Perfect Ab Wheel Rollout Form | Men’s Health Muscle
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00:00 So back in the 90s, there were a whole bunch
00:02 of ab gimmicks out there.
00:03 And you could buy them off of your TV,
00:05 they show up at your house,
00:06 and the truth is they wouldn't help you
00:08 actually build your core,
00:09 they wouldn't help you do much of anything,
00:11 and they'd just collect dust.
00:12 But there was one tool out there
00:14 that actually was very, very beneficial
00:16 for abdominal development.
00:18 It wound up giving you a little bit
00:19 of a shoulder mobility challenge on top of that,
00:22 and it was actually a very, very classic exercise
00:25 from way back in the day.
00:26 It is something called the ab wheel.
00:28 Now the ab wheel is gonna challenge us in a couple ways.
00:30 It's really gonna hit our rectus abdominis,
00:32 it's gonna give us a really nice challenge
00:34 for our shoulder mobility on top of that,
00:36 and it's just a fun way to train our abs
00:39 that doesn't bore us.
00:40 So let's go over how to execute the ab wheel rollout
00:42 so that we can get the most out of it
00:44 and really build our abs and have more fun
00:46 than we can have when we're just doing sit-ups and planks.
00:48 So what are we going to train with the ab wheel rollout?
00:51 You're gonna train your core
00:53 and you're gonna train your abs,
00:54 and you're gonna get to do that as a unit.
00:56 So we're training our entire core with the ab wheel rollout.
00:59 That means our spinal extensors are working,
01:01 our obliques are working a little bit,
01:03 and our rectus abdominis,
01:05 that big kind of core six-pack muscle that we think of
01:08 is getting a ton of work with the ab wheel rollout.
01:11 We're getting all of that work
01:12 because of a function of our abs
01:14 that we're really focusing on with this
01:15 called anti-extension.
01:16 Because of my rectus abdominis,
01:18 because of those six-pack muscles,
01:20 my spine is able to stay in neutral,
01:23 and my goal when I'm doing the ab wheel rollout
01:25 is to make sure my spine stays in a nice neutral position.
01:28 If anything, I'm gonna go into a state of spinal flexion,
01:31 very similar to a sit-up,
01:33 but in a more challenging fashion.
01:34 And because of that,
01:35 I'm gonna get really, really great work
01:37 for my six-pack muscles.
01:39 On top of that,
01:40 we get this great shoulder mobility challenge.
01:42 We've got to really open up through the lats
01:44 when we're performing the ab wheel rollout.
01:46 And in doing that,
01:48 we also have to maintain a lot of mid-back stability.
01:50 So your mid-back muscles, your rhomboids,
01:52 your rotator cuff muscles
01:54 are all gonna get a very, very underrated challenge
01:56 with the ab wheel rollout.
01:58 So you wind up hitting a ton of different things
02:00 all from this one exercise.
02:02 As long as you do it correctly, let's go over that.
02:05 So we've got Brett here to help us demo the ab wheel rollout
02:08 and there are multiple implements that you can use for this.
02:10 We could also take a barbell
02:11 and put plates on the sides and roll that out.
02:14 By using this ab wheel though,
02:16 that barbell is gonna be a lot easier to keep stable.
02:19 Because there is a lot less wheel here,
02:22 this is gonna be a little bit more of a stability challenge
02:24 for Brett as we begin to do this.
02:26 Now, when we're performing the ab wheel rollout,
02:28 thinking about those two things,
02:29 we wanna think about the key function of our abs
02:32 when we set up for this.
02:33 And we're gonna think about
02:34 keeping our back rounded the entire time.
02:36 We're aiming to get into spinal flexion
02:38 and to really test spinal flexion with this motion
02:41 in addition to anti-extension.
02:42 That's gonna come from a rounded back.
02:44 The goal is to not arch your back
02:46 when you're doing the ab wheel rollout.
02:47 The second thing we're gonna really think about
02:49 is getting that good shoulder mobility challenge.
