Pumps & Iron

It’s about damn time I started doing these workouts in video form! I know it’s Thursday, but with today as an exception, I plan to upload a new workout video & post every Tuesday. Keeping on that schedule will be helpful in planning shoots and editing.

I figured it’d be fitting to kick off the workout videos with something similar to what I teach in Boston on the megaformers. All you’ll need is on object that’ll allow you to slide across the floor (glider, dish towel, etc.). I recently made the genius discovery that the duster pads you put on a Swiffer mop work PERFECTLY for this (with the added “bonus” of cleaning your floor as you workout).

Watch the Video

Let’s do the workout together! How exciting is this?? Watch the workout below in real time and follow me on YouTube.

15-Minute Legs & Butt Slider Workout

Equipment I Used:

• Slider (I used a Swiffer duster pad but you can use a dish towel or anything that glides across your floor)
• Exercise mat

FYI This workout is going to make waaaaay more sense if you follow along with the video. But in the best way I can describe it through writing, the workout is made up of a few exercises, with variations within each move. For example, you’ll do a lunge for two minutes but within those two minutes there’ll be pulses and slides to switch it up. I’m calling the major exercise grouping “complexes” in the below descriptions. 

Squat Complex

Numbers indicate seconds (how long to stay on each part).

• [30] Squat 
• [15] Pulse | Hold the bottom of your squat and from there, pulse up an inch and down an inch
• [15] Hold | Hold your lowest squat point.

Single-Leg Squat Complex on the Right

Do this twice through (numbers indicate seconds):

• [30] Single Leg Squat | Start standing with your  right foot on the exercise mat and your left foot on the towel. Sink down in a squat on the right side, bending the right knee and shifting your weight into the heel as you shift your hips back and down. Your left leg will stay straight as you slide it out to the side. Try to keep the weight of your torso over the right heel (don’t transfer weight into your left foot). To accomplish this, picture you’re sitting straight back into a chair on your right side; don’t let your hips shift out to the side with the left foot, press them back and down over the right heel. When you’ve reached your lowest squat on the right side, push through the right heel to stand back up, stopping with a soft, micro-bend in the right knee.
• [15] Pulses | Hold the bottom of your squat and from there, pulse up an inch and down an inch by pressing up through your right heel. The non-target leg should slide a little across the floor as you pulse up and down on the right leg.
• [15] Skate Non-Working Leg | Hold the bottom of your squat and keeping your bodyweight in the right heel, bend your left knee, sliding the left foot in towards the right and then extending the leg back out straight to the side. Keep your left foot light; just gingerly slide it across the floor, focusing on the isometric hold on your right, target side.

Lunge Complex on the Right

Do this twice through (numbers indicate seconds):

• [30] Sliding Back Lunge | Start with your right foot on an exercise mat and the ball of your left foot planted on the floor a few inches behind. Keeping your bodyweight in the right heel, start to slide backwards into a deep lunge, bending the right knee as your hips slide back and down and your left foot glides straight back behind you. When you reach your lowest point, press through the right heel as you straight the right leg and rise back up. Don’t lock the knee out straight at the top; keep a soft micro-bend in it and then slide right back down into your next lunge. Back left heel should stay lifted the whole time.
• [15] Pulses | From your lowest lunge point (right knee should be at a 90-degree bend if possible), pulse up an inch and down an inch by pushing up through your right heel. It’s a tiny straightening and bending of the right knee, not a dipping of the back knee.
• [15] Back Knee Pulls | From your lowest lunge point (right knee should be at a 90-degree bend if possible), hinge forward at hips slightly so that the weight of your torso is over the right leg rather than completely upright. Keeping your bodyweight in your right heel and staying low on the right leg, bend your back left knee as you slide the left foot forward and then extend it back out behind you. Try not to transfer your bodyweight into the left foot as you do it—keep it light as it slides across the floor.

Finish with

• [15] Long Jump Hold | Hold your lowest lunge point (right knee should be at a 90-degree bend if possible) and hinge forward with your torso until your chest hovers above your thigh. Extend your arms behind you. Hold the position.

Single-Leg Bear Complex on the Right

• [45] Single-Leg Bear | Start in a plank position with your right foot on the slider and your left leg hovering in the air. Do a bear crunch with the right side, sliding your right knee in towards your elbow and then extending the leg back out in a plank while your left leg hovers. Torso stays in tabletop as you do this (you should feel your quad work).

Modify it. This one is a killer. To make it easier, hook your left foot over your right ankle as you do it. I personally alternate between the advanced version and this modified version throughout the 45 seconds. 

• [15] Single-Leg Bear Tabletop Hold | Stop the movement with your right knee bent at 90 degrees, knee hovering a couple inches off the floor, body in tabletop. Your left leg is hovering extending out straight behind you. Engage your core and close your eyes if needed–that right quad should be on fire holding this position after everything you just did!

[60] Forearm Plank

Repeat from Top on the Left

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WEARING | grip socks & leg warmers c/o ToeSox (see below for discount code) // Michi leggings (sold out but similar style HERE) // Fabletics tank (sold out but similar from Nike HERE) // bra c/o WITH

I’ve mentioned ToeSox on the blog a bunch because I’m obsessed with their thigh-high leg warmers and wear the grip socks while teaching megaformer classes all the time. In the most generous gesture, they’re offering you all 15% off any order with the code pumpsandiron. A portion of all sales using that code will be donated to The Massachusetts Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired, the charity my marathon fundraiser is benefiting. Amazing! So if you need an excuse to shop without the buyer’s remorse, here it is. 🙂

Thanks for your support!

I welcome all feedback, both positive and negative (as long as  you’re not a dick about it haha). I want these videos to be helpful so let me know what you’d like to see from them moving forward if this one isn’t cutting it!

Any old workouts from the archives you’d like in video form? I plan to post new workout videos every Tuesday but I’m also happy to go back and make videos for workouts that I’ve already posted. If there are any that you found too confusing to follow via pictures, let me know in the comments!