Ab wheel rollouts are one of the most difficult abdominal exercises to perform in the gym. Anyone who dares to try them must have existing shoulder strength, mobility, and core strength to avoid crashing their face into the ground or injuring their shoulder.
Undeterred, I decided to brave them and committed to doing 50 ab wheel rollouts every day for a week to see what (if anything) would happen to my abs. You could say I’ve already subconsciously prepared myself for this one, using routines like this abdominal exercises with dumbbells challenge and build a stronger core.
Of course, diet and factors like stress, sleep, and regular exercise also determine how defined your abs are (you can learn how to calculate your body fat percentage here). It also doesn’t happen overnight, so I wasn’t exactly expecting a ripped six-pack after just seven days. That said, I noticed some interesting changes along the way.
If you’re looking for ways to strengthen your core and build lower abs definition, give this lower abs workout from. Or read on to see what happened when I did ab rollouts every day for a week.
What does the abdominal roll-out exercise work?
The Ab Wheel Rollout targets your core muscles like your rectus abdominis (six-pack muscle), spinal erector (spinal stabilizers), transversely to the abdomen (a deep “girdle” of muscles that wrap around your core), and even your lats, chest, shouldersand arms.
To perform the ab rollout, you need an ab wheel that you can roll out as far as you can go and then roll out again. Sounds easy, right? Bad. Wheel instability challenges your core to maintain control, making this one of the hardest exercises to lock down. But if you do, it’s a very effective abdominal exercise for building muscle and strength and engaging all core muscles at once.
Most people perform ab rollouts on their knees, but advanced connoisseurs can perform them standing up. Exercise can strengthen and define your midsection, but as mentioned above, building a toned stomach comes down to more than one exercise – unfortunately.
How to do abdominal rollouts
Start on your knees and grab the handles of the ab wheel. Engage your core, then shift your weight forward so your shoulders are over the wheel. Slowly roll the wheel forward as far as you can, with control. Keep your shoulders engaged to protect your joints and arms, and lift your hips. Avoid any sagging in your hips and chest. Pause, then return the wheel to your starting position.
Not all ab wheels are created equal. Features include thinner treads to make the exercise more difficult and coil springs to add resistance or help you roll back. Some models even have ergonomic handles to increase arm engagement.
If you’re considering trying ab rolls, check the ab wheel beforehand to see if it’s suitable and see a doctor if you have lower back or shoulder pain.
I Did Ab Wheel Rollouts Every Day For A Week – Here Are My Results
I tried ab wheel rollouts every day for a week to see how my core coped with one of the toughest abdominal exercises out there. Here are my results.
1. My ab wheel rollouts have improved (but I’m still a bit of a sucker)
To perform ab wheel deployments safely, you need a lot of shoulder stability to drive the ab wheel forward, and I unfortunately suffer from a left rotator cuff injury. I can perform the move safely enough with decent core engagement, but I don’t have the range of motion to fully extend, which means I recover less from the exercise.
I noticed some improvements in how far I could ride, and also found it easier to control the wheel by the end of the week. They say practice makes perfect, after all. I’m far from perfect in rolling out the ab wheel, but it was nice to notice the progression and feel more comfortable with the movement pattern.
Ironically, I used the Perfect Ab Carver Pro, which has a coil spring to help. I found the assist much easier on my shoulder, as it helped me back up, so if you’re a beginner or – like me – your shoulders are weak, this could be a solid option.
2. My shoulder hurts
As I mentioned, I have been nursing a rotator cuff injury for a few years. Even though I could do abdominal rollouts safely (maybe I don’t tell my physio) I did notice some pain and had to back off reducing my range of motion and reducing my 100 reps planned at 50 – I’m lucky.
The rotator cuff muscles in the shoulder facilitate movement and stabilize your shoulder, which is crucial if you plan to perform exercises like pull-ups, presses, or abdominal roll-outs in the gym. Therefore, these exercises have always eluded me. This time I stuck with it by making small adjustments and was able to improve my technique, but it was a cruel reminder that rollouts might never be fully accessible.
3. It was a killer, but I felt stronger
I split the 50 reps into five sets of 10 reps, adding 30 seconds between them – much more manageable but still brutal. The ab rollout is killer, and I felt every inch of my upper body afterwards. I could tell it worked most of my core muscles hard, which I loved, and managed to avoid any lower back pain, so I knew I was engaging my stomach properly.
By the end of the week, my stomach felt stronger and even slightly firmer, but given that no other variables (like diet) had changed, I was hardly surprised that my stomach felt the same aspect. Both shoulders were also stronger, although the left one was painful. I noticed the greatest activation in my shoulders, my six pack muscles and my chest – this surprised me until I found to research (opens in a new tab) this shows that your pectoral muscles engage more during abdominal rollouts than your lats!
My opinion
It was fun to try a new challenge, and I was super curious to go for it, but nobody needs 50 reps of ab wheel rollouts in their life. I recommend up to 40 if you incorporate them into a workout. I have noticed that my shoulders are improving and my core is adjusting, but I will stick to a more shoulder friendly and varied program to build my abs in the future.
If you are new to abdominal exercises, why not give the best abdominal exercises and best ab workouts one shot first?