A challenging, full body glider workout! You can do this 25-minute cardio barre workout with exercise sliders, hand towels, or paper plates. This slider workout burns calories (no jumping) and targets muscles you didn’t even know you had — from arms and legs, to all the small stabilizing muscles in your core!
Barre is a great form of low impact strength training and cross-training. If you’ve tried our cardio barre workouts you know they are sneaky hard (always harder than they look)!
But we’ve added a new challenge to today’s barre workout — workout sliders!
These small exercise sliders increase the intensity of each bodyweight exercise because the working muscles are under constant tension throughout the entire movement. Requiring every stabilizing muscle in your body work even harder throughout each glider exercise.
Gliders are the perfect addition to barre exercises because glider workouts are a great way to lengthen and strengthen all the major muscle groups in your body (just like barre exercises).
Don’t have workouts sliders? Don’t worry, you can still do this glider workout!
What can I use instead of a glider?
Hand Towels — work best on hard surfaces like tiled floors or hardwood floors.
Glider Workout: 25-Minute Cardio Barre with Exercise Sliders
A FULL BODY slider workout for your abs, arms and glutes.
Workout Equipment:
A set of exercise sliders (these are the workout sliders I have) OR DIY exercise sliders with a set of towels (on a hard surfaces and tiled floors), or paper plates (on carpet).
If you don’t have exercise sliders or paper plates, you can always omit the towel and perform with bodyweight only.
You also have the option to add a set of light hand weights or dumbbells. I recommend 2-5 lb dumbbells, which you can easily sub for soup cans or filled water bottles.
In typical barre fashion, this workout will flow from move to move. Performing slider exercises for your abs, arms, butt and thighs. Here’s a general outline of this glider workout:
Dynamic Warm Up with Towel
Core Slider Exercises for Abs (Plank Series)
Thigh Dancing Series for Thighs and Biceps
Slider Exercises for Legs and Arms
Slider Burpees + Cardio
Slider Push Ups
Slider Exercises for Glutes + Hamstrings
Arms + Abs
Stretch and Cool Down
See below for a demonstration of some of the best slider exercises for abs, arms and glutes included in this cardio barre workout routine.
5 Slider Exercises for Abs, Arms + Glutes
1. Glider Push Ups
Targets: Chest, shoulders, triceps, lats, back, core and abs.
How to do Glider Push Ups or Push Ups with a Glider Arm Reach:
Start in a high plank or at the top of a push up (on knees or toes). Shoulders stacked over wrists, core engaged, imagining a straight line from your head through your tailbone.
Place your right hand on the exercise slider, and keep your left hand planted on the ground.
Leading with your chest, lower into a push up. As you lower down, push or slide the right hand out away from your body; arm extends straight out in front of you.
Squeeze your lats (back muscles near your armpits) to pull your extended right arm back towards your body as you push through the planted left hand to return to the top of your push up position.
Modification: Perform push ups from knees (as shown above) and shorten the arm extensions. The farther the arm extends away from the body, the harder this exercise becomes.
2. Glider Plank Knee Drive + Side Leg Sweep
Targets: Every muscle in your body from head to toe with an emphasis on the shoulders, back, core, lower abs, and outer glutes.
How to do Glider Plank Knee Drive and Side Leg Sweep:
Start in a high plank position, shoulders stacked over wrists, core engaged, hands planted firmly under shoulders.
Place your right foot on your slider (toes on slider). Left foot stays planted on ground. Only the right leg, on the glider will move during this exercise.
Engage your core to slide your right foot towards your chest, then extend your right leg straight to return to high plank position.
Then sweep your right leg up towards your right hand. Right leg stays long and extended as you drawn a half circle with the exercise slider. Range of motion on the side leg sweep with vary from person to person.
Return to the starting position and repeat this knee drive, side leg sweep pattern.
Modification: Add an incline by placing your hands on a chair or bench. Or drop the ‘non-sliding’ knee to the mat.
3. Plank Knee Tucks with Exercise Sliders
Targets: Full body with an emphasis on the arms, shoulders, core, lower abs, and quads (tops of thighs).
How to do Plank Knee Tucks with Exercise Sliders:
Start in a high plank position, wrists beneath shoulders, core engaged, both feet on exercise gliders (toes on sliders).
Engage your core to slide your feet towards your chest. Pause for a moment.
Then, exhale as you push the sliders back, extending your legs to return to high plank position.
Modification: Add an incline by placing your hands on a chair or bench. Or alternating pulling/sliding one knee to chest at a time similar to mountain climbers.
4. Skull Crushers and Hamstring Curl on Sliders
Targets: Triceps, hamstrings, glutes and core.
How to do Skull Crushers and Hamstring Curl with Exercise Sliders:
Lie on your back with your knees bent at 90 degrees, heel of right foot on slider and left foot planted on the floor.
Engage your core and press through your heels to raise your hips off the ground, squeezing your glutes.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand with arms extended overhead, palms facing in towards each other.
Keeping your hips lifted (in a glute bridge), slide your right heel out, away from your body. Trying to fully extend your right leg.
As you slide your right leg out, perform a skull crusher by lowering the dumbbells towards your forehead.
Then squeeze the back of your arm to extend the dumbbells back overhead. At the same time, drive through your right heel, pressing the slider into the ground to return the heel towards the glute to the starting position.
Modification: Omit the tricep skull crusher and focus just on the glider hamstring curl. Note, the farther the leg extends away from the body, the harder this exercise becomes.
5. Glider Burpees
Targets: Every muscle from head to toe — legs, glutes, quads (top of thighs), arms, shoulders, core and abs!
How to do Burpees on exercise sliders:
Start in a high plank position, shoulders stacked over wrists, core tight. Option to plant your hands on the ground or hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing in towards each other.
Place both feet on exercise gliders (toes on sliders).
Engage your core and lower abs to pull both glider discs (feet) up towards your hands.
Plant your heels on the ground, sit your hips back into the bottom of a squat. Then drive through your heels (on gliders) to stand tall.
Fully extend your hips at the top. Then sit your hips back into a squat, plant your hands on the ground, and slide both legs back into a high plank; returning to the starting position.
Modification: Add an incline by placing your hands on a chair or bench. Or take your feet off the glider discs and simply step in verse slide in to stand up our of the high plank.
What are the benefits of Glider Workouts?
LOW IMPACT CARDIO. Gliders can easily increase the intensity a workout in a LOW IMPACT way; burning more calories. Exercise sliders can make cardio exercises, like burpees, low impact.
STRENGTHENS STABILIZING MUSCLES. The “sliding” mechanism requires ALL the stabilizing muscle in your body work even harder throughout each glider exercise. Specifically targeting muscles in your abs, core, inner thighs, glutes and back.
CONSTANT CORE ENGAGEMENT. Exercise sliders really target the transverse abdominis — or the deep core muscles. Your core works to stabilize your body as your limbs move away from the trunk, and adding workout sliders really fires up the core muscles.
AFFORDABLE AND EASY TO STORE OR TRAVEL WITH. Exercise sliders are an easy addition to any home gym because they’re affordable, easy to store, and you can take them anywhere — AKA the perfect piece of workout equipment for traveling.
Pin this Glider Workout: At Home Barre Workout with Exercise Sliders
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