Ab Wheel Roll Outs

One of my favorite “core” exercises for climbers is the Ab Wheel Roll Out. I put core in parenthesis because climbers in particular need to start re-defining what core means. We often think of core as our abdomen, our Rectus Abdominus muscles or our six pack zone. This is part of our core no doubt but our core tension is derived from so much more, our Lats, Glutes, Hamstrings, etc.

Core work and tension building exercise are one of the most important components of strength training in climbing and for anyone new to the climbing training game the Ab Wheel Roll Out is a fantastic place to start. Slightly more advanced than a sit up, this simple yet effective exercise has really great benefits for our sport in particular.

Standard or even weighted sit ups have their limitations, while they engage the same muscle groups as roll outs they lack significant engagement in the arms and shoulders. One of my favorite parts of the roll out is that as athletes progress and advance with this exercise, the range of motion increases which translates particularly well to on-the-wall tension training and application.

I always start by reminding athletes that keeping a hollow or rounded back is very important with this exercise. Unlike the deadlift where we really want to keep that safe, neutral spine, we want the exact opposite here. I encourage everyone to start with their back in that hollow position and roll out until they feel like they’re about to lose that form in the low back, then retract. That can look different for everyone but it’s very important to maintain that form. When we lose that hollow core it’s very easy (and highly likely) to strain the lumbar spine and walk away with a tweaked low back and blown session.

As we increase the range or distance we can roll out we’re inherently increasing what I like to call our Range of Tension. Simply put it’s the distance from our center of gravity or “core” that we can effectively create usable tension on the wall. Once an athlete can complete three sets of between five and eight reps at full extension I like to progress to another more advanced and scalable ab-centric exercise. That said slowing the tempo or cadence of this exercise can increase the difficulty but care needs to be taken that it’s performed feeling fresh and not fatigued. In a fatigued state trying to maintain that tension in our end ranges of motion can lead to a “slip” and losing that hollow position.