Do planche holds literally work your entire upper body?

[Guest rival11]

I ask because just today I realized that I don't do much chest work yet my chest is really developed and to me anyway.....strong.

 

I am now able to hold a tuck planche for 20 seconds and I am even starting to get to the point where it's actually NOT uncomfortable upon first entering into the position (i.e. no exterme strain right off the bat), I do these holds for 3 sets then move onto 3 sets of handstand pushups which are very laughable as my shoulders are completely exhausted by that point but I still do them anyway as I feel it is actually helping me...I can even do 1 to 2 tuck planche pushups now as well.

 

After the handtand pushup sets I move onto one arm tricep extensions which are killer.  Today though I said wait a sec....what about normal push ups or some other variation - so I decided to do ultra-wides - I did 30 reps no sweat with perfect form (and when I do ultra-wides I always make sure my chest and waist line lightly touch the floor).

 

So then I thought that since those are pretty much useless as anything past about 15 reps means you need to modify to make things harder....I wanted to see if I can still do some Jack LaLanne pushups (body lying flat on the floor, legs completely stretched out - arms completely strectched out with formarms not touching the floor....use your core to lift off the ground) and I belted out 8 reps of those - I haven't done those in so long.

 

There is no way that I am just able to do those workouts by being in decent shape - I beileve it is all from my planche training.

 

What are your thoughts?  Am I wrong?

[Joel Tomkins]

I wouldn't imagine planche training to work the chest as much as wide presses but you certainly do use the pecs when training planches. Here's an article I read last year when first training the planche:

http://www.dragondoor.com/articles/planche-training-strengthening-the-mind/body-connection/

"One area that I and others have found to be under-stimulated is the chest. I have found that in order to get those sternal pecs working you have to squeeze your arms together while you are holding the exercise (this works best when doing the planche on the floor or on a fixed set of paralletes). Just imagine holding a balloon with your arms extended, palms facing each other and trying to crush it."

As with most GST progressions you are using your whole body to hold the planche so in answer to your question, yes they do completely work the upper body BUT do they work each part enough for your requirements? And it sounds like that's a yes from your post. 

For me, my chest is the only area of my body that looks defined to me. I don't do really do much more than planche/front lever, pushup and pull up work so it's not impossible that the planche training is effective in chest development!

[Connor Davies]

Well, they don't work the lats super hard, but they do work them.

 

However, nothing you've described is any harder than a planche, so there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do them.

 

If you were suddenly doing like 100kg chest flyes or pelicans then I'd be worried...

[Boban Ilievski]

Well, they don't work the lats super hard, but they do work them.

 

 

They sure do. I remember the first time I did a planche training, my lats were extremely sore for the next couple of days.

[Joel Tomkins]

Obviously it depends on your starting strength...

[Guest rival11]

Well, I asked as well because during my last workout....I realized I don't even really do any chest specific workouts anymore.

 

As for the lats.....the holds definitely work mine big time (although the pain is starting to sub-side after workouts as I am getting stronger) now I just mainly feel the burn in the shoulder area (obviously).

 

I used to workout with weights only and was able to bench 380 lbs natrually (but man was I sluggish) and about a year and a half ago I started really getting into the psuedo push-ups and couldn't belive how strong they were getting me.

 

I decided to walk into a gym cold after not touching a weight in well over 4 years and to my surprise....I was able to bench 290 lbs...fairly easy as well.  I didn't want to go any higher becasue what I was doing wasn't a very smart thing to do - while I personally feel that it's an ok thing to do (test your strength out using weights) it's also a foolish thing to just walk in after not have touching them for so long and attempting to max out.  I should have did a week or so of the weights before attempting to do what I did but I got impatient and was really curious how strong I was with them.

 

Now, without having done any chest specific workouts....I still think my bench press strength would be excellent (and I would even be able to do way more) - can't say for sure but I seroiously have never felt this strong before - I've been bigger but definitely never had the solid power I have now from doing these crazy holds.