Sliding Back? - the slide

American Fitness, March, 2001 by Amy Kolquist

Misguided implementation and lack of versatility killed The Slide, but it may be headed for a resurgence in clubs.

Fitness professionals raved. Class participants ran to studios in anticipation. This piece of equipment was to be the fitness industry's follow-up to the group exercise phenomenon created by step. So whatever happened to that craze known as The Slide? As with many sequels, The Slide simply didn't live up to the hype.

The Concept

"The original goal of slide training was to [use] a piece of equipment that had already been proven and established in rehabilitation and elite training programs [to] provide a cross-training tool that would fill in the gaps that step and high-impact left," says Reebok Master Trainer Kathy Stevens, who is also a member of the AFAA Board of Certification and Training.

Offering a lateral and low-impact (yet still highly intense) workout, sliding seemed to be the perfect complement to the vertical bouncing of both step and high-low classes. With that in mind, why did this potentially beneficial fitness tool follow in the footsteps of a number of defunct exercise trends rather than live up to the distinction it seemed set to claim?

As the pioneer for The Slide 11 years ago, Stevens can see in retrospect the events that led to its failure. "Everybody was waiting for a new equipment-based group exercise class after step. People assumed another piece of equipment would need to have the same effect as step and fill classes the way [it] had."

The Reality

This mind-set began the downfall of slide. Molding classes after the step craze, gyms packed participants into studios, blocking hourlong time slots for the slide. Quite simply, this is too much time to devote to an ongoing lateral movement which maintains a heart rate at 87 percent to 90 percent of maximum capacity but lacks the flexibility to allow participants to move at a lower intensity.

Patti Kish, Coordinator of Fitness at the University of Colorado, watched the rise and fall of slide at the university's recreation center without much surprise at its demise. "The bottom line is that with a slide workout you have to keep moving," she says. "You are either moving or at a dead stop. There is no middle ground, no way to change the intensity level."

Lack of Versatility

Along with the inability to modify intensity for class participants, instructors had another challenge. While the slide board offered a solid core workout when utilized in its purest capacity, there was little room for creative choreography. Consequently, participants lost interest.

"Classes were initially well attended, but then people just got bored," comments Joe Baw, aerobics director at Chicago's Lakeshore Fitness Club Illinois Center. "The movement was restricted, so people stopped coming." Left in the wake of choreography-intense step and high-low classes, instructors attempted to add lifts and turns to the slide board. However, this disrupted the natural flow of motion that provided optimal results.

This initial interest and quick deterioration in attendance could also be a direct result of the creative choreography instructors began to explore. Stevens strongly feels that the original introductory program was a solid class designed around the principles upon which slide was created. Once instructors diverted from them, technique and form suffered.

The final blow came with participants' frustration at the complexity of adjusting their bodies to the unnatural side-to-side movement on the board. "If you're a speed skater, this is great, but it's not natural for anyone else," Kish comments. "High-low and step have a more normal, everyday feeling. People never [reached] that same comfort level on the slide."

Baw saw the same problems occurring at Lakeshore. "There were some people who were just not strong enough to push themselves across the slide," he says. "When beginners would come in, they just couldn't keep up with the class." Since sliding is not a natural movement, the learning curve for the slide is much steeper than for step. Combining this with the need for constant motion and the intensity of the exercise, slide may have stood the test of time were it introduced in an entirely different format than step.

Ignoring the need for individualized instruction on slide technique resulted in a lack of participant comfort on the boards. The combination of discomfort, poor form and an inability to maintain the intensity slide demanded for a full class soon resulted in progressively diminishing class sizes.

Without support from participants, it became too much of a hassle for instructors to pull the boards out. The maintenance needed to keep the slides from slipping on hardwood floors also seemed more trouble than it was worth. It was simply easier to ignore the 6-foot pieces of plastic hanging on the wall in the back corner of the studio. Despite these problems, however, something has kept aerobics directors from tossing their slides out of the gym.

Still Useful?

While slide may have experienced an initial downfall when introduced into group exercise, the core benefits provided by the board have never been questioned. When done correctly, sliding still offers people a highly effective cardiovascular, strength and balance workout. Since its introduction, these are the exercise values that have come to the forefront in gyms across the country.