Buzz
Even with gyms reopening, it's still best to stay home when possible. This month, we’re focusing on DIY fitness gear, starting with an unlikely tool: the humble paper plate.
Paper plates are a fantastic stand-in for sliders, the plastic discs you typically use for sliding exercises where your hands or feet glide across the floor.
Surprisingly, paper plates outperform store-bought sliders. Traditional sliders have a hard plastic side for carpet and a soft side for hardwood floors, but paper plates excel at both. On my wood floors, they slide even more smoothly than the specialized sliders. Plus, you don't need any fancy plates; even the most basic, inexpensive paper plates do the job.
Upper body workout routines
Sliding push-ups focus on the core (in fact, nearly every slider exercise is a core challenge). Start in a push-up position with your hands on sliders. Slide your hands outward past shoulder width, perform a push-up, and return your hands to the starting position.
Side crunches involve a paper plate and are performed while seated with one hip on the ground. Watch a video demonstration here: Place the paper plate under one hand, shift your weight to that hand, and slide it outward until you're lying down (or to your comfort level). Then return to a seated position.
Lower body workout routines
Mountain climbers are a staple slider exercise. Get into a plank position with sliders under your feet, then alternate bringing one foot forward, followed by the other.
To increase the difficulty, pull both feet in at the same time as if performing a tuck. Alternatively, keep one foot off the ground while doing the slide with the other foot.
Skater lunges target the same muscles as regular lunges, but the added challenge comes from controlling the slide. Place one foot on the ground, with the other on a slider. Slide the foot forward into a lunge, and then slide it back to return to standing.
You can try various types of lunges using this method, such as reverse lunges (where the foot on the slider moves behind you) and side lunges.
