9 Killer Ab Wheel Exercises (from Beginner to Advanced)

Ab wheel workouts use an exercise wheel to develop your core, back, and arm muscles. Exercise wheels provide a plethora of benefits but the main perk is their direct impact on ab development. Ab wheel workouts should be part of your training regimen because they test your abilities and add variety to your exercise routines.

Don’t let the simplicity of this piece of equipment fool you. Ab wheels and rollers deliver some of the most brutal core exercises that exist, and this article is going to introduce you to 9 of them!

Ab wheel/roller exercises are not for beginners. A great deal of existing core strength and conditioning is required to be able to perform these exercises safely, or at all! So, for those of you who are not quite there yet, but aspire to be, I’ve also included progression exercises to get you there!

Ab wheel exercises

Pay close attention to the demo videos and technique notes… and remember to play it safe when it comes to these kinds of core exercises! To make things easier for you, I have listed these exercises in order of difficulty. Please ensure you can master each one before moving onto trying out the next in line. 

1. Ab Wheel Plank

Difficulty Level: 4/10

Good for: your first time using an ab wheel! This exercise will help you learn how to grip an ab wheel whilst balancing your weight on it. Like the standard version of the plank, this exercise will work your whole core – upper, lower and sides.

How to:

1. Start on your knees in a modified push up position with your hands on the ab wheel handles.
2. Your arms should be fully extended.
3. Once you have a good grip, lift your knees off the ground so that just the ab wheel and your toes are left on the ground.
4. There should be a straight line from your head and neck to your ankles.
5. Hold this position for 40 to 60 seconds.

2. Ab Wheel Knee Tucks

Difficulty Level: 5/10

Good for: targeting your lower abdominals and deep core! And the fact that you can use your arms to stabilize your body whilst you move the ab wheel to and from your torso with your feet, makes it a good introductory ab wheel exercise and an ideal option amongst our list of broader ab workouts. 

Note, this exercise requires an ab wheel or roller equipped with foot straps.

How to:

1. Place your feet in the straps.
2. Go into a tabletop plank position on extended arms with your body in a straight, strong line, i.e. no sagging through your lower back.
3. Have your shoulders stacked in a way that your wrists, elbows, and shoulders all line up.
4. Tuck your knees to your chest by pulling the ab wheel towards you with your feet.
5. Slowly return to starting position (whereby your body is in a straight line again).
6. Complete 12 to 15 repetitions.

3. Ab Wheel Pikes

Difficulty Level: 6/10

Good for: a level up progression from the ab wheel knee tuck. This version has you keeping your legs straight as you roll the ab wheel towards your body. Like the knee tucks, it also targets your lower abdominals and deep core with the assistance of being able to stabilize your body with your arms!

Note, this exercise also requires an ab wheel or roller equipped with foot straps.

How to:

1. Place your feet in the straps.
2. Go into a tabletop plank position on extended arms with your body in a straight, strong line from your head to your heels.
3. Line up your wrists, elbows, and shoulders directly underneath each other.
4. Keeping your legs straight, pull the ab roller towards you with your feet.
5. This will result in your hips going upwards, creating a ‘V’ shape with your lower body and your torso.
6. Hold for a second before slowly rolling the ab wheel back outwards to create a straight line with your body.
7. Complete 10 to 12 repetitions.

4. Kneeling Ab Wheel Rollouts

Difficulty Level: 7/10

Good for: an entry-level into the signature ab wheel move – the ab wheel rollout. It uses all your core muscles, outer, inner, top, bottom, and sides! Boom!

How to:

1. Kneel on a mat.
2. Have the ab wheel in front of you with your hands on the handles on fully extended arms.
3. Keeping your back and arms straight, slowly push the ab wheel away from your body, effectively extending your body from the hips into a plank position.
4. The full version will have you fully extending your body so that your torso is close to the ground with your arms as far in front of you as they can go before pulling back to starting position.
5. I would recommend that you test out your range capabilities before diving into a full range ab rollout. It is very possible to go beyond the point of no return in this exercise, during which you will most likely hurt yourself trying to get back to starting position. Baby steps!
6. Complete 10 to 12 repetitions (make them half or quarter range if you need to in the first instance).

