12 Ab Roller Wheel Exercises To Tone Your Tummy & Strengthen Your Core
Ever seen an ab roller?
It’s a wheel with handles attached to either side. (yep, that’s all).
But this seemingly nondescript piece of equipment can pack a MASSIVE punch when it comes to your abs.
We’re talking washboard, Greek-God-like abs that a lot of us dream of.
But the ab roller isn’t just about ‘looks’.
Ab roller exercises help strengthen your core which results in improved posture and mobility, enhanced athletic performance, reduced chances of injury, and many more benefits.
In a 2006 study, it was seen that the ab wheel rollout was one of the most effective exercises in activating abdominal musculature.
In this blog, we’ll show you 12 of the best ab roller workouts that’ll help you lose belly fat, flatten that tummy and strengthen your core!
Ready? Let’s go!
Best ab roller exercises to strengthen your core
1. Ab Wheel Plank
Want to get a feel for the ab roller? The ab wheel plank is the best exercise to begin with.
This ab roller exercise will teach you how to grip an ab roller while balancing your body weight on it.
How to do
- Place your hands on the ab roller handles and get on your knees in a modified push-up position.
- Ensure that your arms are fully extended.
- Now lift your knees off the ground into a plank position, so that only your toes and the ab roller are on the ground.
- Your body should be in a straight line from head to heels.
- Engage your core and hold for 30 to 60 seconds.
2. Ab wheel Knee rollout
This basic ab wheel exercise will help you build your core strength and help avoid lower back injury.
Master this and you can move on to the trickier exercises.
- Begin by kneeling on a yoga mat or a pad with the ab roller in front of you, directly under your shoulders.
- Grab the ab roller handles with both your hands.
- Engage your core and round your spine towards the ceiling (similar to the cat pose).
- Slowly begin to roll the ab wheel out as far as you can go.
- Ensure that your back remains rounded throughout the range of motion.
- At the bottom of the rep, get a little bit of extension, and then use your core to roll back to the starting position.
- Repeat.
3. Kneeling Ab Wheel ‘V’ Rollout
A variation to the standard ab wheel knee rollout that’ll get those obliques burning!
- Begin by kneeling on a yoga mat or pad.
- Get a firm grip on the ab roller handles.
- Slowly push the ab roller away from your body to your left, contracting your core muscles.
- Pull your arms back towards you until you reach your starting position.
- Now repeat the same roll out to your right.
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4. Elevated knee rollout
Take things up a notch by lifting your knees during your ab wheel knee rollouts.
Doing this expands your range of motion and makes it crazy hard to stay stable. Hello, shredded abs!
- Begin by kneeling on a raised platform. You could use a bench or a stack of mats.
- Grasp the ab roller handles.
- Engaging your core, slowly roll the ab wheel out.
- Roll forward until your arms are fully extended and your back is flat.
- Use your core to roll back into starting position by pulling your arms back towards you.
- Repeat.
5. Ab wheel march
Get your legs moving with the ab wheel march that’ll give your abs and your balance a serious challenge.
- Begin in a high plank position with your hands on the ab wheel handles and your arms under your shoulders.
- Lift your right leg slowly, while keeping your core engaged so that your back is straight.
- Now slowly bring your right leg back down.
- Repeat with your left leg.
6. Ab wheel push-up
The amazing benefits of a push-up and an ab wheel ‘rolled’ into one kick-ass exercise.
- Begin on all fours with your hands gripping the handles of the ab roller placed in front of you. Keep your elbows slightly bent.
- Extend your legs back so that your torso is off the ground and your feet are hip-width apart.
- Keeping your abs engaged, inhale as you bend your elbows and lower your chest towards the ab roller.
- Exhale and push back up through your hands, returning to the start position.
- Repeat.
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7. Bird Dog Ab Wheel Rollout
Sounds innocent? You’re in for a surprise!
Lifting one knee off the floor at a time tests your core and lower-body balance and strength. Plus it’ll help you build strength and mass on the left and right sides of your core.
- Kneel on a yoga mat or pad.
- Position your hands on the ab roller handles and move into a tabletop position with your hands right below your shoulders.
- Now lift one leg off the ground and extend it out behind you, while keeping your back straight.
- Push the ab wheel away from you, lowering your torso towards the floor, until your arms are fully extended and your body is in a straight line.
- Roll the ab wheel back to the starting position.
- Repeat, either by completing all reps on one side or alternating legs.
8. Ab wheel bear crawl
Put your stability and balance to the test with the ab wheel bear crawl.
Crawl your way into those toned abs and obliques!
- Begin on all fours in a tabletop position with your hands gripped on the ab roller handles. Position your shoulders directly above your hands.
- Now lift your knees 1 to 2 inches off the ground, such that you are supporting your body only with your hands and the balls of your feet.