02:52 Really thinking about finding a good overhead position
02:55 with our rib cage nice and tight.
02:56 Our abs are gonna take care of that.
02:58 That gives us that chance
02:59 to really push that overhead position
03:01 and challenge some shoulder mobility
03:03 and build some mid-back strength as we're doing this.
03:05 Set up for this is nice and easy.
03:07 All we're gonna do, we're gonna kneel
03:09 with a little bit of an open stance.
03:10 We don't want our knees necessarily together.
03:13 We wanna be nice and comfortable.
03:14 It helps to have something like what Brett has here.
03:17 We've got a yoga mat, just something for your knees.
03:20 From here, it's very, very simple.
03:21 All Brett wants to do,
03:22 he wants to make sure that his head is in neutral.
03:24 He's gonna look at the ground.
03:26 He's not looking straight ahead.
03:28 If you were to look straight ahead,
03:29 suddenly you've got your neck in this very poor position
03:33 where we're in a little bit of extension.
03:34 That's not a really great long-term position for your neck.
03:37 So we wanna think about looking at the ground as we do this.
03:40 And then we're gonna take our time.
03:41 We're gonna think about getting our elbows,
03:44 the pits of our elbows to turn forward.
03:45 This is gonna turn on our lats a little bit.
03:47 It's also gonna protect Brett's shoulders.
03:50 If we're not pits of our elbows forward,
03:52 if our pits of our elbows are facing each other,
03:54 suddenly we're getting into a little bit
03:56 of internal rotation.
03:57 That's just not an ideal position for your shoulders.
04:00 Even if you can execute the movement, let's think ahead
04:02 and let's be a little bit more preventative
04:04 with how we're executing this.
04:05 And let's also get all our muscles turned on.
04:07 So Brett's gonna turn the pits of his elbows forward.
04:09 He's gonna look at the ground.
04:10 He's thinking about rounding his back the entire time,
04:13 keeping that round.
04:15 And from here, all he's gonna do is he's gonna roll out
04:19 as far as he can.
04:21 Now his goal as he's rolling out in this bottom position,
04:25 he wants to be rounded.
04:26 If you are arched, then your abs
04:29 are not getting the job done.
04:30 Yes, you are kind of suspending yourself in the position,
04:34 but if you are arched, then you are not getting anything
04:37 out of this ab wheel rollout.
04:39 You're just going through the motion,
04:40 but you're not really challenging those six pack muscles
04:43 the way we want you to.
04:45 So you wanna make sure you're rounded as you lower.
04:48 And then the other thing we wanna do
04:49 is we really wanna extend out.
04:51 As you extend out, think about squeezing your shoulder blades
04:55 and getting a little bit of tension in your mid back.
04:58 Those mid back muscles should come to life.
05:00 That's gonna help support your shoulders
05:03 and allow them to get a little bit more range of motion
05:05 and keep them nice and protected
05:07 as you're in that extended position.
05:09 Once Brett is out in that long position,
05:11 we really wanna be thoughtful.
05:13 You wanna think about pausing for one second if you can.
05:16 In that position of anti-extension,
05:18 you get that really good isometric contraction
05:21 through your abs.
05:22 And then we wanna come back,
05:24 but we wanna make sure to come back slowly.
05:26 So Brett is thinking about rounding his back.
05:28 And what I want you to do
05:30 when you get to the bottom of the ab wheel rollout,
05:32 as you're coming back,
05:33 think about rounding your back first
05:35 and let that be the first thing you do
05:38 and then start to move your hips backwards.
05:40 The mistake a lot of people make in the ab wheel rollout,
05:43 and all it winds up doing is take tension off of your abs
05:46 is what Brett's gonna do here.
05:48 He's gonna move through his hips first.
05:50 And once he's done that,
05:51 we've removed all of the really great work
05:54 that you're trying to get out of the ab wheel rollout
05:57 because we've moved our hips back
05:58 and we've instantly taken tension off of our abs.
