When it comes to working out, big things come in small packages, according to celebrity trainer Megan Roup.
Roup is the founder of The Sculpt Society, a series of dance cardio classes that use lightweight sculpting exercises to create an effective and fun workout. Fans of her classes include Victoria's Secret models Martha Hunt, Elsa Hosk and Lais Ribeiro.
The Sculpt Society's classes, which are held at Equinox, have become so popular that Roup has even started livestreaming them to audiences using the fitness app Obe.
Roup uses sliders in almost all of her classes and says it's an underutilized tool that can take any workout to the next level. She says they are versatile, and can work for standing exercises as well as planks.
"[They're] designed to be slick ... so your muscles have to work a little harder to create stability in the motion and you're going to start to feel the burn a little faster," said Roup.
Read below to learn some plank exercises using sliders that will have you feeling like a Victoria's Secret Angel in no time!
For these exercises, Roup recommends doing them as many as eight times for each leg. If you need to rest, go into child's pose.
She emphasizes the importance of maintaining proper form when doing plank workouts, especially if you are incorporating sliders.
"Make sure that your hands are directly underneath your shoulders and you're activating your core," said Roup.
If you have wrist issues, the trainer recommends modifying these exercises by taking the pressure off your wrists and using your forearms.
Instructions: Start in a widened stance and cross your leg across your body in a diagonal so your knee drives towards your opposite shoulder.
"I love this move because it not only activates your whole core, but it really gets into your obliques, which is one of my favorite muscles."
Instructions: Swipe your leg straight up to the front corner and back to center.
"This one looks really simple, but it is a secret killer," Roup told us.
"It takes a lot of control and you'll feel it in your obliques," she said.
Instructions: Drive your knee into your chest. Move your leg diagonally on the way back, so it crosses your body.
"Again, you're going to get that whole front abdominal wall, but also a little bit of that oblique as you go into that diagonal, back up into your chest and back to center."
Instructions: bend and slide your knee up into your shoulder, making a half circle going counterclockwise, and drive it back through the center.
"This one is a modified dancer's move I like," Roup explains.
"As that knee drives into your shoulder, you're going to feel those obliques and as you're driving it home, back straight."
Instructions: drive both knees into your chest, lifting your hips slightly and back to center.
With this move, "you're really going to feel your lower core working."
Instructions: Lift your hips up, keeping your legs straight and transferring most of your weight to your hands.
Instructions: Move your legs in a half-circle up into your shoulders and move them straight back down as your hips pike up.
"This is a full-body motion. [Make sure] your legs are really coming all the way up to your shoulders."
