The Ab Miracle Worker

The exercise products peddled on late-night television are usually bogus. As a strength and conditioning coach, I prefer to stick to tried-and-true equipment. But what if one of the infomercial gadgets wasn't a gimmick? What if it could help you carve the chiseled abs you've always wanted?

Enter the Power Wheel. (Think: the Ab Wheel on steroids.) It forces you to keep your middle stiff, even as the wheel rolls forward, backward, or sideways. That means your entire core—hips, lower-back, obliques, and abdominal muscles—is working overtime to keep your spine stable. And that's a good thing, because improving your core strength gives you the foundation necessary to lift more weight with less risk of injury, and helps you perform daily tasks with less effort.

So why do I prefer it over the well-known classic Ab Wheel? Creator Jon Hinds, personal trainer and founder of Lifeline USA fitness equipment, took the Ab Wheel and added a wider base and increased the handle width. This puts your shoulders in a safer alignment and puts less stress on your rotator cuffs during specific moves like the rollout. The wider base also supports your weight more evenly so you're not left nursing an achy lower back after using it. 

But the best thing about the Power Wheel is the bonus foot straps. These straps instantly increase the number of exercises you can do with the piece of equipment, including a couple of my favorites listed below. 
 
Now, you don't have to work your abs every day with the Power Wheel. Trust me, you won't want to. Twice a week is enough to make your abs feel like Al Capone used them as drive-by target practice. To get you started, I've put together a simple—but difficult!—program for you to do two days a week. 

DO THIS: Perform the moves as a circuit—doing one move after the other without resting. At the end of each circuit, rest for 60 seconds. During your first workout, do one circuit. During your second workout, do two circuits. Continue to add an additional circuit each workout until you are able to complete four circuits total.

Don't own a Power Wheel? No problem. You can do the hand walk with paper plates under your feet, the jackknife with a Swiss ball, and the rollout with a barbell instead. (The barbell rollout can be tricky, so check out how to do the move with perfect form.)

1. Hand Walk 
Strap your feet into the Power Wheel, and then walk your hands out in front of you until you are in a pushup position. Keeping your core braced and your body in a straight line from your head to your ankles, "walk" your hands forward as far as you can. Try to increase your distance every workout.

2. Rollout 
Kneel on the floor and grab the Power Wheel handles with an overhand grip. Your hands should be under your shoulders, and your body should form a straight line from head to knees. Slowly roll the wheel forward for three seconds, extending your body as far as you can without allowing your hips to sag. Use your abdominal muscles to roll your hands back to below your shoulders. That's 1 rep. Do 15. 

3. Jackknife 
Strap your feet into the Power Wheel, and then walk your hands out in front of you until you are in a pushup position. Your body should form a straight line. Brace your core. Without changing your lower-back posture, roll the Power Wheel toward your chest by pulling it forward with your feet. Pause, then return to the starting position.

If you experience wrist pain during the hand walk and jackknife, grip hexagonal dumbbell handles instead of placing your hands on the floor.

Want another grueling abs challenge? Try Hinds' football field hand walk challenge. Here's how it works: Start at one end of a football field. Strap your feet into the Power Wheel, and then walk your hands out in front of you until you are in a pushup position. Keeping your core braced and your body in a straight line from head to toes, "walk" your hands forward. Your goal is to reach the other endzone without stopping or losing form. It may be one of the toughest abs workouts you will ever do.

Craig Ballantyne, C.T.T., is the author of Turbulence Training and an avid Power Wheel user.