06:02 So your goal when you do this ab wheel rollout,
06:04 and you're gonna see Brett do it flawlessly here,
06:06 he's gonna get into this long position,
06:09 hold for a split second, squeeze those mid back muscles.
06:12 Then he thinks about rounding his back first,
06:14 round your back and max out that capability first,
06:18 and then start to slowly move your hips back.
06:21 Think about taking two to three seconds every single rep.
06:24 If you are doing your ab wheel rollouts right,
06:27 you're not gonna do 15 to 20 reps of this exercise.
06:30 Instead, you're gonna wind up doing six to eight of these
06:34 because we're taking our time,
06:35 we're getting a really, really good contraction,
06:37 you get really good time under tension on every single rep
06:40 and you're not rushing things back.
06:42 Let's give them one more rep, Brett.
06:44 So out with control, stays rounded,
06:47 works to stay rounded in that bottom position,
06:49 and then he makes sure to round his back,
06:52 maintains that position as he's shifting his hips back.
06:56 That is how you execute the ab wheel rollout.
06:59 Now, not everybody is gonna be able
07:00 to execute the ab wheel rollout as easily as Brett did.
07:04 That takes a lot of practice and a lot of time.
07:06 How do we get there if we wanna learn the ab wheel rollout
07:10 and figure it out?
07:10 It's very simple.
07:12 All you need is some kind of load in front of you
07:14 and then we can gradually work up to this.
07:17 The hard position in the ab wheel rollout
07:20 is when you're in that long bottom position,
07:23 we've got all that tension on our shoulders,
07:25 all that tension on our abs that we need to pull back from,
07:28 but we can basically regress the ab wheel rollout
07:31 simply by having some kind of dumbbell or kettlebell,
07:35 and all you're gonna do
07:36 is you're going to roll out to your target.
07:39 So let's give them the full rep first, Brett.
07:42 So if Brett wasn't quite capable
07:48 of getting that kind of length,
07:50 all we would do is we can start out
07:54 rolling out as far as we can,
07:57 get to that stopping point, and then come right back.
08:02 And then as you progress on your ab wheel rollout journey,
08:06 give it, say, two weeks at each point,
08:08 and then gradually you can push a little bit farther,
08:11 and a little bit farther,
08:15 and just add a couple inches every single week,
08:18 and all of a sudden, as you're doing that,
08:21 you will eventually wind up
08:22 at pretty close to near full length
08:27 in your ab wheel rollout.
08:28 It's gonna give you something.
08:29 All we're doing is we're giving you something
08:31 that way you don't have to stop the wheel by yourself,
08:34 and we're giving you a target
08:35 so you don't have to extend to a position
08:38 that you might not be comfortable with,
08:40 but this is a very simple progression
08:42 that anybody can use to gradually work up
08:44 to that full ab wheel rollout.
08:46 The ab wheel rollout is one of the finest
08:48 advanced ab exercises out there.
08:51 A lot of the other advanced ab exercises you see,
08:53 you don't need to do,
08:54 but this one can easily fit in your program.
08:56 You don't need to level it up
08:58 the way some people on Instagram do.
08:59 We can keep it simple, but we wanna execute well
09:02 and really think about owning that round back position.
09:04 Because of that, we're gonna think about
09:07 keeping the reps lower.
09:08 You don't need to do sets of 12 and 15 and 20.
09:11 Then you're just gonna get sloppy.
09:12 Instead, think about doing three sets of say six to 10 reps
09:17 and focus on making each rep take its time.
09:20 You wanna take four to six seconds every single rep
09:23 to roll out and then roll back with control,
09:25 really making sure to own that round back position.
09:29 Once you've done that,
09:30 you're getting the most out of the ab wheel rollout,
09:32 and then you've taken something from the 90s
09:34 from late night television,
09:36 and you've actually made it useful
09:37 so that it can really, really grow the six pack you want.
09:40 It's one thing from the 90s that actually works.
09:42 (upbeat music)
09:45 (upbeat music)