Making a small change to your Ab Rollout form can completely change how this amazingly effective movement targets your core.

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Simply stagger your knees. Placing one knee in front of the other limits hip mobility and puts more stress on your core and upper-body muscles. I have also found that sticking the back toe into the ground provides resistance, which makes the movement a little more difficult.

Hitting the core correctly requires major force transfer through various planes of motion, which is what makes the exercise so effective. In sports or everyday movement, your core rarely handles a perfectly linear load. It encounters forces in several directions, and you must be prepared to absorb them or risk limiting your power or hurting yourself.

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Staggered Rollouts are a progression from the basic Ab Rollout, so you need to master that before moving on to the variations below. The exercises are listed in order of increasing difficulty, so make sure to master one before moving on to the next.

Staggered Rollouts

• Place both knees on the mat and hold an ab wheel with both hands.
• Place one knee slightly in front of the other.
• Take a deep breath in and tighten your core.
• Roll the wheel forward and bring it back.
• If  you do not keep your body tight and stable throughout the movement, you might have to reset after five reps.

Staggered Rollouts from a Step-Up Platform

• Same as above, but place your knees on a low-back or plastic step-up platform.

Staggered Rollouts with Foot in The Ground

• Use the same form as either of the above variations, but dig the toes of your rear leg into the ground.

Perform 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 10 reps. If you feel pain in your back, you are doing something wrong. And if you don’t feel a burn in your core, you’re not doing the exercise correctly.

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