Barbell Ab Rollout
Trains the Abs.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Load a barbell with small plates so it rolls, and kneel on a mat behind it.
- Take an overhand grip about shoulder-width apart with the bar under your shoulders and your arms straight.
- Tuck your pelvis slightly so your lower back is flat, and brace your stomach hard.
- Roll the bar forward, letting your body extend, keeping your hips and shoulders travelling together in one line.
- Go only as far as you can go while keeping the lower back flat. The moment it starts to arch, that is your range for now.
- Pull the bar back toward your knees by bracing harder and drawing your hips back, returning to the start.
Common mistakes
- Letting the lower back arch as the bar goes out. That is the movement failing, and it is the signal to shorten the range rather than push through it. The abdominals are working precisely to prevent that arch.
- Hinging at the hips to return, so the backside rises first. Hips and shoulders should travel together in both directions.
- Going for maximum distance immediately. The range should be whatever can be held in a flat-backed position, and it extends over weeks.
- Treating it as a flexion exercise. A rollout is anti-extension work — the abdominals resist the spine being pulled into an arch rather than curling it. That is the same demand as holding position under a heavy bar.