Lateral Powerglide Exercises

Powerglides are thin, circular discs that you can stand on to perform a variety of exercises. The idea of the discs is that you can glide across the floor, which minimizes the impact on your knee and ankle joints. Most powerglides will work on carpeted or wooden floors and can be used to perform forward and backward movements, rotational movements or lateral exercises, where you move from side to side.

  1. Learn to Lateral Lunge

    • Moving laterally when lunging increases the abductors and adductors -- the inner- and outer-thigh muscles -- more than when lunging forward and backward, notes strength coach Mike Boyle. Stand on the powerglides with your right leg turned out to the side, then bend your left knee down while keeping your right knee straight and moving it out to the side. Start by doing all your reps on one side, then move to the other leg before trying the more difficult variation of alternating legs.

    Don't Get Confused by Crossovers

    • Lateral crossovers are the next step up from lateral lunges. Stand with your feet around shoulder-width apart, both facing forward. Bring your right leg back behind your left while twisting your hips to the right. Move your right leg as far as you can while keeping your left planted firmly on the floor, before sliding back to your starting position. Then cross your left foot back behind your right. Personal trainer Adam Campbell suggests these as an alternative to other single-leg moves, like step-ups, dumbbell lunges and reverse lunges.

    Boost Your Pushup Performance

    • Powerglides aren't just for lower-body moves. You can use them to train your upper body too. Assume a pushup position and place one hand on each glide. Instead of simply bending your elbows, push your arms out to the side as you drop down to bring your torso closer to the floor. In the bottom position, your chest should be 4 to 6 inches off the floor, writes strength coach Mark Verstegen in "Core Performance Endurance." Slide your hands back in to get yourself back to the starting position. These are tough already, but to make them even more challenging, try raising one leg off the floor or bringing an arm up and rotating your body at the top of each rep.

    Perfect Planking

    • If regular planks don't pose much of a challenge to you any more, have a go at lateral planks on the powerglide. For this, you can have your hands or feet on the glides -- either with one under each elbow or one under each foot, while in a plank position. Hold your regular plank position for three seconds and then shuffle sideways a foot or so and hold for another three seconds. Aim to cover 10 to 15 feet before moving back again. This can also be performed wearing a weighted vest or with extra glides so you have one under each limb.