This 15-Minute Lower Body Sliders Workout Targets Small and Big Muscles Alike

Slider workouts can be intimidating. The balance, control, slipping and sliding, and subsequent shaking can feel like a lot to handle. That said if you’re not quite ready to try one out in a studio or mimic the movements on a Megaformer, throwing on a pair of socks and taking to your hardwood or tiled floor can slowly introduce you to the workout.

In the latest episode of Good Moves, trainer and founder of The Ness, Colette Dong goes through a 15-minute lower body workout that uses socks instead of sliders to work your legs and glutes anytime, anywhere. The movements in the routine target both the slow-twitch muscles that help improve your balance, coordination and agility, and the bigger ones that act as your stabilizing base. To try it out for yourself, press play on the video above.

Try this lower-body sock slider workout

Start on the right side of your body and once you’ve completed each of the moves, repeat on the left side. Add a folded mat underneath your non-sliding leg if you want to modify the moves to make them a bit more challenging. And remember to engage your core throughout!

1. Warm-up: Put your left foot on your folded mat or the ground and your right foot on the floor next to you, but elevate your heel. Start to do baby squats to warm up your thigh muscles. After one minute, start extending your arms and sweeping them in a sun salutation-like movement while doing small lifts off the ground with your right leg to work your balance and stability. Make sure to ground your left knee and keep your leg muscles activated to keep your base strong.

2. Hinge slides: Transition to hinging your hips backward, sliding your right foot out behind you, and then back into the starting position while squeezing your glutes and hamstring. To stay stable, make sure to push your left foot into the ground or the mat.

3. Leg semi-circles: Once you’ve nailed that, start to circle your right leg back to starting position after pushing it backwards. “If your toe is a paintbrush, see how wide you can get that half circle as you sweep it into stand and work your left booty, glutes, and hamstring,” says Dong.

4. Combo: Next, combine the movements so you’re doing two slides backward and then one sweep around to help improve your mobility.

5. Sliding lunges: Similar to the hinge slides, press your leg back, but go as far as you can this time and stand up at the end. This helps with control and is more of a challenging alternative to lunges rather than a contained tap back. It drops you down lower and strengthens your core and glutes as you press back up.

6. Combine all of the movements: Put them all together then swap to the other side.

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