Arm Supported Maltese and Victorian

[Brian Li]

So I know maltese and victorian exercises with the arms supported on 2 angled blocks, springboards, or paralletes are common exercises for gymnasts to start building maltese and victorian specific strength, but are they a very effective exercise to build up the shoulder girdle strength for those 2 skills? I know the elbows aren't stressed so you will have to condition them with other exercises so the question is just on the shoulder girdle or prime mover strength. 

 

How much easier will block malteses and victorians with the whole arm supported be compared to the real thing or one done with just the hands and no support on the rest of the arms. Is there an estimated percentage? I'm asking this because when I first tried these arm supported variations on the paralletes back in December 2012, they were a lot harder than I had imagined. Even with a narrow arm placement, it was still harder than a full planche with the block maltese and the difficulty is even greater between the block victorian and full FL. I did both versions with the arms 45 degrees out and with a narrow arm placement and the former is much harder and should be more specific to the real thing. I like do static holds and presses on them when I try them.

 

Are both the wide and narrow arm versions good conditioning exercises in their own right? I wanted to discuss this topic because there is not much info and mentioning of them here in this forum and elsewhere and I wanted to learn more about them because I tested my progress on them a few days ago and might start playing around more with them or doing them regularly.

[Joshua Slocum]

- Do the block exercises with your arms 30-45 degrees away from your body. This more closely mimics the skill you're trying to learn. Doing the exercise with arms by the hips is still a good exercise, but carries over less directly.

- These exercises will help you develop relevant shoulder strength. However, they are not a 'complete package'. You will want to do assisted holds, lots of unassisted variations of easier holds, and continue working on your bent-arm strength as well.

[Brian Li]

Thanks for your input Joshua!

 

Do you think the arms 45 degrees out full lay block malteses are about 50% of the real thing? These are really hard and I can't do full lay for this one yet.

 

I would guess the narrow arm one will help more with the planche. I do feel more chest here than in the planche though. 

 

Of course I'm not ready and will not be doing direct maltese work yet besides maybe these arm supported variations until the condition of my biceps tendons get better.