How to Do the Ab Wheel Rollout | Men’s Health Muscle - video Dailymotion

Men'sHealth

Perfect Ab Wheel Rollout Form | Men’s Health Muscle

Transcript

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)

How to Do the Ab Wheel Rollout | Men’s Health Muscle

Category

Transcript

Recommended