How to Do a Rolling Pushup

A rolling pushup, also known as the bent elbow plank, is a great way to work all the abdominal muscles at once. In this exercise, the body is raised up on the toes and forearms in a straight position. Although this is an easy position to get your body into, it takes a lot of abdominal muscle strength to keep the body up.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Exercise mat

1. Lie flat on your stomach with your legs straight on your exercise mat.
2. Flex your feet and come up on your toes, pressing them into the mat to support the weight of your lower body.
3. Bend your arms at the elbows and raise your upper body in line with your lower body. Your forearms should be rested flat against the mat in line with your shoulders as they are supporting the weight of your upper body.
4. Contract your abdominal muscles in order to keep your back completely straight while you are in this position.
5. Keep your neck straight and in line with your spine at all times, as it is unsupported in this position.
6. Hold this position as long as you can, for up to 90 seconds. The longer you can hold this position the more work your abdominal muscles will have to do to keep the body straight.
7. Rest and repeat if you would like to perform additional sets of the rolling pushup.

Tips & Warnings

• This exercise can be modified for beginners by coming up on the forearms and the knees instead of the toes.
• This exercise can be modified for the experienced by coming up to rest on the toes and the hands instead of the forearms.
• Consult a physician before beginning any exercise program.