Best Ab Roller Wheel Reviews & Comparison (2023)

One of the best exercises for strengthening your core are rollouts, unlike the crunch that only works your upper and lower abs, the rollout, performed using your new ab wheel, will challenge and engage the full core (rectus abdominis, external, and internal obliques)

An awesome core exercise I highly recommend for people serious about building a super-strong core.

Are you on a mission to build a rock-hard set of abs? It’s not an easy thing to accomplish, but with our choice of the best ab roller wheel, you’ll be well on your way!

Core exercises are tough, especially rollouts using an ab wheel, first off you will need to master the correct form. You might even have to do a few beginner rollout exercises, but once you’ve got those down, there’s no exercise better than a rollout for working and strengthening your entire core.

Rock-Hard Abs Require a Lot of Commitment.

Building your dream abs takes a lot of commitment; most importantly, you will need to shift some fat if you want to see the efforts of your hard work.

A healthy diet and cardio should be at the top of your ab goals, remember this vital stat – 80% of your ab training is done in the kitchen.

What’s next? Choosing the correct exercises to get the most out of your workouts.

Am I ready For An Ab Wheel?

Before we get into the reviews, let’s try a little test to see if you are ready for rollouts, I know many people would love to use an ab wheel but have no idea if they are going to be able to exercise with one safely when they get hold of an ab wheel, the test is very simple;

If you have trouble holding a plank for more than 30 seconds or your back starts to sag doing a couple of pushups, these are signs your core is weak and rushing into rollouts will be a very bad idea.

The last thing you need is a back injury, yes, rollouts help to prevent back injuries but if your core is not strong enough in the first place, performing a rollout with a weak core can actually cause one.

Failed both the tests? Don’t worry this doesn’t mean you can not use an ab roller wheel, all it means is we need to strengthen your core some more, you can do this with a few beginner exercises, check out the video below.

For those of you in a rush, here’s a quick look at our Top 3 Ab Roller Wheels Comparison Table, for those with more time please read our full reviews, buying tips and info, which you can find under the Comparison table.

Best Ab Roller Wheel Comparison Table

Reviews

1) Perfect Ab-Carver Pro

One of the biggest problems most people encounter when getting hold of an ab wheel is stability; it can be tough when you first start out doing ab rollouts to keep your balance.

The Perfect Ab Carver Pro has been designed, so you don’t have to spend half your workout worrying about and correcting your balance.

The super-wide stabilizing wheel helps keep everything stable throughout the exercise. It’s a great feature to have and will prove incredibly useful to those new to ab rollouts.

Another nice feature of the Ab Carver Pro is the addition of a resistance spring inside the wheel. At the same time, the spring-loaded wheel is not essential for ab rollouts. This feature does add a little to each workout; the spring provides some extra resistance in the rollout stage of the exercise while also assisting you in the rollback for the next rep.

One of the best handle designs we have seen, the ergonomic handles of the Ab Carver Pro have been specially designed to help you keep strict form and target the correct muscles for safety and maximum gains.

Overall a very well built Ab wheel, designed primarily to be stable in use, the Perfect Fitness Ab Carver Pro is a great choice for any level of user.

Our Full Review: Ab Carver Pro

2) Fitnessery Ab Machine

A slightly different design to the Ab Carver Pro, this time we see a narrow wheel design, the narrow wheel may not be as stable but what the wheel does have is nice thick treads, the treads help with grip and grip will give you some much-needed stability and also help prevent complete rollouts. (where you basically face plant the floor)

What I really like about this ab wheel is the comfortable handle grips, you would be surprised how many ab wheels have no cushioning at all for the hands.

Hard plastic handles can cause callouses and pain when using one of these things over long periods, so it was great to see some high-density foam covering the handles, adding some comfort to the exercise.

Rock-solid build, durable, and a lifetime warranty should ensure you will not need to replace the Fitnessery ab wheel any time soon.

If you have been looking for a lightweight, comfortable ab wheel to strengthen and tone the whole of your core, then the Fitnessary ab roller is one of the best out there.

Valeo Ab Roller Wheel

The Valeo ab roller is a no-frill, simple, solidly built ab wheel, there are no bells and whistles with this one, and that’s one of the reasons I like it so much. Sometimes simple is best, especially when it comes to gym gear.

Cheap yes, around $10, but what Valeo hasn’t done is compromise on quality.

The Valeo has a tough, durable build, which includes the nonslip wheels, which will provide stability on all surfaces and, again, a threaded grip for extra stability.

I was slightly disappointed with the lack of any padding on the handle. At the same time, this won’t bother everyone; some people, especially those who are not used to barbell training or working with their hands, may feel uncomfortable after extended periods. Buying a cheap pair of weightlifting gloves solves the problem.

The lightest and most compact design of all the ab wheels in the review (1lb, 8.5 inches by 7.5 inches by 3 inches) No trouble taking this one to the gym with you. Great price, stable, no fuss ab roller, suits all levels. The best ab roller under $15

Our Full Review: Valeo Ab Roller

Likee Ultra Wide Ab Wheel

What helps sell the Likee ab roller is its huge weight capacity and robust build, built to take a max weight of 600lb the Likee ab roller is one of the toughest ab wheels you are going to find on the market right now.

The ultra-wide wheel has a steel inner wheel, which gives this roller its added strength and extra stability.

The wide wheel, similar to the Carver Pro, is a design especially suited for beginners and anyone who likes that extra little bit of stability compared to the narrow wheel design of other ab rollers. The wheel is also covered in synthetic rubber for extra grip.

