hips while keeping your pelvis organized when the horse, bull, or your own movement starts pulling you out of position.

Unfortunately, modern life does everything it can to shut them down.

Most athletes spend hours sitting in a truck, sitting at work, sitting at school, or sitting while traveling. Then they wonder why their hips feel tight, their lower back feels nagging, or their movement feels off when they get into the saddle.

Your body will always find a way to get the job done, even when the right muscles are not contributing. That usually means another area starts picking up the slack. Your lower back may work harder than it should. Your hamstrings may become overactive. Your knees may absorb forces your hips should be helping control.

That is compensation.

Compensation is not always a problem in the moment. The problem is that it eventually catches up with you.

Strong glutes will not solve every issue, but I have seen them solve a lot of them. Training exercises such as hip thrusts, deadlifts, split squats, step-ups, and controlled single-leg work can help you build the strength and coordination required to own your position.

The goal is not simply to make your glutes tired. The goal is to teach your hips to produce force and control movement when you are under pressure.

The second muscle group that deserves more attention is the upper back.

This is one of the most overlooked areas in rodeo training. When most athletes think about upper-body training, they immediately think about pressing movements. Bench press. Push-ups. Shoulder press.

Those exercises have value, but the upper back often determines how well you maintain posture and position.

Think about an athlete who is exhausted at the end of a long weekend. One of the first things you will notice is that their posture starts falling apart. The shoulders round forward. The chest collapses. The head starts drifting forward. Everything becomes less efficient.

When your upper back cannot maintain its job, the rest of your position starts to break down with it.

Strong upper-back muscles help you stay organized under fatigue. They give your shoulders and arms a stable platform to work from while your hips and lower body handle the movement underneath you. This becomes especially important when you need to keep your hands independent from the rest of your body.

Rows, pull-ups, face pulls, rear-delt work, and loaded carries have been staples in our programs for years because they help build the foundation that keeps athletes strong and connected under fatigue.

You do not need to chase a pump just to say you trained back. You need to develop the ability to hold posture, control your shoulder blades, and keep producing quality movement when your body wants to fold.

Then there are the adductors.

Most people have no idea what the adductors are until they pull one.

Located on the inside of the thigh, the adductors play a huge role in controlling the lower body and creating stability through the hips and pelvis. For riding athletes, they are incredibly important.

Think about how much control comes from your ability to maintain pressure and position through the lower body. Your adductors contribute far more than most athletes realize. They help you stay connected, control the legs, and resist being pulled loose when the movement becomes fast, violent, or unpredictable.

The funny thing is that many rodeo athletes accidentally train their adductors only when they get on a horse.

Then they wonder why they are sore every time they ride.

Like any other muscle group, the adductors respond well to intentional training. Split squats, lateral lunges, Copenhagen planks, and single-leg work can all help build strength and resilience in this area.

Start with control. Own the position before you worry about adding load or moving faster. If your knee caves in, your pelvis shifts, or your trunk falls all over the place, that is a red flag that you have lost the position you are trying to train.

Mobility matters here, too. Before training, before competition, after travel, and on recovery days, work through the positions your event requires. Do not chase maximum range just for the sake of being flexible. Learn to own the range you need so you can use it under control.

And finally, we have the trunk.

Not just the abs. The trunk.

I think that is an important distinction.

When people hear the word “core,” they usually picture a six-pack. What I picture is an athlete staying connected from the shoulders to the hips.

The trunk acts as the bridge between the upper and lower body. It is responsible for transferring force, maintaining position, and allowing the body to work as one coordinated unit. Without it, power leaks everywhere.

You can have strong legs, strong shoulders, and a powerful grip, but if you cannot control the space between your ribs and pelvis, that strength may not transfer when you need it most.

That is why exercises such as loaded carries, Pallof presses, side planks, rotational medicine ball work, and anti-rotation drills show up so often in our programming.

Not because they look cool.

Because they work.

The trunk is not about staying rigid at all times. It is about controlling movement. You need to resist unwanted rotation, produce rotation when the event demands it, and maintain enough stability to keep your hips and upper body working together.

That distinction matters.

The longer I coach, the less interested I become in individual muscles and the more interested I become in movement. The athletes who perform at the highest level rarely win because one muscle is exceptionally strong.

They win because their body works together.

Everything is connected. The hips support the trunk. The trunk supports the upper body. The upper back supports posture. The entire system works together to maintain position and create force.

That is what riding demands.

So if you are looking to become a better athlete in the saddle, stop asking which muscle needs to get bigger. Start asking which muscles help you stay stronger, more stable, and more efficient when it matters most.

That question will lead you toward better training decisions.

It will also help you avoid one of the weakest links I see in athletic development: confusing gym performance with event performance. A bigger bench press might be useful, but only if it supports your ability to move, brace, react, and maintain position when the arena gets chaotic.

Use an if-then plan to keep your training connected to your performance. If you finish a workout and cannot explain how the work supports your event, then review the exercise selection, the intent, or the way you performed it.

Your training should have a purpose.

In my experience, that is where the biggest improvements happen. More often than not, the answer is not found in the mirror. It is found in the muscles that quietly do their job every time you compete.

If you are ready to take the next step in your Champion Living Athlete Pathway, let us get you on a call with a coach to see if you are a good fit for our Individualized Coaching.

Use the link below to get started:

https://championlivingfitness.com/sign-up

Your Coach,

Doug Champion