Major Muscles Worked:
Legs, Glutes, Hips, Inner Thigh
The Set Up:
- Stand tall with your feet closer than hip width apart.
- Feet should be parallel to each other.
- Place the ball of one foot in the center of a slider.
You can also use a paper plate, or towel (if you’re on hardwood or tile floors)
The Movement:
- Place most of your weight on the heel of your stable leg
- Carefully, slide the slider out from the side of your body.
When you’re initially doing this exercise, you may want to steady yourself with a chair or pole until you feel comfortable with the movement. - Press your hips back,bend the knee of the stable leg, and keep the slider leg as straight as possible.
Keep your hips mostly over the stable leg, placing very little weight on the moving leg. - Go down until you feel a good stretch in your inner thigh of the slider leg
Try to keep most of the weight on your stable leg. - Press through the heel of the stable foot, and lightly drag the slider in towards the center of your body, to return to standing.
Make it Easier:
- Place a chair to your side of the leg that isn’t moving. Stabilize your self by holding on to the chair with one hand.
Make it Harder:
- Add weight – but ensure that your core stability doesn’t get compromised.
Specific Cues:
- Look at yourself in the mirror for this move.
- Your front knee should not break the plane of your front toe.
- Chest up, shoulders back. Look ahead – not at the ground.
Note: Although helpful to review the Side Lunge exercise, notice that because of the slider, these movements are almost opposite: without the slider, the moving leg is bending, and with the slider, the moving leg is straight.