Best Glider Exercises: 5 Dynamic Glider Workouts and Tools!

image from: amazon.com

Incorporating workout sliders introduces a fresh element of challenge. These exercise tools target core strength and enhance balance and flexibility. By adding resistance, sliders offer an engaging method to amplify strength and refine muscle definition. Glider workout equipment has been designed to give the body an efficient, yet safe, workout. This versatile range of exercise equipment is suitable for both home and commercial use. Sculpt and tone your body with these best glider exercises! This full-body routine targets strength and mobility by incorporating traditional barre movements with low-impact cardio.

What are Glider Exercises?

Exercise gliders are an excellent method to target and strengthen your small stabilizing muscles effectively. Gliders elevate the intensity of bodyweight exercises by maintaining constant tension on the working muscles throughout each movement. Additionally, incorporating gliders into your routine is a highly efficient means to advance your exercises and enhance their effectiveness over time.

A Glider offers cardio that might feel more like play. So many muscles are recruited in this workout, prompting caloric burn. As you stabilize your positioning, you utilize your core muscles and strengthen the muscles that help keep your body strong.

Is a Glider Good Exercise?

Since the Glider offers a cardio workout, it should be considered good for people wanting this type of workout. Those looking to significantly build muscle will not find the Glider to suit their needs. But if your goal is to increase stamina while burning calories, then this is a suitable option.

What Are the Advantages of Exercise Gliders?

Exercise gliders activate your core muscles by introducing a balance element to your workout routine. They effectively heighten the workout’s intensity in a gentle, low-impact manner, testing your strength and flexibility. Moreover, exercise sliders are a convenient addition to any home gym due to their affordability, compact storage, and portability, allowing you to bring them along wherever you go.

Utilizing round gliding discs or workout sliders, glider workouts present a balance and stability challenge, compelling the body’s stabilizing muscles to engage more intensely during each movement. Integrating gliders into barre exercises proves beneficial as they effectively elongate and strengthen key muscle groups, encompassing the core, inner thighs, glutes, and back, while also targeting stabilizing muscles.

What Is Glider Workout Equipment?

Glider exercise equipment is designed to give the body a full workout. It combines cardiovascular work, which helps to strengthen the heart and the lungs while also burning calories, with building muscle strength. This full-body workout helps people of all ages and fitness levels.

Low Impact

A glider is powered by movement of the arms and legs, however the gliding action is smooth and this stops leg and arm joints from being strained. Glider workout equipment is regarded as offering low impact exercise. Low impact exercise is important for people of all ages, but in particular it is important for older people. As people age, exercise can cause problems with joints and can exacerbate conditions such as arthritis.

Muscle Groups Worked

A glider workout will work the following muscle groups:

• Hips – Working on the hips is important for keeping hip joints flexible. Exercising hips is particularly important for older people.
• Front and back of thighs – This area gives strength to quads and hamstrings – an important group of muscles. In addition to building strength, exercising this area also helps to give definition to legs.
• Calves – Working out the calves helps to build leg strength.
• Lower leg and shin – Exercising lower leg helps to build strength and give definition.
• Shoulder – Exercise the shoulders for strength and flexibility. Low impact exercise helps to avoid long term muscle or joint damage.
• Front and back of upper arm (biceps and triceps) – Exercising the upper arm helps to add tone to arms.
• Chest – Working on this area is essential for total body strength as well as helping to avoid sagging muscles.
• Back – Exercising the back helps to strengthen the body while also giving good stature. Many people suffer from bad backs and building good body strength using low impact methods will help to avoid back problems.
• Abdominals – The stomach is one area that many people want to work on. Exercising the obliques will help strengthen the core.

Outdoor Glider Equipment

Popular in parks featuring fitness equipment, outdoor glider equipment use similar motion and the user’s momentum to create movement. A great deal of stability is required for these outdoor gliders because most don’t feature any method for increasing resistance. To make an outdoor glider workout more difficult, either increase your speed or engage your quad muscles more by bending your knees.

imag4 from: verywellfit

Using Glider Equipment

Gliders are simple to use and exercise routines can be undertaken at home with the minimum of training. Glider exercise machines often are supplied with a detailed user manual or DVD, explaining how to use the equipment. This is useful and can help the user to build up an exercise program. Although glider equipment is designed to give a safe and low impact workout, people with existing problems or who are new to exercise should consult a trained professional before using unfamiliar pieces of exercise equipment whether at home or in an exercise studio.

• Step onto the glider, placing each foot in the designated foot holds (right foot on the right, left on the left). Take care stepping onto the equipment evenly.
• Grasp the handles (right hand on the right, left on the left). Note that some Gliders have another option where you can grasp static bars instead of using the handlebars, but if this is your first time, start with the handles.
• Find a comfortable upright position in which you feel stable.
• If your Glider model features a console, turn it on and set your workout per manufacturer’s instructions. If there is no console, begin your workout.
• Pushing the right handle forward, use your left foot to push the foothold back. Repeat on the other side. Do not lock your knees.
• The motion should feel like exaggerated walking with additional resistance.

