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The Lateral Shuffle fires up the muscles in your calves, hamstrings, quads, hip flexors and glutes. It increases coordination and agility for those hard side-to-side movements. This move is used by tennis, soccer and basketball players but can benefit anyone! More than anything, this is a fantastic cardio exercise to boost your metabolism and increase blood flow in your body for a healthier heart and a killer calorie burn.
Related: 11 Agility Ladder Drills That Burn Serious Calories [With Demonstrations]
Use the links below to quickly navigate this guide:
- How To Do Lateral Shuffle
- Benefits of Lateral Shuffle
- What Muscles Does Lateral Shuffle Work
- How Many Calories Does Lateral Shuffle Burn?
- Incorporating Lateral Shuffle Into Your Workouts
- Other Exercises Similar To Lateral Shuffle
How To Do Lateral Shuffle
- Start standing with feet hip distance apart and sink into a deep knee bend. Bring both hands in front of the chest in guard position.
- Start with right foot moving right and left foot following. Shuffle right for four right-left steps, then move left for four left-right steps. Continue shuffling right left for the desired amount of time.
Keep your core engaged the whole time and make sure your chest stays lifted. This will help you maintain proper form.
Benefits of Lateral Shuffle
There are many benefits to the Lateral Shuffle and just as many reasons you should incorporate them into your workouts. Here are just a few:
Cardio Exercise Benefits
Lateral Shuffle is a great cardiovascular exercise that gets your heart pumping and challenges you to breathe heavy. Like most cardio exercise, the harder and faster you move, the more you will feel the work. Learning how to do the lateral shuffle is a great way to switch up a regular running routine.
Tones The Thighs And Glutes
Lateral Shuffle moves you from side to side. The unique benefits this provides is that you use your outer and inner thighs to move. In addition, the glutes and quads are shaped and toned if you sit lower in the shuffle.
Improves Body Mechanics and Movement Patterns
Much of our time is spent moving us forward, such as when we walk, or up and down, such as when we sit and stand. The lateral or side-to-side movement in the shuffle encourages you to use different neuromuscular pathways, which challenges your body. Because we don’t often make these movements, the shuffling might feel awkward at first, but the more you practice them the easier and more natural they will become. Moving the body sideways helps balance out the forward motion of running and walking.
What Muscles Does Lateral Shuffle Work?
The lateral shuffle works your legs and glutes while giving you a great cardio workout by getting your heart rate up and your fat burning turned on.
How Many Calories Does Lateral Shuffle Burn?
People often ask how many calories they are burning in their workouts. Most exercises will generally burn about 100 calories for every 10 minutes you are working. In a lateral shuffle, if you sit a little lower and move a little faster you might burn even more than that. It’s all a matter of how hard you work.
Incorporating Lateral Shuffle Into Your Workouts
Lateral Shuffle is a great cardio exercise on its own, but it’s even better when you combine it with other moves and use it for more inclusive workouts. Here are some great ideas.
Use Lateral Shuffle In Your At-Home Cardio Workout
Running is great, cycling is awesome, but many people are looking for alternatives or variety in their cardio exercise. Lateral shuffle can be combined with other cardio moves for a simple but effective cardio workout. Try this one out for size.
15-Minute At-Home Cardio Blast
Warm-up by jogging in place for 1 minute then follow these moves at a moderate intensity for 1 minute each with no rest in between. At the end, go back to the start and repeat.
- Skaters
- Jumprope
- Lateral Shuffle
- Knee Thrusts
- Jumping Jacks
- Cross Country Ski
- Power Skips
Repeat this series again!
Use Lateral Shuffle To Incorporate Cardio Into Your Strength Session
Strength training and cardio are both part of a well-rounded fitness plan. Why not get them both done in the same workout? Here’s a routine for you to try (you’ll need a set of 10 or 12 pound dumbbells to use!)
- 10 Stationary Lunges Overhead Press (Right foot forward)
- Lateral Shuffle (30 seconds)
- 10 Stationary Lunges Overhead Press (Left foot forward
- Jumping Jacks (30 seconds)
- 10 Squat Curl with Alternating Knee Lifts
- Lateral Shuffle (30 seconds
- 20 Alternating Renegade Rows
- Jumping Jacks (30 seconds)
- 10 Tricep Overhead Extensions
- Lateral Shuffle (30 seconds)
- 20 Russian Twists
Other Exercises Similar to Lateral Shuffle
Lateral Shuffle is a great way to improve your cardiovascular system, burn calories and work your leg muscles, especially your outer thighs. There are other ways to get similar benefits, such as these exercises:
