What do you guys/gals think of ab wheels?

I'm in the Northeast and gyms are not opening anytime soon. My current ab routine at home is growing stale. A buddy of mine recommended me an ab wheel but I personally have never used one. I've always viewed them as a gimmicky way to train abs. I've always relied on different variations of leg raises, laying down, hanging, etc.

Anyone have any positive experiences with ab wheels?

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Originally Posted by OverpricedCreatine

I'm in the Northeast and gyms are not opening anytime soon. My current ab routine at home is growing stale. A buddy of mine recommended me an ab wheel but I personally have never used one. I've always viewed them as a gimmicky way to train abs. I've always relied on different variations of leg raises, laying down, hanging, etc.

Anyone have any positive experiences with ab wheels?

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I would opt for variations of planks.

I’m not a big fan of the ab roll. I find that it uncomfortably stretches my torso on the way down, feeling my ribs popping through my skin. This motion is opposite of what an ab crunch is, because you are not crunching but expanding the torso.

On the way up, I find I use mostly my shoulders and legs to pull up. I have a shoulder injury so it makes it very uncomfortable. I find I like to use a bench and do leg raises, or sit sideways on it and use two dumbbells to hold my feet down while I do a regular crunch. Much more comfortable and it targets the abs much better.

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Originally Posted by Test Monsterone

I’m not a big fan of the ab roll. I find that it uncomfortably stretches my torso on the way down, feeling my ribs popping through my skin. This motion is opposite of what an ab crunch is, because you are not crunching but expanding the torso.

On the way up, I find I use mostly my shoulders and legs to pull up. I have a shoulder injury so it makes it very uncomfortable. I find I like to use a bench and do leg raises, or sit sideways on it and use two dumbbells to hold my feet down while I do a regular crunch. Much more comfortable and it targets the abs much better.

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Then I'm going to keep it old school. Thanks! Saves me $20 anyways.

Ab wheels are a far tougher old school exercise. Popular among calisthenics followers because to perform a whole body roll out infers huge isometric strength which is needed for some of the tougher exercises, ie planches, levers etc. An easier version to start would be a dragon flag (sometimes just called a flag) popularisd by Stallone in the Rocky movies and Bruce Lee. I guess it depends whether you want to develop abdominal strength or merely maintain.

i personally love my ab wheel, best $10 in my gym. first time i tried it i did 3 reps and was sore as hell for 3 days. now i'm doing sets of 30+ just for my warmup and i gotta say, it really works my upper abs hard. make sure you keep your low back slightly rounded, kinda like your humping a jug. when i started doing this i thought to keep it straight and that put too much strain on my low back.

I like mine a lot when I superset it with another ab movement. Alone, I don't seem to get as much out of it unless I do very slow reps.

I think its a very underestimated tool for the abs. Try it for 6 weeks and see.

It's not the sexiest piece of gear in the gym but I'm down with the ab roller. It has its place