Best Ab Roller Workout: 9 Exercises for an Unbreakable Core | PowerliftingTechnique.com
If you’ve ever wanted an ab roller workout, this article is for you. The ab wheel is an incredibly versatile piece of equipment. While you rarely see someone using it outside of the standard kneeling rollouts, it has incredibly broad application.
The ab wheel is a great place to start if you’re trying to add variety and an extra layer of difficulty to your core training.
We will go over the top 9 exercises you can add to your ab roller workout:
- Kneeling Ab Roller Pillar
- Ab Roller Plank Roll Backs
- Ab Roller Pillar
- Ab Roller Pikes
- Kneeling Rollouts
- Angled Ab Rollouts
- Ab Roller Pillar Perterbations
- Standing Ab Roller Rollouts
- Feet Up Ab Roller Rollouts
In this article, I will explain:
- The benefits of having a strong core
- Beginner-friendly ab roller exercises
- Intermediate ab roller exercises
- Advanced ab roller exercises
- A sample ab roller workout circuit routine
I’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to do each ab roller exercise and add some pro tips so you can make these exercises better suit your needs.
Mục Lục
The Benefits of Having a Strong Core
It’s a bit reductive, but when you hear your trainer or gym bro buddy tell you that the core is the most important muscle group in the body, they’re not wrong. Your core is responsible for many things, including aesthetics, performance, and everyday movement.
Here are a few of the benefits a stronger core can provide.
Spine Health
Your core acts like a weight belt for your trunk. There are many core muscles, but our transverse abdominus (TA), inner and outer obliques, rectus abdominus, and lumbar extensors all work together to allow us to brace and support our spine. Without a strong core, you put yourself at risk for many problems with your lower back.
Better Hip Mobility
Weak deep core muscles (mainly your TA) can lead to something called lower-cross syndrome. A weak core and tight hips categorize it. Our core’s lack of stability/stiffness leads to tight/weak hip flexors and lengthened/weak glutes. This is bad for performance and can eventually put you in much pain.
More Efficient Force Transfer
A strong core helps you transfer more force from the ground, through your body, and into the barbell. The rate-limiting factor of your squat (or even your bench) can often be a weak core. Powerlifters have known this for a long time, and that’s why many spend time doing ab exercises.
Better Posture
A strong core will help you to improve your posture. Our body is a series of joints stacked on top of one another that alternate between mobility and stability. Our core/lumbar spine is supposed to be a very stable area, and losing that stability can lead way to a lordotic/rounded upper back.
Better Balance
A strong core is going to give you better balance. This is because your body works in total harmony when you have a strong core. Maintaining stability in your trunk through movement allows your legs to control your body much easier.
Need a high-quality ab roller? Check out our full review of the best ab rollers.
Beginner Ab Roller Exercises
These ab roller exercises, sometimes weirdly called ‘roller wheel exercises’ or ‘wheel roller exercises,’ are a great way to start off with the ab roller. Even if you’ve been training your core for a while and deem yourself strong, try to start here to gauge your ability with the ab roller.
1. Kneeling Ab Roller Pillar
This is the perfect place for a beginner to start. A pillar is very similar to a plank, but instead of your forearms being on the ground and your elbows bent, your arms will be straight, and your hands will be on the ground. Just like a push-up.
How to Do a Kneeling Ab Roller Pillar
- Kneel on the ground or on a pad while you’re holding the ab roller in your hands.
- Place the ab roller on the ground in the same area where you would place your hands if you were going to do a push-up right under your shoulders.
- Engage/squeeze your abs and try to maintain a neutral spine for 30-60 seconds.
- You want to keep your body in a straight line from your knees all the way up to your ears for the duration of the movement.
Pro Tip
Rolling the wheel forward just an inch or two can make this exercise more difficult. The further you roll out, the more complicated maintaining your neutral spine gets.
2. Ab Roller Plank Roll Backs
For this exercise, your ab roller will need foot straps. This exercise can quickly become advanced, so when you first start, keep your range of motion fairly short.
How to Do an Ab Roller Roll Back
- You will set yourself up in a plank position with your feet on the ab roller.
- You want to keep your body in a straight line from your ankles all the way up to your ears.
- Engage your abs and squeeze your glutes for the entire exercise duration. This will help set your hips and get you into a neutral spine position.
- Push your body back by trying to drive your forearms forward/overhead away from your body.
- As you push back, it will become more difficult to maintain a neutral spine and keep your stomach and hips from falling, so stay as tight as you can.
- Push your feet as far back as you can without losing that neutral spine, then pull yourself back to the start position like you’re trying to tuck your elbows by your sides.
