Are You Ab-Wheel Rolling To Back Pain? I Was — Not Now

Do the opposite of what you’ve read elsewhere

Photo by Eternal Seconds on Unsplash

For many years, after my gym sessions and before stretching, performed ab wheel rollouts. I did them with good form and in full control. I added progressions and felt myself getting stronger and even more stable.

​But I was puzzled why, no matter how strong I became, the dull ache in my lower back never disappeared.

The ab wheel rollout is a fabulous exercise:

• It strengthens our entire core musculature — our abs complex, and our glutes and hip flexors.
• It trains our core stabilisation by strengthening the abdominal muscles’ ability to resist spinal extension and twisting.
• It builds on our shoulder stabilisation.

In theory, performing it correctly fortifies our spinal health and helps decrease low back pain. This is fantastic, especially if you are older, like me.

But what does “correctly” mean, and why did my back always feel pressure?

Keeping your back straight is bad advice

I was shocked to discover that my “good form” was actually bad form, especially because of the strain it placed on my lower back.