If you have a strong core, standard Ab Wheel Rollouts and Barbell Rollouts may be a bit easy for you. Luckily, there are some ways you can increase the difficulty of the exercise to continue challenging your core, ways that promote shoulder flexion and hip extension, along with preventing lumbar spine extension against the resistance of your own body weight.

Perform these Partner-Resisted Ab Wheel progressions the same way as regular Ab Wheel Rollouts by pushing the wheel out in front of your body and extending your knees and hips.

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Light Resistance Rollouts (resistance up/down)

This is the first progression of the Rollout. You do a normal Rollout, but a partner or coach provides light resistance in the prone position and when you go back up to the starting position. When you have a partner add resistance to both portions of the rep, your core muscles have to work harder and longer. The resistance on this variation is subtle, but extremely effective.

Heavy Resistance Rollouts (resistance up/down)

With this second progression of the Rollout, you perform a normal rollout the same way as above; however, your partner provides as much resistance as possible without taking away the flow of the Rollout or the return to the start position. By alternating light and heavy resistance, you use more strength by creating tension and trying to fire and ignite the elastic energy stored for the remaining progressions.

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Rollouts to Catch (explode up)

With a coach/partner standing in front, athletes in the rollout position have to brace themselves from being stopped during the prone position, which causes additional tension. As that elastic energy is stored, the athlete must use his/her own strength to explode back into the starting position.

Rollout to Catch (tension all the way up)

In the setup above, the coach/partner catches the athlete during the prone position. With this progression, the athlete has the elastic energy to explode up, but he or she must resist the movement back to the starting phase.

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These progressions are all about placing tension on the core musculature, increasing and limiting speed, producing strong extension forces that need to be resisted, and applying force to elicit an unpredictable force and response. Furthermore, by providing varying resistance, you allow your body to transfer specific forces and activate through the specified levels.