planche lean form check

Hi everybody,

I am new in here so let me introduce myself first. My name is Tom and I'm from Czech republic.  I did gymnastics when I was like 10 for a few years but not on a very good level. Then I started again when I was 19 or so at the university. I was always impressed with body weight excersises on still rings so i worked on these and in a few years I was able to do cross, almost inverted cross, giants, etc. and started to learn planche and maltese, but then (I wanted it too much) I developed tennis elbows in both arms... Now, after almost two years of pain whenever i tried to lift even a bottle of watter i have no pain in my elbows so I have decided to start over again. But this time much slowly with focusing more on preparation elements.. And that's why I chose gymnastic bodies Foundation series to help me with this.

Most of the F1 PEs and mobility excersises are not hard for me and I am moving towards new excercises very fast. But I have a question regarding a PL / PPPu form. My old coach always told me to make my back as round as possible when doing PL. But in the course video the athlete's back don't look that much rounded, Here is a video of my planche lean:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1jyXRstji_jUUdRX29HRUtuVjA/edit?usp=sharing

It's not problem to round my back less but I just want to ask if this position is incorrect and if it is, then why. 

Thanks a lot! And It's awesome te be a part of this great community. :-)

Tom

Ps. sorry for my English I am still learning... :-)

You're going to want to try and focus on rounding your upper back near your shoulders, instead of bending in the middle. You also need to roll your hips forward to flatten out your lower back (posterior pelvic tilt)

The rounding comes from protraction of the shoulder blades, not from bending the spine.

Thanks for your tips. I guess I'll have to start learning this from the scratch. As soon as i try to protract and depress my shoulder this round on my back raises up. :-)

Tomm said:

Thanks for your tips. I guess I'll have to start learning this from the scratch.

I had to start over on this one as well when I realized my form was wrong, it happens.

Remember that planche is a straight body position, so try and keep your body straight and tight from head to toes.

I found that the biggest change in my form was when I stopped just trying to lean as far forward as possible, and instead focused on pushing up against the ground.

thecolin said:

 

I found that the biggest change in my form was when I stopped just trying to lean as far forward as possible, and instead focused on pushing up against the ground.

I'm trying to push against the ground as well, but it ends up in this bump. :-) I tried to find the right position this morning and found out, that I need to focus on "bending backwards" during the lean. This way I can achieve the position to be simillar to the one in the courses video. I will stick with this element unitil this (hopefuly correct) position is feeling natural to me. I'll take a new video this eveneing at the gym and post it here. :-)

Really thanks :-)

Tomm said:

 

Really thanks :-)

No problem, glad I could help. 

I think it was said somewhere on the forum, that the rounded upper back is an exaggeration to teach the form of the hold, and that as the load increases through the progressions, the back evens itself out to approach the desired slightly hollowed shape.

Ravn said:

I think it was said somewhere on the forum, that the rounded upper back is an exaggeration to teach the form of the hold, and that as the load increases through the progressions, the back evens itself out to approach the desired slightly hollowed shape.

Any idea where? I tried searching for this but couldn't find anything. I'm still unclear on planks whether to aim for a straight body, like the top position of a pushup, or an exaggerated hollow with the hips level with the shoulders. I've seen other members doing them both ways.

KibboKift said:

Any idea where? I tried searching for this but couldn't find anything. I'm still unclear on planks whether to aim for a straight body, like the top position of a pushup, or an exaggerated hollow with the hips level with the shoulders. I've seen other members doing them both ways.

No, unfortunately not. Hopefully someone more knowledgable can chime in.

Edit: With regards to planks, I think the consensus is to do them with a straight body. In any case, the hollow is not achieved by piking at the hips. Scapular protraction, pulling in the ribs, and PPT are the main cues.

Ravn said:

No, unfortunately not. Hopefully someone more knowledgable can chime in.

Edit: With regards to planks, I think the consensus is to do them with a straight body. In any case, the hollow is not achieved by piking at the hips. Scapular protraction, pulling in the ribs, and PPT are the main cues.

I thought the consensus was to copy the form demo'd in the course video as closely as possible (not saying I disagree with you, but I think the term "straight body" could mean different things to different people and thus the demo video and pictures are designed to remove any ambiguity about what the position should look like).

Ravn said:

I think it was said somewhere on the forum, that the rounded upper back is an exaggeration to teach the form of the hold, and that as the load increases through the progressions, the back evens itself out to approach the desired slightly hollowed shape.

So that it's clear what we're talking about, what do you mean when you say rounded? To me it just means strong protraction and depression, but with a straight body. I think it's difficult to get a truly round shape to the upper back. To me, Tomm's video demonstrated a really rounded back, but to have that kind of form in the upper back seems pretty impossible to me. But as I've said, I don't think it's desirable.

First of all, I'm not coach, and I could be talking out my arse. But: by rounded I mean the following. Imagine someone is poking his finger in your sternum, and you're moving your sternum backwards. That creates a small rounding of the upper back. Nothing crazy, but a rounding nevertheless. It's part of the handstand hollow cues, and as such I assume that it also applies to planche. But really, someone more knowledgeable should answer your question. I've only got a tuck planche.

I have a question about lean form. If I were doing my leans parallel with a mirror, looking in it how can I tell if my scapula is adequately protracted? should I be able to see the "middle" of my upper back popping up higher than the shoulder blades? or does that not matter. finding it hard to monitor my form by myself in the mirror

Destiny said:

I have a question about lean form. If I were doing my leans parallel with a mirror, looking in it how can I tell if my scapula is adequately protracted? should I be able to see the "middle" of my upper back popping up higher than the shoulder blades? or does that not matter. finding it hard to monitor my form by myself in the mirror

The three main points I look for are a flat lower back (indicating PPT), being able to see the middle of my back nice and smooth without the scapula popping up (indicating protraction), and seeing the traps stretches out from my neck to my shoulders (indicating depression).

I've attached a picture of my PL (at the bottom of the post). It's not perfect, but I I think I've got those basics covered.

Here's an example of what looks to me like incorrect form (sorry random lady I found on the internet!). Her butt is in the air with an arched lower back (no ppt, no hollow body). Her traps are slightly bunched up, and you can see her tank top resting between her scapula that are sticking up a little bit. And of course her feet are in the wrong position. The problems aren't major, but neither is the lean. As the forces increase with her lean, the problems would almost certainly become more exaggerated.

Here's another one, having your butt higher than your head and grimacing in agony is also a bad sign! (my apologies to you as well, random internet guy!)

To me my back looks adequately rounded. What do you think? I think as I (hopefully!  ) progress to full planche, the rounding will diminish simply because my feet will be in the air. But the back position stays fundamentally the same. The mid-back rounding is simply a function of the fact that my feet are so far below my shoulders, thoughts?

thecolin, very very good planche lean stance

To the OP, follow in suit and look at his back, in line with his shoulders and compressed in one unit. Great!

@thecolin: Yes, both examples you showed had an arched back and piked hips at the same time which is a big nono. Protraction could be better too. As for your planche lean, the form is pretty much spot on (full protraction and pretty much straight hollow body). The mid-back 'rounding' you see is not exaggerated which is good and yes it will even out when your whole body is level.

Adriano Augusto said:

thecolin, very very good planche lean stance

 

B1214N said:

 the form is pretty much spot on

Thanks guys, I appreciate it! As said, I had to completely rethink and restart this position at one point, but I'm glad it was worth the extra time.