Exercise of the Week

I’ll try to do my best to bring you a new exercise as much as possible. Each exercise will be one that I’m a big fan of, for one reason or another. Don’t worry I won’t leave you hanging. I’ll give you the reason(s) why I like the particular exercise. Maybe the exercise that I go over is not new to YOU. Maybe you’ve been dominating this exercise since the last time the Cubs won the World Series. (man that would make you REALLY old) I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but even if this exercise is not new to you, there are some people out there that I’m sure will get something out of this… you selfish son of a beehive! The first exercise in this series is, “McLarty Rollouts.”

I’m so important that people are naming exercises after me. No, no, I know I’m not really that special. (although, try telling my mom that, I dare you) One day a few years back I was foam rolling my shins. In the process I felt my abs working like crazy. So I thought hey, maybe I’ll just make this into a core exercise. I had my clients try it and pretty much each one of them came back to our next session will some very sore abs. One lady told me that I need to name them after myself since I “invented” this exercise. I’m sure some of the guys from the ancient Mayan culture were doing these with a log below their shins way back in the day to impress the ladies. But to my knowledge, I haven’t seen these pop up on internet or in any gyms I’ve visited. So I’m claiming them. And, my client told me I should, so there!

I know a function of the abdominals is to perform trunk flexion. But performing countless reps of crunches/sit-ups will just feed into the imbalances that we create with a little something called, life. You know, we sit in flexion (rounded shoulders) all day; in front of our computers, driving to and from work, watching tv…you get the point. There are many coaches/trainers out there that believe the main role of the abs is to resist trunk extension, and resist rotation. In other words, much of your abdominal training should be done with the purpose of improving stability. And McLarty Rollouts fits the bill nicely here. They are very similar to ab-wheel rollouts, and will provide you a little extra variety in your core training. I have many of my beginner clients starting with simple (maybe not simple for some) planks, and then progressing up to more challenging movements like McLarty Rollouts.

When doing these, make sure to keep your glutes and abs tight. Brace your core as if you are getting ready to take a punch to the stomach. Start with the roller down by your ankles and roll it up towards your knees. As the roller gets closer to your knees, the movement gets significantly harder. I either perform these for reps. Usually 10-12. Or for time. When doing them for time, I tell my clients, “make these as difficult as possible, without overloading your back, for 30 seconds. If you can get 31 seconds then you didn’t make them difficult enough. (i.e. you spent too much of your 30 seconds with the roller near your ankles, and not enough time with the roller higher up, near your knees)

So, work within your level, and give McLarty Rollouts a try. You may be extremely sore for the next day or two, but it will be well worth it! One more note; the baby-making music you hear in the video, has been shown to make this exercise 12.87% less effective. So be sure to pick a more hardcore song to train to!