Home Abs Exercises – FIXED! (Planks and Rollouts) – ATHLEAN-X™

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Home abs exercises are relied upon by many guys to get ripped abs when getting to the gym is not really an option. The hallmark of these ab exercises is that they require very little to no equipment to perform them. In this video, I show you two of the most common home ab exercises (one requiring the common ab wheel and the other nothing at all). The most important aspect of these two moves is that there is one common flaw that is seen in both of them that holds back the results that you should see from doing them.

Today we are covering two of the most important ab stability exercises, planks and ab rollouts. When doing these two moves people commonly forget to focus on any of the muscles below the core or abs. I get it, most of the action is being done by the abs but the lesser known muscles of the core are perhaps even more important to the results you see from these moves. Why is that? Because when you can properly brace and stabilize the muscles below you will see harder, more intense contractions being generated by the abs themselves.

Case in point, let’s look at the plank. Who knew that one of the most critical contractions you would want to make here is in your glutes. The reason for this is simple. When you try to hold your body up in a plank position you wind up pushing your toes into the ground and activating your hip flexors in a counter force to help keep your abs elevated. This is normal but not necessarily a good thing. When this occurs you are actively taking off some of the work of the abs and shifting it onto the hip flexors. You are also reciprocally inhibiting the glutes in the process.

Instead what you want to do to get more out of this exercise for the abs is to consciously contract the glutes as hard as you can to inhibit the activation of the hip flexors. This now forces the abs to do the lions share of the work during the plank. In fact, you can elevate this even more by also squeezing your thighs together and activating the adductors as well. If you want to feel how this instantly works, just drop down into a plank position and try squeezing the two muscles together at the same time. You should feel your ab strength of contraction go up right away.

The next ab exercise that this principle will improve is the ab rollout. This common home ab exercise is one that finds the movement being cheated by the hip flexors once again. Instead, when you fully extend your body at the end of the rep be sure to actively contract your glutes. From here, initiate the return to the top with your abs alone. In fact, if you have made sure to keep your glutes tight you won’t be able to initiate the return of the rep with anything but your abs.

Once again you will definitely feel the increase work being done by the core and ab muscles if you manage to get this right.

If you are looking for a complete training system (workouts and nutrition) that will help you get ripped abs while building athletic muscle from head to toe, be sure to head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. See how to train and what to eat day by day to get your abs showing like never before.

For more ab workout videos and exercises for abs that you can do at home or at the gym, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at

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