The Workout Routine/Exercise Flow:

• Warm-Up
• Core Work with Sliders for Abs (Plank Series)
• Thigh Dancing Series for Thighs and Biceps
• Legs and Arms Slider Exercises
• Slider Burpees and Cardio
• Slider Push-Ups
• Glutes and Hamstrings Slider Exercises
• Arms and Abs
• Cool Down and Stretch

The 5 Best Glider Exercises:

Glider Push-Ups

Muscles Engaged: Chest, shoulders, triceps, latissimus dorsi, back, core, and abdominals.

How to Perform Glider Push-Ups with Reach:

• Begin in a high plank position, with your shoulders aligned over your wrists and your core engaged. Make sure your body forms a straight line from your head to your tailbone.
• Place your right hand on the glider while keeping your left hand firmly planted on the ground.
• Lower your body into a push-up, leading with your chest. As you descend, slide or push the right hand outwards, extending it straight before you.
• Engage your lats (the muscles on your back near your armpits) to retract your extended right arm back towards your body while simultaneously pushing through your left hand to return to the starting plank position.

Modification: If needed, perform the push-ups from your knees and reduce the range of motion for the arm extensions. The farther you extend your arm from your body, the more challenging the exercise becomes.

Glider Plank Knee Drive and Side Leg Sweep

Targeted Muscles: Engages every muscle in your body with a focus on the shoulders, back, core, lower abs, and outer glutes.

How to Perform Glider Plank Knee Drive and Side Leg Sweep:

• Begin in a high plank position, with your shoulders aligned over your wrists and your core engaged. Ensure your hands are firmly planted under your shoulders.
• Position your right foot on the glider, with your toes resting on the slider. Keep your left foot grounded on the floor. Only your right leg, which is on the glider, will move during this exercise.
• Engage your core muscles as you slide your right foot towards your chest, then extend your right leg straight to return to the high plank position.
• Next, sweep your right leg up towards your right hand. Maintain your right leg long and extended as you draw a half circle with the glider. The range of motion for the side leg sweep may vary among individuals.
• Return to the starting position and repeat the knee drive and side leg sweep sequence.

Modification: Elevate your hands on a chair or bench to increase difficulty. Alternatively, you can lower the non-sliding knee to the mat for added support.

Glider Plank Knee Drive and Side Leg Sweep

Targeted Muscles: Engages all muscle groups from head to toe, focusing on the shoulders, back, core, lower abs, and outer glutes.

How to Perform Glider Plank Knee Drive and Side Leg Sweep:

• Begin in a high plank position, ensuring your shoulders are aligned over your wrists and your core is activated. Keep your hands securely planted under your shoulders.
• Position your right foot on the slider, with your toes resting on the glider. Keep your left foot grounded on the floor, as only your right leg (on the glider) will be in motion.
• Activate your core muscles as you use them to slide your right foot toward your chest. Extend your right leg straight to return to the high plank position.
• Next, sweep your right leg up towards your right hand. Maintain your right leg long and extended as you draw a half circle with the exercise slider. The range of motion for the side leg sweep may vary from person to person.
• Return to the initial position and repeat the knee drive and side leg sweep sequence.

Modification: Elevate your hands on a chair or bench to increase intensity. Alternatively, you can lower the non-sliding knee to the mat for added support.

Plank Knee Tucks With Exercise Sliders

Targeted Muscles: Engages the entire body, focusing on the arms, shoulders, core, lower abs, and quadriceps (front thighs).

How to Perform Plank Knee Tucks With Exercise Sliders:

• Begin in a high plank position, ensuring your wrists are directly beneath your shoulders, and activate your core muscles. Both feet should be positioned on exercise gliders, with your toes resting on the sliders.
• Engage your core as you use the sliders to draw your feet towards your chest. Hold this position briefly.
• Exhale as you push the sliders backward, extending your legs to return to the high plank position.

Modification: Elevate your hands on a chair or bench to increase the challenge. Alternatively, like mountain climbers, you can perform alternating knee tucks, pulling or sliding one knee towards the chest at a time.

Skull Crushers And Hamstring Curl On Sliders

Targeted Muscles: Triceps, hamstrings, glutes, and core.

How To Perform Skull Crushers And Hamstring Curls With Exercise Sliders:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle, placing the heel of your right foot on a slider while keeping your left foot firmly planted on the floor.
• Engage your core and lift your hips, squeezing your glutes as you press through your heels.
• Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms extended overhead, palms facing inward toward each other.
• While maintaining the glute bridge position, slide your right heel away from your body, aiming to extend your right leg fully.
• As you slide your right leg out, perform a skull crusher by lowering the dumbbells toward your forehead.
• Contract the muscles at the back of your arms to extend the dumbbells back overhead. Simultaneously, drive through your right heel, pressing the slider into the ground to return the heel towards the glute to the starting position.

Modification: If needed, omit the tricep skull crusher and focus solely on the glider hamstring curl. Keep in mind that extending the leg farther away from the body increases the difficulty of this exercise.

Conclusion:

Glider workout equipment has been designed to give the body an efficient, yet safe, workout. This versatile range of exercise equipment is suitable for both home and commercial use. There are many different types of exercise glider available in the market. Before making your purchase to ensure you enjoy the motion of the workout, consult the professionals.