5. Kneeling Ab Wheel ‘V’ Rollouts

Difficulty Level: 8/10

Good for: a starting point in working towards mastering the signature ab roller move – the ab wheel rollout. And a version that specifically targets your sides, one at a time. Hello obliques!

How to:

1. Kneel on a mat.
2. Have the ab wheel in front of you with your hands on the handles on fully extended arms.
3. Unlike the standard kneeling ab wheel rollout, this version will see you rolling the ab wheel away from you to your sides, rather than straight out in front of you.
4. Slowly push the ab wheel away from your body to your left, extending your body into a strong straight line, close to the ground.
5. Pull the ab wheel back towards you until you reach starting position, then push it away from you again, but this time to your right.
6. Complete 10 to 12 repetitions alternating from your left and right side (make them half or quarter range if you need to in the first instance).

6. Bird Dog Ab Wheel Rollouts

Difficulty Level: 8/10

Good for: reducing stability as you lift one knee off the floor at a time which each rollout. This helps with the developing of equal strength and mass on the left and right sides of your core as more concentrated tension is placed on one side at a time.

How to:

1. Kneel on a mat.
2. Have the ab wheel in front of you with your hands on the handles on fully extended arms.
3. Keeping your back and arms straight, lift one knee off the ground (you can extend this leg out behind you to keep it out of the way).
4. Slowly push the ab wheel away from your body, lowering yourself down towards the ground and extending through the hips to get your body into a straight line.
5. Try to fully extend your body so that your torso is near the floor with your arms as far in front of you as they can go.
6. Roll the ab wheel back to the starting position.
7. You can do all rollouts on one knee before changing sides, or alternate from left to right knee being on the ground with each rollout. I would suggest starting with the alternating version for starters.
8. Complete 5 to 8 repetitions with each knee on the ground.

7. Kneeling Ab Wheel Single Arm Rollouts

Difficulty Level: 8/10

Good for: building contralateral strength as you use one arm at a time to roll out and support your body weight. This exercise sends your stabilizer muscles into overdrive!

Note, you will require an ab roller (with a handle located in the middle of it), rather than an ab wheel (with handles on the sides). 

How to:

1. Kneel on a mat.
2. Grip the ab roller with one hand and have it in front of you on one fully extended arm whilst you are hinged at the hips.
3. Maintain a neutral spine as you push the ab roller away from you, extending your body into a straight line, close to the ground.
4. Pull the ab wheel back towards your knees until you reach starting position.
5. Complete 8 to 10 repetitions on one side before changing sides.
6. I would recommend that you start with your weaker arm first.

8. Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts

Difficulty Level: 9/10

Good for: stepping up from the kneeling ab wheel rollout you would have mastered before attempting this one. An insane core (and everything else) challenge. It’s best to test this one out in front of a wall, using it as a ‘safety catch’. You can start further away from the wall with practice.

The distance between your feet will significantly impact the exercise. A wider foot stance should be where you begin, moving on to having your feet together, as you progress.

How to:

1. Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend at the hips and waist and grip the ab wheel, placing it in front of you.
3. Keeping your arms straight and your spine in a neutral position, push the ab wheel away from you.
4. Aim to get your arms above your head and your body straight and close off the ground.
5. Roll the wheel back towards you, bending your hips and knees to finish where you started.
6. Complete 8 to 10 repetitions

9. Standing Single Arm Ab Rollouts

Difficulty Level: 10/10

Good for: annihilating yourself. Just kidding… but also, not really. This exercise is as challenging as they come and is the ultimate ab wheel exercise. It will contribute to building balanced strength and mass through your core (and the rest of your body) as you focus the load, primarily, on one side at a time.

There’s no level up from this one. This is it.

As with the double-arm rollout as discussed above, the distance between your feet will significantly impact the exercise. Start wide and progress to having your feet closer together. 

And like the kneeling single-arm rollout, you will require an ab roller, rather than an ab wheel (the ab roller has a centrally located handle, so you don’t tip over).

