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How to Use the Ab Wheel Correctly

The Ab Wheel

51jveaNkFHL._SX385_

I recently wrote an article for My Mad Methods on the Ab Wheel, and since then, many people have contacted about it. It seems that many of you have thought the Ab Wheel was a bogus device that was just a scam or fad, but in reality, it is a very good piece of equipment that comes with a very cheap price tag – I got mine for less than $9.

For the record, I always thought the Ab Wheel was joke too. But that was before I ever used it. The first time I tried it, I could not do one good rep on my knees.

History of the Ab Wheel

Bob-Backlund
Bob Backlund

What gave it even more credibility for me was when my friend, Niko Hulslander, told me that Bob Backlund, legendary Champion of the WWWF back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, based his workouts primarily around the Ab Wheel.

Now, Bob Backlund wasn’t as big as Superstar Billy Graham, who held the title before Backland, and he wasn’t anywhere near the size of a more recent Bobby Lashley, Dave Batista, or John Cena by any means, but he was always in top shape, and perhaps second only to Ric Flair in their hay-days.

Plus, Backlund is still in phenomenal shape to this day, and the Ab Wheel continues to be one of his primary forms of resistance training.

While I am sure Backlund used other types of training to attain his level of muscularity and leanness, there is no denying that the Ab Wheel is able to make the entire body work, because it is essentially a Plank on Steroids.

Bob Backlund Training on the Ab Roller

bachlund-roller
I’m coming after you, Backlund!!

How to Implement the Ab Wheel

I am sure there are hundreds of ways to add Ab Wheel work into your training program, but I can tell you that I like to use it on my Back and Triceps day. If you haven’t tried training these two together, you should – the feeling is unbelievable.

Generally, one of my first movements on this day is either Pull-ups or Chin-ups, and I superset them with Ab Wheel for 6 to 8 reps. Surely, I could do much more of this, but I train this day with a partner and if we went for more than 8 reps, it would take up way too much time and mess up the rotation, so we stick with 6 to 8.

In addition, if you do your Ab Wheel reps the right way, it becomes the perfect bridge between the Lats and Triceps. The reason is because you can use your Lats and Triceps together to explosively pull your extended body back to the starting position. This explosiveness wakes the Triceps up so they can start getting worked, and it further excites the Lats, allowing you to get deeper pulls on your Pull-ups or Chin-ups.

Of course, as I stated, you have to be doing the Ab Wheel exercise correctly in order to get this benefit out of the movement. That leads me to the next section.

Ab Wheel Technique

One of my best friends from college, Chris Christian, recently began implementing Ab Wheel into his routines. I used to train like an all-out Savage Beast with this guy back in college. I was happy to hear he was getting an Ab Wheel, but I also was concerned because he did a stretch of service for our country in Afghanistan, I believe, several years ago and ended up hurting his back. So I asked him to shoot a video of him doing them, just to make sure he was doing them properly and not putting too much stress on his back.

Turns out, his technique was just a little off, so I shot a quick video for him last night and uploaded it to YouTube. It turns out there were others doing the exercise incorrectly, and putting too much strain on their backs as well, so I am sharing the video here for all of you, too.

Demonstration of How to Use the Ab Wheel Correctly

Sorry for the weird abrupt ending. The battery died right at the end…

Look, this piece of equipment is bad-ass, even if you just stick with the basic technique, on your knees. My goals is to work up to performing the reps on my toes. It may take some time, but I will get there.

If you want to get an Ab Wheel, they are readily available at most fitness stores, I saw one this past weekend at Play-it-Again Sports, and you can find them on Amazon: Valeo Ab Wheel<= That link will take you to them.

Grab one up, give them a try and let me know what you think of the Ab Wheel.

All the best in your training.

Jedd


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Tags: ab training, ab wheel, core training, six-pack

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 28th, 2013 at 9:51 am and is filed under core training workouts, core workouts for athletes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About Jedd Johnson

9 Responses to “How to Use the Ab Wheel Correctly”

  1. Andro Says:
    May 28th, 2013 at 11:28 am

    Nice post Jedd!

    I also advise guys to only do a partial hands over head movement to keep the back safe at the beginning of their abwheel career!

  2. Gary Gray Says:
    May 28th, 2013 at 3:44 pm

    Jedd,

    I always thought the Ab Wheel was a good idea.
    A single wheel wobbles too much. I made an Ab Wheel using two (2) wheels with a 3″ spacer between them to stop the wobble.

    Gary Gray

  3. Ben Edwards Says:
    May 28th, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    Great article Jedd! I actually broke my ab wheel out of garage retirement today after reading this. I haven’t touched it in at least 6 years.

    Ben Edwards

  4. John B. Says:
    May 29th, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    Awesome Post Jedd! The Ab Wheel is one of the most underrated training tools out there. I think most people secretly hate it, but I have found nothing but gains using it.

  5. Spartan Performance » CROSSFIT SUFFOLK: Powered By SPARTAN PERFORMANCE Says:
    June 2nd, 2013 at 1:11 am

    […] How To Use The Ab Wheel Correctly        “It seems that many of you have thought the Ab Wheel was a bogus device that was just a scam or fad, but in reality, it is a very good piece of equipment that comes with a very cheap price tag – I got mine for less than $9. […]

  6. JIMBO Says:
    October 16th, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    I have used the ab wheel for over 40 years. It is so simple to use yet so effective. No one in training should ever be without one. -JIMBO

  7. William Says:
    May 7th, 2015 at 7:59 pm

    How should I breathe when I use this thing? In when I roll out and out when I roll back in, or the reverse?

    Thanks Jedd, nice video.

  8. Jedd Johnson Says:
    May 13th, 2015 at 8:19 am

    Great question. I will answer this in a future video on my YouTube Channel. Are you subscribed? http://www.youtube.com/jeddjohnson

  9. 3pheasant Says:
    January 12th, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    1blackmail

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