Pro Tip
While this is included in the beginner section, it can quickly become very advanced if you push too far back. Start with a distance of maybe 1-3 inches, and as you get comfortable, slowly increase that distance.
3. Ab Roller Pillar
This pillar variation is more difficult than its kneeling counterpart. Getting good at this exercise will help prepare you for the more intermediate and advanced positions you’ll need to hold for the next group of exercises.
How to Do an Ab Roller Pillar
- Get into a pillar/push-up position while holding the ab roller.
- Engage your abs while squeezing your glutes and quads for the duration of this exercise. This will help set your hips and put you into a neutral spine position.
- Hold this position for 30-60 seconds.
Pro Tip
This exercise can be made more challenging by rolling the ab roller slightly forward and holding it in that position. It won’t take much to increase the difficulty, so start with an inch or two and see if you can keep your neutral spine for 30-60 seconds before going further.
Read more: Do Deadlifts Work The Abs?
Intermediate Ab Roller Exercises
After you’ve worked with the novice exercises, you can move on to this intermediate group of exercises. These exercises are more challenging because they require more movement, which will force you to stabilize more.
4. Ab Roller Pikes
You’ll need foot straps for your ab roller to perform this exercise. It’s very similar to a slide board or physioball pike. We’ll just be using the ab roller instead.
How to Do an Ab Roller Pike
- Get into a pillar/push-up position with your feet on the rolling exercise wheel.
- Push your butt towards the ceiling and try to bring your feet as close to your hands as possible without bending your knees.
- When you get to the top of this movement, keep your abs engaged and return to the starting pillar position while maintaining control of your body. This descent doesn’t have to be slow, just don’t go into a free fall.
- Your trunk should be straight from your hip bone to your ears, while your lower body should do the same from your hip bone to your ankles.
Pro Tip
The bottom pillar/push-up position of the pike isn’t your chance to relax. This is the stability portion of the pike, and the very bottom of this movement should be held like a pillar/plank. Keep your abs and glutes engaged to maintain a neutral spine at the bottom.
5. Kneeling Ab Roller Roll Outs
Kneeling ab rollouts are a stability movement and you want to maintain a neutral spine from start to finish.
How to Do a Kneeling Ab Roller Roll Out
- Kneel on the ground or on a pad while holding onto the ab roller with both hands.
- Place the ab roller on the ground directly underneath your shoulders and try to make your body a straight line from your knees up to your ears.
- Place most of your body weight onto the ab roller and slowly start to roll forward.
- Squeeze/engage your core muscles and your glutes. You’ll notice the further away the roller gets from your body, the harder you’ll have to squeeze.
- You will push the ab roller further away until you can no longer maintain a neutral spine. This will be the end of your range of motion.
- Continue to squeeze your core and glutes as you roll your hands back to your starting position.
Pro Tip
The hardest part of this movement is rolling back to the start position. If you struggle with this part, as most will early on, just focus on the eccentric or the rollout part. Count to 5 and spread those 5 seconds out over the whole range of motion, then bend your elbows and push yourself back up. This will help you strengthen enough to pull yourself back in while maintaining a neutral spine.
6. Ab Roller Angled Roll Outs
This is a regular roll-out variation that will target your oblique muscles.
How to Do an Ab Roller Angled Roll Out
- Kneel on the ground or on a pad while holding onto the ab roller with both hands.
- Place the ab roller on the ground directly underneath your shoulders at a 45-degree angle.
- Place most of your body weight onto the ab roller and slowly start to roll forward like you’re drawing half of a V.
- Squeeze/engage your core muscles and your glutes. You’ll notice the further away the roller gets from your body, the harder you’ll have to squeeze.
- You will push the ab roller further away until you can no longer maintain a neutral spine. This will be the end of your range of motion.
- Roll back to the starting position. Then you will go the opposite way like you’re finishing the other half of the V you started to draw.
Pro Tip
You will be tempted to rotate your hips in this movement to gain more distance. To combat this, make sure to keep your glutes engaged. This sets your hips and helps you maintain a neutral spine throughout the entire movement.
7. Ab Roller Pillar Perturbations
This timed exercise can scale up or down by how much movement you want to create.
How to Do an Ab Roller Pillar Perturbation
- Set up in a front pillar position while holding the ab roller underneath your shoulders on the ground.
- Squeeze your glutes and core muscles to set your hips and create a neutral spine.
- You will roll the ab roller back and forth about 3-4 inches at a moderate to fast pace.
- Continue with these perturbations for 30-60 seconds while maintaining a neutral spine.
