Just as the title implies this is an extreme workout. It is advanced and it is tough. BTW–I loved it. Excellent, excellent workout from Mindy Mylrea. Gliding Extreme is set outside in a meadow. There is a large round platform set in the grass and Mindy does all of her sliding on this platform. It’s just Mindy–no crew–and she doesn’t show any modifications. You have 4 combinations and each one gets longer and tougher. Very little warm up and stretch. I did one of Cathe‘s Total Body Stretching workouts afterward. Since this workout is only 47 minutes long, tacking on a longer stretch is perfect. This a total body workout. Mindy even manages to give your back work with the disks. Pretty impressive. Though you are using props, this is essentially bodyweight strength training with a cardio factor–so metabolic strength training and it is intense. It is low impact, too. She uses a “bender ball” which is just a squishy pilates ball (playground ball). I used both a pilates ball and a 6 pound medicine ball. I used the medicine ball for the standing exercises and the pilates ball for the floor exercises and the squats where you hold the ball between your knees.
Equipment needed: sliding disks, a ball of some sort (pilates ball, playground ball, medicine ball) but it needs to be somewhat squishy and not very heavy, and a fitness mat. You can use a heavier ball for the standing exercises in Combo 3–I used my 6 pound medicine ball for that combo.
Gliding Extreme is 47 minutes long; 1 minute warm up and 1 minute stretch. It is set up in 4 combos–each combo gets longer and harder.
Combo 1: (6:30 minutes)
- Fast side slide lunges @ different levels w/ different arm combos
- Side slide squat + side slide lunge + side slide lunge with side leg lift; alternate sides; changes to slow side slide lunges
- Lower into plank and slide feet in under body then back out to plank (plank tuck ins); changes to sliding plank jacks; changes to plank tuck in + one push up; changes to plank jack push up; combine the two moves w/ push ups (tuck in, push up, plank jack push up)
- Straight arm plank to elbow plank; add side plank (low plank to high plank to side plank; alternate sides)
Combo 2: (9:30 minutes)
- Sliding plie squats (she shows 4 levels and you go through each level multiple times)
- Slide one leg back into lunge, pivot into plie squat, pivot back into lunge then slide back to standing; changes to remaining in low lunge and sliding back leg in and out
- One leg plank tuck ins (she shows 4 levels w/ the 4th level also having a push up)
- Repeat #1
- Repeat #2 & 3 on other side of the body
Combo 3: (12:00 minutes) You need disks and a “soft, squishy” ball–either a medicine ball or a pilates ball (I used the medicine ball for #1 and the pilates ball for #2)
- Side to side sliding squat, holding the ball and pushing it forward with each squat; changes to two sliding squats + 4 hip/feet twists; changes to one sliding side squat, slide foot out to side then slide behind you (curtsy lunge), slide foot back out then back in (when doing the curtsy lunge twist ball to side); changes to just curtsy slide lunges on one leg, reaching ball overhead then to side; stay in curtsy lunge and pulse while just swinging the ball; changes to one leg squats w/ one heel on disk sliding forward as you squat; put ball behind knee of squatting/working leg and pulse; repeat everything on other leg starting w/ one leg curtsy lunges
- Place ball between knees and squeeze, lowering into a squat, hold disks in hands and do small circles in front of you while holding the static squat; still holding the static squat the arm movement changes to figure 8s; raise disks overhead and hold while still holding static squat; hold disks in front of you while pressing shoulders forward and back (still in static squat); woodchop disks while still holding static squat; hold disks in front of you and while still holding static squat, lift one leg off the ground and hold; changes to small marches in place while in squat; changes to little squat hops; hops continue but change to hop twists–just twisting feet/hips–torso stays forward still holding disks in front of you
Combo 4: (16:30 minutes) You need a mat, the squishy ball and the disks
- Lay on your back on a mat, disks beneath your heels and ball between your knees, raise hips and slide feet/disks in and out
- Raise hips and one leg and hold, squeezing and releasing ball between knees; with leg still raised, slide foot/disk in and out; repeat on other leg
- Lay on back, ball still between knees but disks are now under hands and arms are overhead–do snow angel arms, lifting and lowering head/shoulders; keep arms/disks at sides and press up (crunches); slide arms out to side while keeping head/shoulders raised and slide arms side to side
- Lay on side w/ ball under waist and one disk under bottom arm–slide arm out and in; add top arm moving overhead then to hip while also bending and straightening raised top leg
- Lay on stomach, legs raised off floor and arms straight in front of you with disks under palms–slide hands in toward body while raising chest then slide them back out; while holding torso up, slide one arm out to side and back; changes to sliding both arms out to side then pulling them in closer to body; changes to sliding breath strokes (circling arms while raising chest); changes to starting position–slide arms in a little, lower elbows to ground, raise elbows then slide back out; changes to little presses (lowering and raising elbows); changes to alternating elbows
- Sliding mountain climbers; place ball between knees and alternate plank tuck ins w/ pike ups; sliding diagonal mountain climbers (knee to opposite elbow); wide sliding mountain climbers (knee to same side elbow on outside of body)
- Repeat #4 on other side of body
- Get on hands and knees w/ disks under knees and slide knees in and out
- Stand up, legs shoulder with apart, disks under legs and feet shoulder width apart–keeping both legs straight, slide leg out to side then slide it back in
- Get into straight arm plank with hands on disks–walk hands off disks then back on (she has you do different hand patterns); changes to push up on your knees while sliding one arm out to side–alternate sides; changes to sliding both hands out while doing push up; changes to diagonal slides while doing push ups