How to:

1. Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend at the hips and waist and grip the ab roller with one hand (I recommend starting with your weaker arm first).
3. Place the ab roller in front of you.
4. With straight arms and a neutral spine, roll the ab roller away from you.
5. Ultimately, your end position should be with your body in as much of a straight line as possible, with your working arm above your head and your body close to the ground.
6. Roll the wheel back towards you, bending your hips and knees to finish where you started.
7. Complete 5 to 8 repetitions on each side… if you dare!

Ab Wheel Progressions for Beginners

As mentioned, ab wheel exercises are not for beginners.

Below is a list of a few beginner-friendly exercises that provide you with similar movement patterns to the ab wheel and roller exercises. They are a great starting place for developing the core and overall strength required to be able to perform the exercises as listed above.

We all start somewhere, right?

1. Inchworms

Beginners alternative to:  kneeling and standing ab wheel rollouts

This exercise is a great way to develop your core strength in a ‘dynamic plank’ style. It requires you to extend and contract your body as you move through the exercise and demands more and more from your core as you reach the furthest point, as in the ab wheel rollout.

How to:

1. Begin standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Place your hands on the floor in front of your feet (bend at the hips and knees as required).
3. Keeping your arms fully extended and your spine in a neutral position, walk your hands out, step by step.
4. Walk them out as far as you can, ideally so that they are in front of/above your head with your body in as much of a straight line as possible.
5. Hold here for a second whilst your core is working at its hardest, then walk your hands back towards your feet, where you started.
6. Complete 8 to 10 repetitions (each walk out and back in is 1 rep).

2. Plank with Alternating Arm/Leg Extension

Beginners alternative to:  double and single arm kneeling and standing ab wheel rollouts

This version of the plank reduces your points of stability as you raise your alternating arm and leg whilst holding the plank position. This creates a more demanding scenario than in the standard plank and allows you to develop your stabilizing muscles significantly.

It also equally targets the left and right sides of your core, as in the single-arm rollouts and bird dog rollout.

How to:

1. Go into a tabletop plank position (on extended arms instead of your forearms) with your body in a strong, straight line.
2. Keeping them straight, simultaneously lift your left arm and right leg off the ground and hold for a second before going back onto both hands and feet.
3. Your next repetition should see you lift your right arm and left leg off the ground, and so on and so forth.
4. Complete 15 to 20 repetitions, alternating arms, and legs each time.

3. Exercise Ball Knee Tucks

Beginners alternative to:  Ab wheel knee tucks

This exercise follows the exact same motion as the ab wheel knee tucks and, therefore, makes for the perfect beginner’s alternative. If you can do this exercise without much issue, I’d say you’re safe to give the ab wheel version a go!

Exercise ball knee tucks are a good introduction to testing your stabilizer muscles abilities and working on your lower and deep core muscles.

How to:

1. Support your upper body on extended arms with your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart.
2. Have your feet and bottom of your shins on top of an exercise ball.
3. To begin with, your body should be in a straight line and you should have an engaged core and neutral spine, i.e. no sagging at the hips.
4. From here, roll the exercise ball towards your arms with your feet/lower legs, tucking your knees underneath you.
5. Hold for a second and then slowly extend back outwards by rolling the ball back to your starting position, whereby your body is back in a straight line.
6. Keeping your core constantly ‘on’ will help stabilize the ball whilst you’re doing your knee tucks.
7. Complete 15 to 20 repetitions.

4. Exercise Ball Pikes

Beginners alternative to:  Ab wheel pikes

Like the exercise ball knee tucks replicate the ab wheel knee tucks, this exercise provides a perfectly matched plane of movement to the ab wheel pike. You should be able to confidently do this version before attempting the one on the ab wheel.  

Exercise ball pikes also target your lower and deeper core muscles, though can be considered a significant level up from the knee tucks.

How to:

1. Support your upper body on extended arms with your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart.
2. Have your feet and the lower half of your legs on top of an exercise ball.
3. Start with your body in a straight line. Your spine should be held in a neutral position to avoid any sagging through your hips.
4. From here, keeping your legs straight and using your feet, pull the exercise ball towards your arms.
5. This will result in your hips going upwards and you forming a ‘V’ shape with your arms and legs. Only the top of your toes should be left on the ball at the end.
6. Once you reach your end/top point (with your torso as vertical as you can get it), roll the exercise ball back to starting position.
7. Complete 10 to 12 repetitions.

