Ring Reverse Ab Rollout
What Is the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout?
Ring Reverse Ab Rollout is a compound exercise that primarily targets the core, especially the rectus abdominis, and also engages the obliques, the hip flexors and the shoulder muscles that hold you up in a straight-arm plank. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you hold a high plank with your feet resting in a pair of low gymnastic rings, draw your knees in toward your chest, then push your legs back out to a straight line.
Despite the name, nothing rolls out in front of you. In an Ab Wheel Rollout the hands travel away from the feet; here the hands stay planted and the feet travel instead, which is why many coaches simply call it a suspended knee tuck. The trunk works in two ways on every rep: it resists the lower back sagging toward the floor while the body is long, and it curls the pelvis toward the ribs as the knees come in. Because the rings hang freely, the abdominals and shoulders also have to keep the feet from swinging or drifting apart.
It fits best as accessory core work after the main lifts or as a station in a bodyweight or rings circuit. Keeping the legs straight and lifting the hips into an inverted V turns it into a pike, a longer lever that also asks for hamstring flexibility. Adding a rotation so the knees travel toward one elbow, as in the TRX Twisting Jack Knife, shifts more of the work to the obliques. Holding the plank still with the feet in the rings, as in the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold, trains the same position without the tuck, and the Ring Rollout moves the rings to the hands for a harder anti-extension challenge.
The exercise suits anyone who can already hold a solid Plank and a few clean Push-Ups and wants a core movement that trains control rather than just endurance. If the hips sag or the rings swing out of control, build up with the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold, the Exercise Ball Pull-In, which is the same tuck with the shins on a ball, and Mountain Climbers first.
Muscles Worked
- Rectus Abdominis
- Primary
- Rectus Abdominis (Lower)
- Primary
- External Oblique
- High
- Deltoid
- Medium
- Rectus Femoris
- Medium
- Serratus Anterior
- Medium
- Erector Spinae
- Minimal
Instructions
- Set both rings side by side at about mid-calf height from the floor.
- Kneel facing away from the rings and place the fronts of your ankles in them, one foot in each ring.
- Walk your hands forward into a high plank with your hands shoulder-width apart directly under your shoulders, arms straight and fingers pointing forward.
- Straighten your legs and bring your feet together so your body forms a straight line from head to heels, then brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes.
- Push the floor away so your chest does not sink between your hands.
- Exhale and pull your knees in toward your chest, letting your hips rise and your lower back round slightly as your knees come under your hips.
- Pause briefly in the tuck with your shoulders still stacked over your hands.
- Inhale and slowly push your feet back until your legs are straight and you are back in the plank, without letting your hips sag.
- Keep the rings still and your feet together on every rep, and lower your knees to the floor before taking your feet out of the rings.
Common Mistakes
Letting the hips sag
Dropping the hips in the plank arches the lower back and moves the load from the abdominals onto the spine.
Shooting the legs back out
Kicking the feet back fast sets the rings swinging and skips the controlled return, where much of the abdominal work happens.
Shoulders drifting behind the hands
Letting the body slide backward or the chest sink between the hands strains the shoulders and wrists and loosens the whole plank.
Pulling with the legs only
Bringing the knees in while the pelvis stays flat turns the rep into a hip flexor drill instead of curling the pelvis toward the ribs.
Feet drifting apart
Letting the rings separate or swing sideways twists the hips and makes the plank harder to control, so keep the feet together.
Injuries
Ring Reverse Ab Rollout is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The lower back takes the most strain when the hips sag and the spine arches, usually at the start of the set or on the way back out once the abdominals tire. The wrists carry a large share of body weight in extension throughout, and the shoulders are stressed when the chest sinks between the hands or the body drifts backward behind them. Because the feet sit in freely hanging rings, a foot that slips out or rings that swing can also drop you onto your knees or chest.
Set the rings low and make sure both feet are secure before you lift your knees. Keep your hands directly under your shoulders and actively push the floor away, brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes before each rep, and move slowly enough that the rings stay still. Straighten the legs only as far as you can without the lower back dropping, and end the set as soon as the plank starts to sag rather than grinding out ugly reps.
To make it easier, hold the plank with your feet in the rings in the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold, or tuck on a stable ball with the Exercise Ball Pull-In. A regular Plank and Mountain Climbers build the base for both. To make it harder, slow the return down, pause longer in the tuck, or progress to a straight-leg pike or the TRX Twisting Jack Knife.
Stop the set if you feel pain in your lower back, a pinch at the front of the hip, or pain in the wrists or shoulders. Anyone with current low back pain, shoulder impingement or wrist problems should use the floor variations until they can plank without symptoms.
- Primary Focus
- Core
- Equipment
- Rings and body weight
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Other Names for the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout
The Ring Reverse Ab Rollout is also known as:
- Suspended Knee Tuck
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Why is it called a reverse ab rollout if nothing rolls?
In an Ab Wheel Rollout the hands move away from the feet while the feet stay put. Here the hands stay planted and the feet move in and out, so the end of the body that travels is reversed, and many coaches call the same movement a suspended knee tuck.
- Q: Is it harder on the abs than a ring rollout?
No, at least not in the one study that compared them. In 17 resistance-trained men using suspension straps, the knee tuck produced less abdominal activity than the rollout, although rectus abdominis and external oblique activity still reached 42 to 54 percent of a maximal contraction. The Ring Rollout is the bigger anti-extension challenge; this movement adds hip and pelvic control on top of the plank.
- Q: Can I do it with a TRX instead of rings?
Yes, the movement is the same with the feet in suspension-trainer foot cradles. Rings usually hang from two separate straps, so keeping the feet level and together takes a little more control than it does in a single-anchor trainer.
- Q: How high should the rings be?
Low, at about mid-calf height, so your feet rest in the rings a little above the floor and your body forms a roughly level line in the plank. Setting them higher tips more of your weight onto the hands and shoulders.
- Q: What should I do if my hips keep sagging?
Build the plank first with the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold, then practice the tuck with both shins on one ball in the Exercise Ball Pull-In. Come back to the rings when you can hold a flat plank with your feet suspended for the length of a set.