I found these $5 sliders at Target.
For years — decades even! — I thought of myself as a person who didn’t like to exercise first thing in the morning. The last thing my body wants to do upon waking is jump around. Or run rapidly. My bones don’t need jarring early in the day.

But I’ve come to realize that that’s no longer the case anymore. just because my booty, legs, core and arms are averse to high-impact burpies and jumping jacks at the crack of dawn doesn’t imply they won’t do other things, and let me tell ya, this has been a revelation. IT’S BEEN LIFE CHANGING.

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I’ve finally started exercising early, ideally within half an hour of waking, and I love it, because it gets me going even better than coffee, and there’s nothing like the sense of accomplishment from finishing a workout early to set the tone for a good day.

The essential has been doing low-impact activities that are easy on my joints, like Pilates, yoga or non-jumping cardio, or working out with these thingamabobs: sliders!

I did this workout this morning.

Slider workouts (also known as “glider workouts”) are my new favorite way to torture myself in the morning, ha ha ha!

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OK, so I realize I’m not selling it, but really, if you want to do a workout that doesn’t involve the intense clanking of joints, these are great, and they’ll get you sweating like CRAY.

Basically, sliders/gliders are disks that slide across the floor. You put your hands or feet on the disks, and much like in Pilates, you relocation your limbs in controlled ways that involve lots intense muscle squeezing, and even though you aren’t jumping around a lot, you’ll feel spent by the end of your workout.

So much core

These are terrific for lower body and core (ohmygosh, SO much CORE), but they also work your upper body as well. By the end of a workout, I feel like I’ve been pushed, and — hooray! — I don’t have to bounce around like an Energizer Bunny.

You can find sliders that’ll work on any surface — carpet, which is what I have; hardwood floors; or heck, even cement. I found these sliders at Target in the dollar bin at the front of the store (the pair was $5), and they’re recommended for carpet or hardwood.

This one looks challenging.

You can also find them at sporting goods stores and Amazon, but really, you don’t even need the disks. You can do the same workouts on paper plates, magazines or even the tops of salad tubs if you’re on carpet. and if have a hard surface floor, you can use towels, or even just your socks. however you do it, it’ll be challenging.

There are also SO numerous slider workouts to choose from on YouTube, from beginner to advanced, so you’ll always have something new to try.

Full disclosure: I do have to say that the first time I tried using them I was miserable, and I could barely do anything, but my core is also not very strong (I’m working on it), which is probably the main reason. These are very challenging, at least for me, but they’re challenging in a good way, and each time I do one of the workouts, I feel like I get stronger.

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Aw, man! ever because I figured out that I can exercise in the morning, it’s been a whole new world. I like that it wakes me up, and my body feels loosey-goosey afterwards, and I also like that I feel like I’ve achieved something before my day starts. So yeah, you may not think of yourself as a morning exerciser, but you never know. try sliders/gliders.

Your friendly neighborhood charm addict,

Karen