5. Kneeling Exercise Ball Roll-Outs

Beginners alternative to:  Kneeling and standing ab wheel rollouts

This is the most challenging of the beginner’s progression exercises listed here. It has the closest resemblance to the ab wheel rollout and will give you a good idea of the control and core strength required.

The motion is almost identical to the kneeling ab wheel rollout, except for your body is more elevated on the exercise ball than on the ab wheel and you’re stabilizing yourself on your elbows rather than your hands.

How to:

1. Begin kneeling on a mat with an exercise ball placed directly in front of you.
2. Link your hands, have your arms together and then place your elbows on the top of the ball.
3. From here, roll the exercise ball away from your knees, using your arms. Your body will extend as you do.
4. Once you reach your furthest point, whilst maintaining a straight/neutral spine, hold for a second under tension and then pull the ball back towards your knees with your elbows.
5. Finish where you started before rolling out into your next repetition.
6. Like with the ab wheel rollouts, experiment safely with range before you go flying into full range and are unable to pull yourself back inwards to your starting position without hurting yourself.
7. Complete 10 to 12 repetitions.

What are the benefits of ab roller exercises?

Ab roller exercises are beneficial for developing strength, balance, and boosting your overall workout performance. Wheel workouts are challenging exercises but come with ample rewards. Here are four of the benefits of performing exercises using this piece of equipment, which I hope serves as extra motivation for you to work your way up towards being able to master these ab wheel exercises.

1. Superior core strength development

Ab wheel exercises are dynamic, meaning you’re working your core through movement. Furthermore, they train your core in a way that your abdominal muscles were designed to move and function.

Ab wheel and roller exercises are superior to traditional core flexion exercises in which you’re contracting your abdominals rather than recruiting them to prevent your body from going into hyperflexion.

This is not to say that other core exercises are a waste of your time, but if you’re looking to build ultimate functional core strength, using an ab wheel or roller is a sure-fire way to get there.

Read: Does the Ab Wheel Really Work? (Here’s the Answer)

2. They go beyond your core

Whilst the focus of these exercises is on your core, your entire body is going to get a great workout from performing any ab wheel and roller exercises. They are total-body exercises that recruit stabilizer muscles from head to toe.

Your shoulders, chest and hip flexors are specific areas outside of your core that will feel the impact of the exercises discussed in this article. 

3. Significantly increase your balancing abilities

Ab wheel and roller exercises are all about stabilizing. Developing your stabilizer muscles is what helps your overall balance improve. There is no doubt that performing these kinds of exercises dramatically improves your balance.

Well-developed balance leads to greater performance across the board – in other exercises you may perform as part of your workout regime, and in general everyday life movements.

4. Increased confidence

Performing ab wheel and roller exercises can contribute to your overall confidence in many ways:

There is the aesthetic component – performing these exercises, combined with a good diet, of course, will create a great looking midsection. This can create a better overall body image.

There is the strength component – performing these exercises can provide you with core strength that leads to confidence in movement and less vulnerability in various positions, specifically those where extension/lower back comes into play.

And finally, the in-gym confidence/competitive component – being able to perform some of these ab roller exercises is a pretty good look. There is no denying that they are an indicator of overall strength. Being able to do a standing ab wheel rollout is something many aspire to… so if you can do one, well, you’re a champion in the eyes of many!

Ab wheel workout: Final thoughts

An ab wheel workout is sure to make you work hard but the exercises deliver real results. Ab roller exercises require skill and aren’t suitable for beginners. Ultimate core strength is something you need to work slowly and sensibly towards. It is a process, and we all start somewhere. Overdoing it and rushing into advanced exercises and techniques will, like many of the ab roller exercises discussed in this article, result in injuries and setbacks.

You are, however, equipped with all the information you need to be able to perform ab wheel exercises safely. And if you feel they exceed the limits of your abilities at current, practicing the beginner progression exercises will get you rolling your way to 6-pack abs in no time!

Have you had success with an ab wheel workout? Let us know which ab wheel workout is your favorite in the comment section below.