Pro Tip
You can make this exercise more challenging by changing the angle that the rolling wheel is perturbating on. To increase the difficulty, try changing it to a 45-degree angle or a side-to-side line instead of a front-to-back line.
Advanced Ab Roller Exercises
These two exercises are going to be the hardest on our list. Your points of contact with the ground and the angles of your body through these exercises make them incredibly challenging.
8. Standing Ab Roller Roll Outs
This is a very difficult exercise because it’s incredibly difficult. But your lack of mobility can make this exercise virtually impossible. To perform this exercise, you’ll need a good amount of core strength and some hamstring flexibility as well.
How to Do a Standing Ab Roller Roll Out
- Start on your feet and bend over at the waist, holding onto the ab roller.
- Engage/squeeze your core and keep your back as straight as possible.
- Roll the wheel forward until your arms are overhead and your body is in a straight line from your ankles up to your ears.
- Roll the wheel back towards your feet and drive your hips up towards the ceiling while still continuing to engage your core muscles.
Pro Tip
As you roll out, squeeze your glutes and your quads. This will set your hips, help you maintain a neutral spine, and give you more control over your body as you roll out.
9. Feet-Up Ab Roller Roll Outs
Feet-up ab roller roll outs are by far the most challenging movement on this list. Having your feet off the ground changes the angle of your body as you roll out, increasing the difficulty. You’ll need an ab roller and a bench or something elevated.
How to Do Feet Up Ab Roller Roll Out
- Place your feet on top of the bench while holding onto the ab roller on the ground.
- Start with your hands under your shoulders, like in a push-up/pillar position.
- Engage your core and squeeze your glutes as you start to roll out away from your body.
- Roll out as far as you can without losing your neutral spine. This is your end range of motion.
- Roll the ab roller back towards your body until it is under your shoulders.
Pro Tip
You can make this exercise more difficult by using a BOSU or stability ball for your feet instead of a bench.
A Sample Ab Roller Workout Circuit: Full Routine
Here is a quick 10-minute ab workout with a roller wheel to include in your current training routine.
- Ab Roller Pillar – 30-60 seconds
- Kneeling Ab Wheel Rollouts – 10-15 reps
- Ab Roller Angled Rollouts – 6-10 reps each side
- AB Roller Pillar Perturbations – 30-45 seconds
Using this ab roller workout routine, you will want to do 2-4 sets. Treat it like a superset and do one of each exercise, then take a short break and start back at the start with the ab roller pillar again.
Don’t have an ab roller? No problem, we’ve compiled a solid list of the 10 best ab roller alternatives you should check out!
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the Ab Roller Give Me a 6 Pack?
An ab roller can help make your core strong, but a sound diet and caloric deficit are the only things that will help you get that 6 pack of abs you’re looking for.
What is Proper Form When Using an Ab Roller?
Form is paramount in training, but it may be even more important with the ab roller. You’re going to need to maintain a neutral spine throughout each movement. You must squeeze your glutes, abs, and quads to maintain a neutral spine.
How Many Reps Should I Do With the Ab Roller?
You’ll benefit from doing between 8 to 15 reps of the ab wheel exercises. You can do easier exercises as you start and perform more reps. You can try more difficult exercises and aim for lower reps as you progress.
What Are the Benefits of Using an Ab Roller in My Workout?
The ab wheel is an anti-extension piece of equipment. You won’t be crunching when you use it, and will try to maintain a neutral spine through proper form. Ab roller exercises are like a much harder version of a plank, so if planks have gotten too easy, this is the next level for you.
What Muscles Does the Ab Roller Target?
The ab roller exercises target your entire core, which is everything from your knees to your nipples. Much like a plank, your goal is to squeeze and maintain tightness throughout the entire movement.
Final Thoughts
The ab wheel is a piece of equipment that demands proper form if you want to benefit from its use. If you’re going to do an ab roller workout, you’ve got to engage your glutes and keep your core squeezed and tight the entire time.
Some call it the ab wheel, others call it the ab roller, and I’ve even heard it called the rolling exercise wheel. Whatever you decide to call it, just know that there are a ton of ab roller exercises to choose from if you’re trying to take your core workouts to the next level.
About the Author
Connor Lyons is a graduate of the University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He spent the past 14 years as a strength and conditioning coach in both the NCAA setting and the private sector working with NFL, MLB, ATP, and NHL athletes. He is a former NCAA hockey player and was the strength and conditioning coach for USA Hockey’s Women’s Olympic Team which captured gold in 2018. He now owns The Lyons Den Sports Performance just outside of Tampa, Florida.
