Tip: The Barbell Ab Rollout

Make the ab rollout even better by lifting your feet up. This takes the hamstrings out of the movement and makes your core work harder.

The barbell rollout is an advanced training exercise for the trunk for intermediate to advanced athletes. Unlike most bodyweight trunk exercises, the rollout is intense. It requires the trunk to be stabilized while you move your arms out and in.

The standing barbell rollout is too intense for most people, so they do it from the knees. But there's one problem with the kneeling variation: people have their feet on the ground. This allows them to use the hamstrings when returning to the end position. Pulling with the hamstrings can lead to less activation of the trunk muscles. It's counterproductive.

Avoid the engagement of the hamstrings by bringing your feet up and keeping them up during the rollout. This way, the hams can't do any of the work and the trunk muscles have to do the heavy lifting.

Christian Bosse is a strength-and-conditioning specialist who has developed some of the world's strongest athletes. He prepared competitors for medal success at the Olympic Games in London (2012) and Rio (2016). Christian is currently working with athletes in preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo (2020). Follow Christian Bosse on Facebook