This super tough ab roller is backed by a lifetime warranty, giving us a lot of confidence in the company behind the product, okay, this roller doesn’t have the resistance spring of the Ab Carver Pro, but you get a hell of a lot for the money with this one. Excellent design, rock-solid build, and an ergonomic grip to help keep strict form.

SKLZ Core Wheels Dynamic Strength & Ab Trainer

And lastly, something a little different in the form of two separate ab wheels in the shape of dumbbells. Some of you may have heard of this company before, SKLZ, famous for producing some of the best training equipment for athletes.

Do we like their ab rollers, yes and no, the design looks great, but I fear beginners are going to find balance an issue here, so it’s probably best to start with the one dumbbell in one hand before moving onto the two.

Apart from the obvious difference to the other ab wheels in the review (two separate rollers) the SLKZ does offer the user some variation in exercises, an ab roller is usually designed solely for core workouts but with this good looking pair you can work the pectorals, performing pushups to build those pecs and triceps.

If you’re after an ab roller with a little more versatility than the rest then I’d recommend taking a closer look at the dumbbell rollers.

Lightweight, portable, strong design, high user ratings, can be used for the core and other upper body workouts, the ab dumbbell wheels certainly seem to be a good choice for seasoned users.

Benefits of Ab Rollouts

Ab wheels have been around for years, and that’s for one simple reason, they work! At first glance, the ab wheel may not look like much, basic, perhaps even fun-gym accessory, but don’t let the looks fool you, an ab wheel is an advanced tool that delivers a seriously intense next level core workout.

As well as being great for your abs, ab wheel rollouts offer three other awesome health benefits.

Increase Your Strength

They’re called ab wheels so you would think they only work the abs right? Wrong! Yes, the abs are the primary muscles worked but exercises such as rollouts work a ton of other muscles at the same time.

Take a press up for eg. The press up’s main goal is to build your chest muscles, but at the same time as working your chest muscles, you are also using your triceps, shoulder muscles and forearms to complete the movement.

When 3 or more muscle groups are used to perform an exercise we generally call the exercise a compound movement or exercise, compound exercises are well known for building muscle mass fast, increasing your strength and burning a load of calories, far more than isolation exercises.

The rollout is a type of compound exercise, the movement involves using the whole of your core, your shoulder muscles, arms, hips, and thighs, you will see strength and muscle gains in all of these muscle groups when working out regularly with an ab roller, and importantly burn some calories while you’re at it.

Increase Core Strength Decreases Lower Back Pain

Many of us spend long hours sitting behind a desk, complaints of chronic back pain have become much more common among those who sit down to work, “As it turns out, those long hours sitting in a chair or behind a keyboard can place substantial strain on the lower back, especially if those muscles aren’t engaged properly.” says mullersportsmed.com

Increasing your core strength performing ab rollouts can significantly decrease the intensity of back pain or even eliminate it altogether.

Increase Your Core Stability

“Core is the collective term used to describe all the muscles of your midsection; the core muscles are responsible for stabilizing your spine and preventing extraneous movement of your back when you lift, bend, stretch and move. A strong core can help prevent injury and will also improve your posture.” says csxtreme

A strong core will help improve athletic performances as well as improving your balance, by working out the core, you will increase core strength and stability, this will help neck, shoulder, hip, knee, and even foot problems which can all be traced back to your core as well.

Buying Tips

1. Handles – A common complaint of many users after performing rollouts with their ab wheel, is just how uncomfy the handles are.

If you are not used to free weights workouts or working with your hands, you may suffer some pain from the hard plastic handles.

Almost half the ab rollers out there do not have any padding for handles, so if you think this might be an issue for you, and you’d prefer a little more comfort when you exercise, make sure to buy an ab wheel which has foam or rubber padding surrounding the handles.

As we touched on earlier ergonomic handles are very important for form, especially for those who are not used to ab wheel workouts.

While ergonomic handles are not essential to keep strict form, they do go a long way in helping many people perform rollouts safely; keeping strict form will also allow you to target the correct muscles for maximum gains.

Narrow Wheel Vs Wide Wheel

You will see a few of the ab rollers have wide spherical wheels, wide wheels are supposedly better for stability which in most cases they are, a wide base = increased stability, but some users complain of balance issues because of the spherical design, the sloped sides of the wheel can cause a few wobbles in the rollout part of the exercises.

The wide spherical wheel does have one main advantage over the narrow wheel design, you can alternate between forward rollouts and pivots to the left and right.

Having the option to pivot engages all four sets of abdominal muscles including your obliques, something that is impossible for the narrow wheel rollers, being able to pivot left or right is a very useful feature which may persuade many to choose the wide wheel design over the narrow.

To Sum Up

Rollouts are a tough exercise and should be taken with some caution at first, remember to focus on your form and start with some beginner ab roller exercises and shoulder workouts to increase core and shoulder strength before taking on full rollouts.

The best ab roller by a small margin that I’d be happy to recommend for all levels would be the Perfect Ab Carver Pro The build quality surpasses anything else out there right now; the Carver Pro also includes the spherical wheel, which allows you to target all abdominal muscles. A resistance spring to add something extra to the exercise.

Don’t want to spend $30 on an Ab Carver? Then go for something simple like the Valeo Ab Roller, cheap, strong build, durable no-fuss ab roller, great bit of kit for the price.