Ab Wheel Exercises: The Top 10 Routines For Men Over 40

You might think ab wheel exercises are gimmicks like the Shake Weight, but they actually help you perform some of the most challenging core exercises in existence!

What makes the ab wheel so effective is its ability to engage your entire core, including your stabilizer muscles, which act as the support system for your skeleton and help you maintain balance.

The best ab wheel exercise for you depends on your fitness level and abdominal muscle strength.

You might begin by choosing ab-wheel planks, kneeling rollouts, pike rollouts, or tuck rollouts before progressing to standing rollouts or even one-arm rollouts.

Choose several ab wheel exercises to complete most days of the week and switch up your ab routine often.

As your abdominal muscles get stronger, increase the number of reps you do or the difficulty level of exercises you choose.

Read on to learn more about how ab wheels work, what to look for when buying them, and the 10 best ab wheel exercises for men over 40!

Check out this video for the correct ab wheel form.

Which Ab Wheel Should I Use?

As you may expect based on its name, an ab wheel is a wheel (with handles and sometimes foot straps) that rolls on the floor and helps you work your ab muscles.

You might use one ab wheel with two handles, or two ab wheels (one for each hand).

There are many different ab wheels to choose from.

The best one for you depends on the type of ab exercise you’d like to complete.

To have the most ab exercise options, choose a wheel that contains both handles for your hands and foot straps for your feet.

You also need an ab wheel that’s in the shape of a dumbbell if you plan to do one-arm ab rollouts, which are more difficult than many other ab wheel exercises.

Ab wheels aren’t a gimmick because these workout devices offer highly effective results for your abdominal muscles, helping you achieve the six-pack of your dreams without spending hours doing sit-ups.

Ab wheels work by allowing you to easily maneuver your body into various positions using your abs.

While in a plank or modified pushups position, you might grip the ab wheel handles with your hands and slowly glide your arms away from and toward your lower body.

You can also securely attach your feet to ab wheel foot straps and use your ab muscles to glide your feet toward and away from your upper body.

These maneuvers significantly target, strengthen, and tone your abdominal muscles.

10 Best Ab Wheel Exercises for Men

Choose some of the top 10 ab wheel exercises below to tighten and tone your abs and build a six-pack!

Ab Wheel Planks

Consider doing ab wheel planks if you’re a beginner or simply want to warm up before completing difficult ab wheel exercises!

• Simply get into a plank position and grip the ab wheel handles with both of your hands.
• You can use one ab wheel with two handles or two ab wheels in the shape of dumbbells (one for each hand).
• Hold a plank position for 60 seconds if you can.
• Take a break and repeat the ab wheel exercise for a total of 4 sets.

Moving Ab Wheel Planks

The next step up after doing ab wheel planks is to complete moving ab wheel planks.

• Get into an ab wheel plank position, hold the position, and glide the wheel (and your body) forward by taking steps with your legs.
• If you have enough space, take at least 20 steps.
• If space is limited, you can take 5-10 steps forward in one direction, turn around, and take 5-10 more steps in the opposite direction.
• Complete a total of 4 sets of this ab wheel exercise if you can!

Kneeling Ab Wheel Rollouts

Place a mat underneath your knees for kneeling ab wheel rollouts if you’d like to.

• Get into a kneeling plank position (modified pushups position) and grab onto the ab wheel handles.
• Begin with your arms straight and perpendicular to the ground.
• Slowly roll your upper body forward by extending your arms away from your lower body until they are fully extended.
• Your upper body and arms should be nearly flat and form a straight line.
• Keeping your arms straight, roll back up to your starting position until your arms are perpendicular to the ground, and repeat ab wheel rollout motions continuously for as long as you can.
• Aim to complete a total of 4 sets of kneeling ab wheel rollouts.

Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts

Complete standing ab wheel rollouts the same way you did with kneeling ab wheel rollouts, but stand instead of kneeling.

