How many bodybuilders can do this?
Bodybuilder does Planche
Started by SuperBru, April 1, 2013 · 43 Replies · 11,809 Views
Very few. This particular bodybuilder is probably a former gymnast, and I would think that the only bodybuilders who can perform a planche probably learned the skill as gymnasts before getting involved in bodybuilding. There is also another thread somewhere speculating about whether his large upper body would act as a counterbalance, making the skill easier.
Look at the arm angle. He has a LOT of counterbalance from the upper body mass. Still awesome (even though it's heavily arched).
Joshua Naterman said:Look at the arm angle. He has a LOT of counterbalance from the upper body mass. Still awesome (even though it's heavily arched).
It looks like his lower body is still pretty mass heavy.
Can you post a picture of what would be the proper arm angle/ form?
I'm on F1 so still pretty far away from a planche myself
on top of that he is a relatively short guy.
I have read an interview somewhere on that due. He has a competition weight of 176lbs.
I did some more research on the guy. He is a Russian bodybuilder 5'4" 176lbs (80kg). His not as heavy as I thought.
Another cool pic.
Super Saiyan said:I did some more research on the guy. He is a Russian bodybuilder 5'4" 176lbs (80kg). His not as heavy as I thought.
That's still pretty impressive. I'm 2" taller, 6# lighter, and probably have 5-10% more body fat.
So can you do a planche?
Super Saiyan said:So can you do a planche?
I was referring to his physique; it's impressive.
And yes, I can do a planche.
Hari_Seldon said:I was referring to his physique; it's impressive.
And yes, I can do a planche.
I was watching your inverted cross video, you are a monster. 
by the way, are you able to press from inverted cross back to handstand? do you think this is as hard as going from inverted hang to inverted cross?
seiyafan said:I was watching your inverted cross video, you are a monster.
by the way, are you able to press from inverted cross back to handstand? do you think this is as hard as going from inverted hang to inverted cross?
I'm still working on mastering the hold without assistance. Pressing out comes later 
What's even more impressive is that he presses himself into it, not leaning into the position as is the normal.
The Wykydtron said:It looks like his lower body is still pretty mass heavy.
Can you post a picture of what would be the proper arm angle/ form?
I'm on F1 so still pretty far away from a planche myself
You can see what proper planche form is from several people here who can do it, or you could just watch a video of Chen Yibing.
There's no "proper arm angle", because this is dependent on where your center of mass is. It will always be inside the base created by your hands, and that will determine the arm angle.
You don't need to worry about that right now, but I understand the curiosity I don't recommend spending a huge amount of time on this.
Joshua Naterman said:You can see what proper planche form is from several people here who can do it, or you could just watch a video of Chen Yibing.
There's no "proper arm angle", because this is dependent on where your center of mass is. It will always be inside the base created by your hands, and that will determine the arm angle.
It's also dependent on arm-width! The wider your arms, the shallower the angle. Some people do hands at shoulder width, others do arms at shoulder width plus a little more.
This would be the only time you wish you got short and skinny legs.
Hari_Seldon said:It's also dependent on arm-width! The wider your arms, the shallower the angle. Some people do hands at shoulder width, others do arms at shoulder width plus a little more.
That's a good point
seiyafan said:This would be the only time you wish you got short and skinny legs.
Hahaha, nope I still like being tall with big legs!
Hari_Seldon said:It's also dependent on arm-width! The wider your arms, the shallower the angle. Some people do hands at shoulder width, others do arms at shoulder width plus a little more.
Interesting! I thought the angle would be the same, but just that your body will be closer to the floor with a wider placement. It looks like the hands are at the COG (usually by the hips) in a maltese too just like in the planche.
B1214N said:Interesting! I thought the angle would be the same, but just that your body will be closer to the floor with a wider placement. It looks like the hands are at the COG (usually by the hips) in a maltese too just like in the planche.
That's precisely why the arm angle decreases: your hands have to stay in line with you COG. The wider your arms get, the less vertical distance there is between your hands and your hips. At the extreme of this, your arms are level, your hands are approximately double shoulder-width, and you're in a maltese position.
Joshua Naterman said:You can see what proper planche form is from several people here who can do it, or you could just watch a video of Chen Yibing.
There's no "proper arm angle", because this is dependent on where your center of mass is. It will always be inside the base created by your hands, and that will determine the arm angle.
You don't need to worry about that right now, but I understand the curiosity
The only time I am spending on it currently is on Monday and Thursday when I do sPL/PE 4.
I'm just unfamiliar with a lot of this, hence the question. I'm not going to be trying a planche yet, although being 6'1" doesn't help.
I won't be googling Chen Yibing again for a while because his strength makes me sad 
Hari_Seldon said:That's precisely why the arm angle decreases: your hands have to stay in line with you COG. The wider your arms get, the less vertical distance there is between your hands and your hips. At the extreme of this, your arms are level, your hands are approximately double shoulder-width, and you're in a maltese position.
Would a maltese be considered more difficult than a planche? I googled that also and it seems to be up for debate
The Wykydtron said:Would a maltese be considered more difficult than a planche? I googled that also and it seems to be up for debate
Those who have both seem to concur that the maltese is more difficult to hold. However, enough people have difficulty training the planche that there are many people who can do a maltese and not a planche. In the FIG code of gymnastics points, a maltese is one difficulty category higher than a planche.
In the FIG code of gymnastics points, a maltese is one difficulty category higher than a planche.
Both are C, no?
maltese is a D, victorian is E