Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold
What Is the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold?
Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold is a compound exercise that primarily targets the core and also engages the hip flexors, the serratus anterior and the front of the shoulders. It is an intermediate-level movement, held for time rather than counted in reps: you support yourself on straight arms with your hands on the floor and your feet hooked into a pair of low gymnastic rings, keeping your body in one straight line from head to heels.
The hold is the extended position of the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout, where the knees tuck toward the chest and the legs push back out, held still instead of repeated. In practice it is a high plank with the feet off the floor. Because the rings are free to swing, the trunk has to stop the hips sagging toward the floor and also keep the legs from drifting sideways or the rings sliding back and forth, so the same body line asks more of the abdominals than a Plank on the floor. A study of 43 healthy men holding a straight-arm plank found that hooking the insteps into suspension straps raised rectus abdominis and rectus femoris activity above the same plank with the feet on the floor, while putting the hands in the straps instead raised it further still.
The front of the trunk does most of the work. The rectus abdominis and obliques hold the pelvis level against gravity and against the sway of the rings, the rectus femoris helps keep the straight legs up in line with the body, and the serratus anterior and shoulders hold the torso up over locked arms. Setting the rings higher tips more of your weight onto your hands and makes the hold harder on the shoulders, while a forearm version takes the straight-arm shoulder work out and leaves a shorter, steadier base.
It suits anyone who can already hold a solid floor plank and wants a harder anti-extension hold without adding weight, and it is a natural step before dynamic ring and strap core work such as the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout or the Exercise Ball Body Saw. If the hips sag or the rings start swinging within a few seconds, build up with the Plank and the Exercise Ball Plank first, then come back to shorter holds on the rings.
Muscles Worked
- Rectus Abdominis
- Primary
- External Oblique
- High
- Deltoid
- Medium
- Rectus Femoris
- Medium
- Serratus Anterior
- Medium
- Erector Spinae
- Minimal
Instructions
- Hang a pair of gymnastic rings low, at exactly the same height, with the bottom of the rings about as high as your shoulders will be in a straight-arm plank.
- Kneel on all fours facing away from the rings, then hook one foot and then the other into the rings so the tops of your feet rest in them with the soles facing up.
- Place your hands flat on the floor directly under your shoulders, about shoulder-width apart, with your fingers pointing forward.
- Brace your abs, squeeze your glutes and lift your knees off the floor, straightening your legs until your body forms one straight line from head to heels, level with the floor.
- Keep your legs together and your toes pointed.
- Lock your elbows and push the floor away so your chest does not sink between your shoulder blades.
- Keep your head in line with your spine, eyes on the floor just ahead of your hands.
- Hold still for the set time, keeping the rings from swinging and your hips from sagging or rising, and breathe steadily behind the brace.
- To finish, lower your knees to the floor, then slip your feet out of the rings one at a time.
Common Mistakes
Sagging hips
Letting the hips drop toward the floor arches the lower back and shifts the load from the abdominals onto the spine.
Piking the hips
Pushing the hips up toward the ceiling shortens the lever and takes most of the work off the abdominals.
Letting the rings swing
Feet drifting sideways or the rings sliding back and forth means the trunk has stopped controlling the position, so reset before continuing.
Sinking between the shoulders
Letting the chest drop between the shoulder blades loads the shoulder joints instead of the muscles, so keep pushing the floor away.
Uneven ring heights
Rings set at different heights tilt the pelvis and make one side of the trunk work harder than the other.
Holding past good form
Chasing a longer time after the hips have started to sag trains the broken position rather than the straight one.
Injuries
Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. You are close to the floor, the load is only your body weight and you can drop your knees to end the hold at any moment, so most problems come from holding a position that has already broken down.
The lower back takes the strain when the abdominals tire and the hips sag, which pulls the spine into an arch. The wrists carry a large share of your weight in extension on straight arms, and the shoulders are loaded when the chest sinks between the shoulder blades instead of the arms pushing the floor away. Set both rings at the same height, keep your hands under your shoulders, brace and squeeze your glutes before you lift your knees, and end each hold while your body is still straight. Several short holds of 10 to 30 seconds build the position more safely than one long hold that finishes with the hips hanging.
To make it easier, go back to a Plank on the floor or an Exercise Ball Plank, or lower the rings so less weight sits on your hands. To make it harder, hold longer with the same quality, then move on to the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout, or to the Ring Rollout with the hands in the rings.
Stop if you feel sharp or pinching pain in your lower back, pain in your wrists or the front of your shoulders, or if you can no longer keep your hips level and the rings still. Lower your knees to the floor before you take your feet out of the rings.
- Primary Focus
- Core
- Equipment
- Rings and body weight
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout Hold harder than a regular plank?
Yes, for the abdominals. In a study of 16 recreationally active men holding a forearm plank, putting the feet in gymnastic rings raised upper rectus abdominis activity above the same plank with the feet on the floor.
- Q: How long should I hold it?
Several holds of 10 to 30 seconds with a straight body work better than one long hold that ends with the hips sagging. Add time only when the last seconds of a hold look as clean as the first.
- Q: How high should the rings be?
Set the bottom of the rings roughly level with your shoulders in the plank, so your body ends up level with the floor. Higher rings put more of your weight onto your hands and shoulders, and both rings must hang at exactly the same height.
- Q: Can I do it on my forearms instead of my hands?
Yes. The forearm version is common in suspension-strap programs and is a good choice if your wrists do not tolerate straight-arm support, while the straight-arm version shown here adds more shoulder and serratus anterior work.
- Q: How is it different from the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout?
The hold is the extended plank position of the Ring Reverse Ab Rollout kept still. The rollout adds tucking the knees toward the chest and pushing them back out, so learn to hold this position without the rings swinging first.