Slide boards are a relatively new piece of fitness equipment that is quickly gaining popularity as an addition to many home gyms.
As it turns out, slide boards provide many benefits that make it good for exercise for a variety of users, including rehab patients, athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and more, to help improve their overall body strength and rehab injuries.
The Benefits That Make a Slide Board Good for Exercise
It Helps Strengthen the Muscles
Slide boards’ gliding motions help build coordination and balance and strengthen the gluteal, legs, hips, and core muscles, which is needed to build overall stamina and power as well as to also restore strength and flexibility post-injury.
The exercises are also low impact, so they help avoid further damaging or irritating any damaged tissues.
It Helps Prevent Injuries
Most sports injuries he encounters with people are due to weak stability in a particular joint, which eventually leads to an overuse injury.
He goes on to further explain that when the muscles responsible for firmly keeping a joint in place become unstable or they are utilized incorrectly during an activity, it permits that joint to become misaligned or strained from the foot hitting the ground, thus damaging the tissue and eventually causing pain and dysfunction in the person.
However, slide boards help strengthen all the muscles needed to maintain stability during many sports and everyday activities, including the hip, which helps prevent injuries.
In fact, many physical therapists are increasingly prescribing slide board exercises for their patients to help keep the stabilizer muscles strong and prevent injuries and reoccurring injuries to the joints.
It’s Fun
In order to enjoy exercise, you need to find workouts that you like and anticipate doing, which makes it fun and thus easy to commit to.
Slide boards’ smooth, gliding moves make them fun to use, and you can even switch up your workouts for greater variety to help you look forward to exercising, even more, thus making it easier to achieve your fitness or rehab goals.
Research shows that participating in fun activities also helps release feel-good chemicals in the brain, which helps improve mood, overall well-being, and mental health for a healthier, more satisfying life.
It Provides a Good Cardio Workout
Since a slide board works the entire body, it also provides a great way to get a cardio-focused workout that, when done regularly, helps improve your cardiovascular health, lowers your blood pressure, and regulates your blood sugar.
It Can be Used Just About Anywhere
Slide boards can be set up in any location where there is sufficient floor space, so you can practice just about anywhere, thus making exercising more flexible and convenient, which also helps you more likely stick to it for results.
The boards are also adjustable, so you can lengthen or shorten them as needed, and they also have a nonslip backing, which helps them remain in place while in use for added safety.
It Can Help You Lose/Maintain Your Weight
Sliding exercises also help promote weight loss through low impact, high-intensity focused moves that help you sweat, burn calories, and improve your metabolism, which, when done regularly along with eating a proper diet, can help you shed unwanted pounds as well as also maintain your results.
How Many Calories Can I Expect to Burn Using a Slide Board?
In general, slide boards provide a vigorous workout that can burn up to 700 calories or more per hour.
How Do Slide Boards Work the Muscles?
Hips and Core
Core strength is essential for carrying out many daily activities, including bending, standing, lifting, and twisting; therefore, building a strong mid-section is a main focus of many fitness and rehab/physical therapy regimens.
Slide boards’ side-to-side motions cause you to engage all the major muscles in the core for stability and balance during the moves, which helps build a stronger center.
They also help strengthen flexion, extension, internal, and external movements, which helps improve hip function, as well as the adductions, which support the spine and optimal movement of the legs and arms.
Knees
Another common cause of knee rehabilitation and physical therapy is injury to the ACL, which can be caused by sudden force to the knee, such as while jumping, or when you change direction rapidly, such as when weaving during a sport.
Slide boards’ low-impact lateral training helps improve range of motion in the knees, helping to increase strength in all the structures and ligaments supporting them, including the ACL, PCL, MCL, kneecaps, and thighs, which helps rehab any injuries in the area and also prevents future knee injuries during physical activities.
Feet and Ankles
Strong feet and ankles are needed to bear the weight of your entire body; therefore, it is important to keep them sturdy to perform various everyday activities, especially following an injury.
Sliding exercises keep the feet planted on the board throughout the workout, which engages the top and bottom muscles of the feet as well as the muscles in the ankles that enable the feet to move up and down and side to side, thus strengthening all the tissues required to maintain a stable physique.
What Exercises Can be Done on Slide Boards?
There are tons of muscle building exercises that can be done using a slide to help switch up your fitness routine and target different muscles in the body for a more personalized workout, including:
- Curtsy lunges
- Slide board sprints
- Plank jacks
- Alternating side lunges
- Inch worms
- Squat jack slides
- Lunge running
- Glute bridge and curls
- Skater squat circles
Who are Slide Board Exercises Good For?
Slide boards have long been used as a highly effective training tool for athletes, teams, and rehab patients by both college-level and professional strength and conditioning coaches, leaders in fitness, sports medicine professionals, and personal trainers.