- Ensure that your hips and knees are at 90-degree angles and your back is straight.
- Keeping your abs engaged, start crawling forward with small steps.
- Ensure that your body is in a steady and stable position as you move.
- Move slowly and with intent.
9. Bear crawl rollout
Want to ignite your hip flexors and lower abs and get your form right? The bear crawl rollout will do just that!
- Begin on all fours in a tabletop position with your hands gripped on the ab roller handles.
- Now lift your knees a few inches off the ground, such that you are supporting your body only with your hands and the balls of your feet.
- Ensure that your hips and knees are at 90-degree angles and your back is straight.
- Roll your arms out maintaining the right angle position.
- Don’t try to roll out too far. (Your range of motion will be much lower for this exercise.)
- Pull your arms back in and return to the starting position.
- Repeat.
10. Ab Wheel Kneeling Elevated Leg
This one’s sure to challenge your balance skills and your lower-body strength. Extra brownie points if you can hold your position without wobbling!
- Begin in a tabletop position with your hands gripping the handles of the ab roller placed in front of you.
- Now lift one leg above the ground until it is fully stretched out behind you.
- Keeping your abs squeezed, start pushing the ab roller away from your body as far as you can go.
- Slowly pull the ab wheel back towards your body.
- Repeat.
11. Ab wheel rollout to push-up
Get your core and upper body super pumped with this variation of an ab wheel rollout.
Warning: It’s not as easy as it looks!
- Start in a kneeling position with your back arched and your hands gripping the ab roller handles.
- Roll the ab wheel out as far as you can go with your arms locked straight.
- Pause for a second and slowly pull the ab roller back towards your chest, without moving the rest of the body.
- Once the ab roller is directly underneath your chest, push up and return to the original position.
- Repeat.
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12. Standing rollout
A savage core workout, if there ever was one! Suitable for ab wheel whizzes only.
This exercise will torch not just your abs, but also your arms, hips, shoulders, back, and glutes.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with your ab roller on the floor in front of you.
- Bend at your waist and firmly grip the ab roller handles.
- Start to roll the ab wheel away from you, while keeping your arms straight and your spine in a neutral position.
- Keep rolling until your arms are ahead of you and your body is straight and close off the ground.
- Slowly pull the ab roller back towards your feet and return to the starting position.
- Repeat.
Benefits of ab rollers
There is a whole range of ab roller exercise benefits. An ab roller…
1. Helps you build a strong and stable core
When you do an ab roller workout, you don’t just target your “6-pack muscle”, you hit all your core muscles including your transverse abdominis, your internal and external obliques, and your multifidus and erector spinae.
2. Works your entire body
From your lats and chest to your hip flexors and glutes, an ab roller workout is a TOTAL body workout.
3. Can help reduce belly fat
An ab wheel recruits multiple muscle groups simultaneously leading to more muscle growth, more calories burned, and thereby reduction in body fat, especially belly fat.
4. Improves posture and prevents back pain
When you do an ab roller workout, your core has to work extra hard to keep your spine in a neutral position and prevent overarching. This “anti-extension” training helps improve your posture and lower the chances of back pain.
5. Enhances athletic performance
Ab roller exercises help athletes stabilize their hips and spine thereby resulting in more powerful movements during sprinting, throwing, etc. They also train them to lock their spine into place while lifting heavy weights and thus prevent injuries.
To know more about ab roller exercise benefits, check out our blog post here.
Buy the best ab roller from Burnlab
Burnlab offers you a premium, super-durable ab roller with double wheels that can handle all your high-intensity workouts.
Here’s why you should get a Burnlab ab roller.
- Made of sturdy stainless steel, non-slip rubber, and durable PVC that can support a maximum weight of up to 440 lbs.
- The handles are made of stainless steel and covered with high-density foam to offer a comfortable, tight, and non-slip grip.
- The surface of the wheel is made of non-slip rubber for noiseless movement. (Plus no scratches on your floor!)
- Extra-wide wheel that provides you with high stability as you roll out.
- Comes with a comfortable knee mat.
- Highly portable as it can be easily disassembled and fixed in a matter of minutes.
Those ripped abs are just an ab roller away! Get yours right here at Burnlab!
About Burnlab
Burnlab is a company by fitness lovers for fitness lovers and enthusiasts.
Burnlab provides premium, reliable, best-in-category, quality workout gear that is curated for performance, the right function, and body support at affordable prices.
We carry products across various categories in fitness.
Jump ropes, gym gloves, resistance bands and tubes, yoga mats and accessories, ab rollers…You name it, we got it!
Want to take a closer look at our products? Visit our website today!
Final words
Just try these ab roller workouts and we’re sure you’ll have those abs of steel in no time!
Which one is your favorite ab roller exercise? Let us know in the comments below!
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