I’m a fitness writer who has tried plenty of fancy equipment but I swear by this one thing and it’s currently less than $10 in the Prime Day sales

There’s so much fancy workout equipment out there, it’s difficult to know what’s actually worth investing in. And because I live in a fairly small apartment with minimal storage, I need to be careful with what I put in my space—a rowing machine is just not going to work.

That’s why I was so keen to try out Pilates sliders when I first heard about them a few months ago. They’re small, thin discs that allow you to glide across the floor during a variety of movements, adding an extra challenge to workouts.

I’ve been using sliders for about three months now and I’d recommend them in a heartbeat. Having tried a variety of Pilates kit, sliders are the one piece of equipment that I think is most effective at increasing the difficulty of workouts—other than a reformer, which isn’t exactly a practical or affordable investment.

Plus, they’re so easy to store and travel with—I never go on vacation without them.

They’re always affordable (own these BetterMe sliders), but right now, you can get highly-rated Pilates sliders for less than $10 in the Amazon Prime Day sale—a bargain given how much they can upgrade your home workouts.

Why I recommend Pilates sliders

The main reason I love Pilates sliders is that they add an element of instability to your movement.

I’ve been strength training for years and learned how to effectively build muscle and progressed to lift heavier weights. But there are two things I’ve always struggled with—an ongoing knee injury, which frequently causes me trouble and a lack of core strength.

When I started using sliders to incorporate stability elements into my workouts, alongside strength-building, I noticed improvements in my core strength and I felt less pain around my knee and became less injury-prone.

Being able to lift heavy weights is one thing, but moving with control and confidence is another. Using Pilates sliders forced me to move with control and use the stabilising muscles which are often neglected during traditional strength training.

Developing stability is really helpful for injury prevention, particularly around sensitive joints like the knees and shoulders, and working out with Pilates sliders has helped me build strength and stability in those areas.

This instability also forces the core to switch on. Core activation is something I’ve struggled with over the years, particularly with functional, full-body exercises.

I’d feel my core muscles burning during exercises that isolate the abdominal muscles like sit-ups or crunches, but not during squats and deadlifts, where the core should be playing a big role in supporting that movement.

When doing exercises with sliders, the core has to switch on to help you balance and move through the movement with control, which has significantly improved my core strength.

I think sliders are one of the best pieces of workout kit out there, particularly if you workout at home and don’t want to invest in expensive and bulky pieces of equipment.