If you're tired of your fitness routine and you want to work some new moves, try a few exercises on a slide board. Slide boards are used by athletes who want stronger lateral moves, better balance, sport-specific exercises and a serious cardio workout. A workout on a slide board uses most of the muscles in your body, and the moves are a lot tougher than they look.
History
Slide boards have been around for at least a hundred years but you used to find them in backyards, not gyms. According to the American Council on Exercise, Olympic skaters removed barn doors and waxed them until they were extremely slick. They then practiced skating, balance and side moves during the off-season to stay in shape and improve performance. Today's slide boards are apt to be in the gym or a home exercise room and bear no resemblance to a barn door, but they still deliver a challenging, and slippery, workout.
Function
Slide boards work muscles that speed-skaters and hockey players use all the time. The boards are an excellent way to improve balance while building muscle. But they are also widely used to rehabilitate injuries, most commonly knee injuries. The classic sliding motion works the quadriceps hard without stressing the knee. A side benefit of using a slide board is the rigorous aerobic workout it provides. The moves are so intense at first that it is recommended you try only short weekly sessions to prevent soreness as your body adjusts.
Equipment
The adult-size board is anywhere from 7 to 10 feet long, laminated to a friction-free, slick finish and backed by a nonskid base. There are adjustable wooden or rubber bumpers at either end to act as stops. You can buy lightweight boards and even roll-up slide boards, but they tend to move when you do. A solid, high-quality board will stay put and give you a better workout. Wear special booties or slide socks that slip over flat-bottomed exercise shoes or bare feet.
Benefits
Side boards work lateral muscles that aren't usually targeted by other exercise routines. Most exercises are front to back or vertical, from treadmill work to aerobic sessions to lifting free weights. Slide boards allow you to improve the muscles you use in tennis, basketball, skiing and skating when you perform explosive or twisting side moves. It's a low-impact way to hit the inner and outer thighs and the glutes, and it conditions the connective tissue surrounding the hips, knees and ankles.
Exercises
For tennis, side slides on the board, while swinging a medicine ball back and forth during the slide, work the upper and lower body simultaneously. The wooden blocks are placed at either end of the slide. Wear exercise socks and brace one foot against a block. Slide the other foot across the board, keeping feet about shoulder width apart. Repeat to the other side, pushing off each time with the alternating foot. It's the same side-to-side motion you tried in your socks, "skating" on a bare floor when you were a kid. A floor exercise is a tough abdominal workout as you brace the upper body on the elbows while sliding the legs and lower torso up and back on the board on the flexed toes. The motion makes a tent or triangle of the body at the high point and looks like a plank at the low point.
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