• With your legs and arms straight, bend over at the waist and place your hands, along with the ab wheel, near your feet.
• Keeping your legs and arms straight, grip the ab wheel handles and slowly roll them forward and away from your lower body until your arms are fully extended, and your entire body is nearly flat.
• Wheel back toward the starting position by bending at your waist until your legs and arms are perpendicular to the ground.
• Repeat standing ab wheel rollout motions as many times as you can, rest, and do a total of 4 sets of this effective ab wheel exercise.

Ab Wheel Knee Tucks

• To complete ab wheel knee tucks, strap your feet securely into an ab wheel and get into a plank position.
• Bend and glide your knees toward your arms as far as they go, and roll your feet back out away from your arms until your legs are fully extended, and you’re once again in a plank position.
• Continue these movements as many times as you can (aim for at least 10 reps), rest, and complete ab wheel knee tucks for a total of 4 sets.

Ab Wheel Pikes

Ab wheel pikes are similar to ab wheel tucks, but they’re slightly more difficult.

• Begin in a plank position with your feet strapped to an ab wheel.
• Keep your leg straight as you bend at the waist and glide your feet toward your hands.
• Then roll your feet away from your upper body back into a plank position.
• Repeat these pike motions at least 10 times if you can.
• Complete a total of 4 sets of this strengthening ab wheel exercise.

Ab Wheel V Rollouts

You can complete ab wheel V rollouts from a plank position or a kneeling plank position.

• Grip the ab wheel handles with your hands.
• Do the rollouts the same way you did with traditional kneeling or standing ab wheel rollouts.
• But instead of rolling the wheel directly out in front of your body, roll forward and to the right, back to a plank position, and forward to the left in a V-shape motion continuously about 10 times (or as many times as you can using proper form).
• Rest and complete a total of 4 sets of this slimming ab wheel exercise.

Kneeling Ab Wheel Single-Arm Rollout

If you’re looking for more of a challenge, try a kneeling ab wheel single-arm rollout.

• Begin in a kneeling plank position and grip the ab wheel with just one hand (use an ab roller in the shape of a dumbbell for this exercise).
• Place your other hand on your hip.
• Slowly glide one arm out in front of your body until it’s fully extended.
• Then, glide back to your starting position (a kneeling plank).
• Repeat this motion at least 10 times if you can.
• Rest and do a total of 4 sets of this effective ab wheel exercise.

Standing Ab Wheel Single-Arm Rollout

The following ab wheel exercise is one of the most challenging on the list.

• Begin in a standing position, bend over at your waist, and grip a dumbbell-shaped ab wheel in one of your hands.
• Using your ab muscles, slowly roll the wheel out in front of your body until your arm is fully extended and your entire body forms a straight line.
• Keeping your legs and arm straight, roll the wheel back toward your feet, bending at the waist until your legs are perpendicular to the floor and your body forms a V-shape.
• Repeat this motion, continuously, as many times as you can.
• Rest and do a total of 4 sets of this challenging ab wheel exercise.

Ab Wheel Rollouts with 3-Second Holds

• To complete this last ab wheel exercise, choose kneeling, standing, pike, or even one-arm ab wheel rollouts.
• To make any of the rollouts above more challenging, pause for 3 seconds when your arms are in the fully extended position before gliding back into your starting plank position.
• This strategy helps you to really feel the burn and easily progress to the next level of difficulty.

Erin Coleman, B.S. – Nutritional Science, R.D., L.D.

Writer, The Fit Father Project

Erin Coleman is a registered and licensed dietitian with over 15 years of freelance writing experience.

She graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree in nutritional science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and completed her dietetic internship at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Prior to beginning her career in medical content writing, Erin worked as Health Educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Internal Medicine.

Her published work appears on hundreds of health and fitness websites, and she’s currently working on publishing her first book! Erin is a wife, and a Mom to two beautiful children.

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*Please know that weight loss results and health changes/improvements vary from individual to individual; you may not achieve similar results. Always consult with your doctor before making health decisions. This is not medical advice – simply very well-researched info on ab wheel exercises.