However, many fitness enthusiasts also hail them as a fun and challenging workout.
Therefore, they are good for anyone looking to incorporate a challenging, low-impact workout into their lifestyle, who wants to swap out their mundane routine with a more fun and effective one, or who just wants to build strength and endurance for their sports activity.
Some reports show their low-impact exercises may even provide benefits for seniors, including enabling them to enjoy exercise without putting stress on the joints, which is especially crucial for those with knee, hip, or ankle issues, as well as also help improve balance and stamina for greater mobility and independence.
What Else are Slide Boards Good For?
Slide boards have also been shown to help improve skating performance.
In fact, many hockey coaches incorporate slide boards into their training to help their players improve their performance on the ice because it simulates the hockey rink, which enables them to strengthen the same muscles used for skating during the game, thus helping to improve their skills on the ice.
They do so by enabling players to complete agility training in the bent position, which helps improve their stride and prevent hip injuries and more on the ice, thus making it a better tool for training than other equipment and conditioning methods.
Regular slide training also helps players build explosive energy, which improves power, speed, balance, change of direction, flexibility, and endurance on the ice. Players can also practice their stick handling while training on the board.
What is the Proper Way to Use a Slide Board for Good Exercise?
The proper way to exercise on slide boards is to first position them sturdily on the floor. They have a very solid, durable base, so they can also be placed on carpet flooring if you’d like.
However, be careful of placing them on cement or dusty surfaces because they can prevent the rubber on the base from gripping the floor.
They are also safe to place on wood floors. But if ever you unsure about a surface, just be sure to place an area rug, yoga mat, or towel under the board to avoid sliding around or damaging the floor.
Slide boards also come in varying lengths, so you can do a bit of research to determine the best size for your needs. You can also choose a sustainable board made from eco-friendly materials if you prefer.
To begin, place the booties that were included with the board, or you can purchase your own, separately, over your athletic shoes.
Next, carefully step into the board and begin with the side-to-side slide, which is an exercise in which you simply slide your feet from right to left while swinging your arms.
Just be sure to keep your body positioned in a sort of squat position while leaning slightly forward as you perform the movements to help maintain your balance and engage the major muscles.
You can also purchase slide mitts, hand boards, hand straps, or core sliders to perform more advanced chest, triceps, and core training as your skills develop.
Are There Any Precautions When Using Slide Boards?
Slide boards are considered fairly safe for use. However, because they contain a slick surface, it is important to take the same precautions you would when stepping onto an icy or another slippery surface, including first slowly stepping onto the board and then balancing yourself before proceeding to be prevent falling.
It is also important to maintain the proper stance while exercising to prevent tipping too far forward, which can also cause you to fall.
You should also never use the board without wearing the booties and hand mitts for sliding because they are designed to prevent sticking as you glide across the surface, which can also cause an accident.
It is also a good idea to avoid using the board near sharp or dangerous objects in the event you do fall it will help prevent serious injuries. Also, never leave the slick board unattended. Instead, place a cover over the surface once you are done or store it safely away for added protection.
How Do I Maintain My Slide Board?
Most slide boards are built to provide lifetime use, provided you properly care for them to ensure their longevity.
Ultimately, your slide’s materials will determine the specific care you need to take to maintain its features; however, in general, be sure to regularly clean and polish your board’s surface to help keep it smooth and fun.
You should also clean your board with a cotton towel and water and treat it with slide polish before using it for the first time.
When your slide is not in use, cover it to protect it from dust and moisture, which can hinder its performance and even damage the surface, and then store it in a cool, dry environment to help keep it in good condition.
It is also important to be sure the athletic shoes worn under your booties are free of debris and pebbles, which can scratch the surface, and try not to wear the booties when you’re not on the board because it can damage the material, which can affect your sliding and also cause damage to the board.
Best Slide Boards For Home Use
| SPRI Slide Board | ProsourceFit Slide Board | Brrrn Board |
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| The SPRI Slide Board is great for fitness enthusiasts who are always on the go, as it comes with a mesh carrying bag and sliding booties. | The ProsourceFit Slide Board has a great non-slip base and is perfect for those who have sensitive hands or like to workout outdoors. | The Brrrn Board is a premium, eco-friendly slide board for those who are not willing to compromise on the quality of their home gym equipment. |
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Final Thoughts
For an exciting workout that you really feel the energy, strength, and endurance, slide boards do not disappoint.
In fact, athletes, coaches, and trainers whose entire existence depends on defeating the toughest challenges even attest to them; hence, incorporating a sliding board into your regimen can also help prepare you for top-level winning in your own life.
So if you are in search of a workout that leaves you feeling the power, consider investing in sliding equipment for your exercise of choice.
