Best Slider Exercises For Toned Abs (Bulletproof Your Core) Video

Grab a pair of sliders and fire up your tummy muscles! These slider exercises for abs target your entire core but they’re not for the light-hearted. In fact, these core glider exercises are challenging and provide a burn in the best of ways. Build your own ab workout or grab the one at the end of the blog post for strong, toned abs!

Featured image with text: woman in the gym performing an ab exercise with sliders

With so many ways to target your abs sometimes, it’s fun to get creative! And slider exercises for abs do just that (also known as "gliders).

They use a different kind of resistance and can challenge you in a new way with even the most basic of exercises.

Are Core Sliders Effective?

Yes! Using sliders provides a different kind of resistance than bands or dumbbells. This is because more often than not you're pulling your body in against the gliders. Thus, there's a bit of extra tension.

Likewise, any piece of equipment is effective if you use it consistently! However, sliders are easy to carry around with you or travel with making them a great on-the-go choice. In fact, you can use a set of sliders for a full-body workout!

However, these slider exercises are not geared towards beginners or postpartum mamas. If you’re newly postpartum you want to focus on mastering these core exercises long before delving into anything more intense.

Those exercises are the base for just about everything and will teach you to regain control of the activation in other exercises.

Moreover, before delving into these slider exercises for abs, you’ll also want to have mastered a few other ab exercises first. This is something I'm really picky about as a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist.

The truth is if you’re unable to perform basic anti-extension and anti-rotation exercises then these core glider exercises will to more hard than good.

So, focus on muscle engagement and not just going through the motions and then go dominate!

How To Use Gliders For Abs

Gliders are used on a hard surface (hardwood, linoleum, etc). They are placed under an anchor point like your feet, hands, or knees.

Then, you must use your muscles to actively pull one part of your body to another. For ab training, more often than not you are pulling your feet into your chest or pushing your hands away from your torso for an effective core workout.

Hack: If you don't have a set of sliders, in a pinch you can use socks on the hardwood floor or even paper plates on the carpet! However, these variations tend to be even more challenging tension-wise as they do "get stuck".

Slider Exercises For Abs

These glider exercises for your core muscles are a fun and challenging way to strengthen and tone your abs (so are these plank alternatives).

However, like any fitness goal, the best exercise is one you'll do consistently.

Master the slider ab exercises, try out new ones, and generally, play!

If you want to fire up your abs, grab 3-4 of the exercises and perform them back to back without rest (one set) and repeat that for a couple of sets.

Likewise, repetitions can range anywhere from 8-15 depending on the exercise and where you’re at.

Classic Pike

Shoulders come directly over wrists
Raise hips by pulling up with the abs

Two images of a woman in s ports bra and tights performing an plank hip pike with text on the image to give tips.

Obqlique Crunch

Shoulders come directly over wrists
Crunch through the side don’t just twist hips
Don’t let back drop when pushing back

Two images of a woman in a sports bra and tights performing a slider ab exercise with text on the image.

Crunch

Shoulders come directly over wrists
Round back as knees pull in
Don’t let the backdrop when pushing back

Alligator Walks

Do not let low back drop/extend
Pull body forward
Try to minimize hips rotating

Fallout

Engage glutes
Do not let low back extend

Reverse Plank With Swing Through

Open shoulders and chest at top
Engage glutes
Use abs to pull legs into and under the body
Round back when pull legs in

Plank Walkout

Engage glutes
Do not let low back extend
Try to minimize hips rotating

Woman in purple sports bra and blue pants performing a plank on a yoga mat with arrows and text for form tips

Straddle Pike

Shoulders come directly over wrists
Raise hips by pulling up with the abs
Keeps legs out to the side by using glutes

Two images of a woman in a sports bra and tights performing an ab exercise with text on the image.

FAQ's & Tips For At-Home Exercises

As with anything at home, engagement and activation are crucial. If you can’t activate the necessary muscles you’ll just be going through the motions and doing more harm than good.

Learning to perform deadbugs is a crucial skill in activating the deep core muscles and then turning that into pelvic tilts when in a plan will be the most helpful.

6 Minute Core Workout With Sliders

Perform each exercise back to back with little or no rest between the exercises. At the end of the set, rest for thirty seconds and repeat for a total of three rounds

A1. Pike x30s

A2. Alligator Walks x30s

A3. Reverse Plank x30s

Remember: move slowly and with control. Focus on form and engagement and not just going through the motions.

Need more core workouts? Here's a 10-minute, no-equipment ab workout!

And of course, if you need more (more motivation, more visual, more support) check out my follow-along workout section! Choose your workout, hit play, and work out WITH me.

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