Like to work out on your own? Ever get stuck doing some of the same exercises week after week? Two tiny pieces of equipment are about to rock your world.

Those pieces of equipment? Glider disks.

Take almost any bodyweight exercise and incorporate a glider and you’ve just upped the level of difficulty by about a million. (Maybe not, but you get out of a workout what you put into it! Anything’s possible.) Here are a few ideas to incorporate gliders into your own workout routine:

1. Side lunges and reverse lunges

One glider goes underneath your left foot. Perform a side lunge by sliding your left leg directly to the side, sitting your butt straight back. Press down through your right foot and squeeze your thighs together to bring left leg back to meet your right.

Then slide your left leg straight behind you in a reverse lunge. Again, press down on your right leg to pull left foot back up and tuck your glutes back underneath you.

Repeat this side & reverse lunge combo 10 times on each leg or focus just on side lunges and then switch to reverse lunges.

2. Glute bridges

With a glider under each heel, press yourself up to a bridge. While keeping your hips high and evenly lifted, slide your feet straight out, then engage hamstrings to bring them back to bridge position.

3. Push-up variation #1

One variation is to place one glider underneath your right hand, and from a regular push-up position, as you lower down, slide right hand a few inches to the right, then bring hand back underneath shoulder as your press up.

To add more to this, place the other glider underneath you right foot, and slide the right leg straight out to the side while sliding right arm out in the push-up.

Repeat 10x sliding right arm out, then 10x sliding left arm out.

4. Push-up variation #2

You can also alternate sliding your arms forward (on glider) as you lower down to a push-up.

5. In-and-Out Planks

With a glider under each foot, maintain plank position and slide knees into your chest, contracting your abs. Once your knees are as close to your chest as possible, inhale and slide them back out to plank. You can also do this one leg at a time (think slow mountain climbers)

6. Pike-up Planks

Pike your hips up as you drag your feet up to meet your hands, keeping legs as straight as possible. This will get your deepest abdominal muscles working, and it’s great handstand prep!

7. Glider cobras

Lie flat on your stomach, legs hips width or wider apart, with a glider under each hand and arms extended out in front of you (think Superman flying). Pull arms by your ribs and lift your chest off the floor, but keep your legs and hips on the ground the entire time. Target your back by relaxing your glutes and performing this exercise slowly, pausing at the top of your cobra position before slowly lowering back down to your stomach.

8. One-legged Mountain climbers

Place one foot on a glider, then cross the other leg on top of your ankle. Slide your glider foot in and out, 10x on the right then 10x on the left.

9. Spiderman mountain climbers

Alternate between sliding right knee towards right elbow, then left knee towards left elbow. The gliders here help keep you stabilized and perform each movement as effectively as you can.

10. Cross-body mountain climbers

Alternating sliding knees across your chest to opposite elbows, one at a time.

Try doing 10 regular mountain climbers, 10 Spiderman-style and 10 cross-body mountain climbers. Each of these mountain climbers moves can be done as fast or as slow as you want. Keep in mind, sometimes slow can be harder! Try holding you knee in each position for an extra count before moving it back to plank.

11. Heel-pull crunches

With one heel on each glider, lie flat on your back, legs straight and extended out wide. Exhale and crunch up with your hands behind your head. Bend your knees to slide the gliders closer to your heels. Then slowly lower back down and straighten your legs.

You can also add an oblique twist to these, but try to keep your knees and hips square and just rotate elbow to opposite knee from only your core as you crunch up.

 

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