This is an intense ab workout, and all you need is a $17 ab wheel and a mat. Three sets of ab wheel rollouts, filmed start to finish: as many slow, controlled reps as you can do, with a short break between sets. Grab your wheel and do it with me.
Listen: add this to your routine and you’ll see how effective it is. By the end of set three, I could feel it all over my shoulders and my abs.
What the 3 sets look like
Set 1
Set one starts right away. I roll out slowly and come back the same way, rep after rep, until I’m close to failure. When I finished, I probably could have done one more without collapsing. That’s where you want your first set to end: close, but still with good form.
Break
I take a short break between sets. The video fast-forwards through it, so pause it if you need more time before the next set.
Set 2
Same pace, same form, even though your abs are already tired. Keep every rep slow.
Set 3
One more set and you’re done. By this point I was feeling the pump over my whole body, especially my shoulders and my abs. That’s the ab wheel doing its job: it works your chest, shoulders and arms along with every muscle in your abs.
The pace
Do as many reps as you can at a slow and controlled pace. You don’t have to go to failure. Watch how long each rollout takes me in the video and match it. Rushing a rep cuts the time under tension, and the tension is what makes the ab wheel work.
Form in three cues
- Flat back. Don’t let it arch.
- Arms locked straight, knuckles facing the ground.
- Slow out, slow back.
That’s the short version. For the full breakdown, including why the ab wheel beats crunches and exactly how far to roll out, read the $17 ab wheel beats every crunch.
How to progress week to week
The ab wheel has a built-in progression, so the same wheel works from beginner to advanced. You progress by rolling out farther.
- Beginner: keep your arms locked out and roll only a short way forward, then come back.
- Intermediate: same form, roll out farther.
- Advanced: roll out until your nose reaches the ground, or as close as you can get, then come all the way back.
If you can’t get nose to the ground yet, don’t worry about it. Go as far as you can with good form, and add an inch or two each workout until you’re at full extension. Keep doing the three sets, and every week you’ll be rolling out a little farther than the week before.
Two quick tips before you start: kneel on a yoga mat, because it makes your knees a lot more comfortable, and take your glasses off. This is not a glasses-friendly exercise.
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This is general fitness information, not medical advice. Some images in the video are AI-generated visualizations, and they’re labeled.
