Straddle Planche Attempt at 200 lbs.

I was able to hold this for 3-4 seconds.  Aside from the obvious, not being horizontal, I would welcome any constructive criticism.  One problem is that this feels horizontal to me and horizontal feels lows.  So suggestions with this, if any, would be helpful.  

If anyone is curious this has taken me a little less than a year of work since July last year, 2-4 times a week and I came from a background of heavy bench pressing.  It is equivalent to 315x10 rep bench press.  I haven't tested max and don't plan to but that is probably close to a 400 pound press.  So a full planche pushup with strict form, if I ever get there, will most probably be more that a 2x body-weight bench press for me.  

In addition to the static positions, I have found planche pushup variations extremely helpful as well as the harder pushup variations in BTGB.  Pseudo maltese pushups became easy so I began doing a sort of pseudo planche push up with feet on the ground and a more extreme lean.  I am able to continuously vary the lean and stay int he 3-5 rep range.  I did have to work up to two sets of 15 adv tuck holds in addition to 3-4 sets of dynamic before I was able to transition to working on straddle, probably because of my weight.

I plan to work straddle for at least a year before attempting a transition to full planche just to be on the safe side. Suggestions and experiences with this would be welcome as well, especially form heavier practitioners.

This is pretty impressive for a 200 lb guy with heavy legs. What is your height and your max bench press before? Good job!

Aside from the high hips, it looks like you are not fully protracted and maybe a bit piked with slightly bent knees as well. You must get used to the true horizontal feeling rather than the one you feel right now to fix the high hips. So in other words, get used to that lower feeling that you feel. You should work on the straddle planche or adv tuck if straddle is still too much for you at the moment until you get to around 15 seconds before moving on to the full planche. 

The Foundation series is a good resource to get and master the straddle planche if you need more in-depth help.

Thanks man.  I am 5'8".  I stopped benching regularly almost 2 years ago.  At my peak 315 for 3x10-12, or 330-350 for a couple of sets of 5-6.   Max was close to 400, but not quite, never trained it regularly.   I feel like although my bench numbers are a little lower, I am actually stronger.  I think they are lower because I very rarely bench press, I just do it for comparison and curiosity. I am almost certain if I trained bench regularly for month my numbers would be better than before.  

Thanks for the advice.  Guess I will keep testing straddle with a camera and working on adv tuck until I get it right.

Good work! One thing: Are your elbows locked out? They look slightly bent to me.

It's very strange your hands positioning, i'm about 27-28 lbs less then you but my hands in straddle position are behind my hips.

Thx for the replies.

To the best of my memory, and comparing on the mirror, they were straight.  But my right arm in the pic looks bent bc of the bicep.  My arms do not bend past 180 like some.  Could be they are a little, something I will pay some more attention to.  The other thing I went back and checked is the protraction and my shoulders are not as retracted as it looks in the pic, that is just the size of them and my upper back and the angle. 

As to the hand position, I am not in a technically sound straddle planche, the lean may increase as I bring it down a little, positioning my hands slightly further back.  Comparing to pics online it seems there is variation probably due to structure and weight distribution.   Most of my bulk is in the upper body and my torso is relatively long, so might account a little for that difference.  If my hands were behind my hips I would fall on my face.

I am interested to know If I can build on this, or whether I should return to adv tuck.

If you haven't already, get into the habit of pointing your feet.

Pointing your feet isn't just an aesthetic thing. In the long run pointing your feet will help you control your body more in positions like front lever, full planche, handstand, hollow and arch body positions, plus other harder gymnastic strength skills.

Even in something as mundane as a flip turn in swimming pointing your feet helps swimmers get down the lane further while holding "Streamline" position. Swimming Butterfly becomes much easier with your legs somewhat inwardly rotated and your feet pointed.

Awesome job! Always motivating to see bigger guys pulling off moves.

Thanks for the replies fellas.  GoldenEagle the feet pointing really made a difference especially in the planche and handstand, much easier to balance.  I have no idea why that is though, but thanks, very helpful.

This is Amazing!

I still struggle with keeping my knees/hips higher and keeping my back straight. I can hold a tuck planche (knees to chest, straight arms/elbows and bend back) for about 15 second max, but thats it!

To get my hips higher and my back flat I have to lean more foward, isn't it? Tips are welcome man!

TheSecondName said:

This is Amazing!

I still struggle with keeping my knees/hips higher and keeping my back straight. I can hold a tuck planche (knees to chest, straight arms/elbows and bend back) for about 15 second max, but thats it!

To get my hips higher and my back flat I have to lean more foward, isn't it? Tips are welcome man!

Its hard to tell you with limited information on your fitness experience, and on the finer points you will need input from others more specialized in GST than I am.

However this may be of use to you.  I worked up to a full minute straight in the tuck planche before progressing and also worked on various push ups and dips as found in BtGB.  It will take a while to condition the shoulders elbows and wrists to planche work and I am talking in years.  

The lower back and spinal erectors may be weak or unaccustomed to working in the advanced tuck position.  Working the lower back with weights has little carryover.  Working back lever progressions and other body weight exercises will have carryover.  

So in terms of pure strength the arms and the lower back are limiting factors, beyond that is a lot of fine tuning.  

good luck

ASNB said:

I was able to hold this for 3-4 seconds.  Aside from the obvious, not being horizontal, I would welcome any constructive criticism.  One problem is that this feels horizontal to me and horizontal feels lows.  So suggestions with this, if any, would be helpful.  

 

If anyone is curious this has taken me a little less than a year of work since July last year, 2-4 times a week and I came from a background of heavy bench pressing.  It is equivalent to 315x10 rep bench press.  I haven't tested max and don't plan to but that is probably close to a 400 pound press.  So a full planche pushup with strict form, if I ever get there, will most probably be more that a 2x body-weight bench press for me.  

 

In addition to the static positions, I have found planche pushup variations extremely helpful as well as the harder pushup variations in BTGB.  Pseudo maltese pushups became easy so I began doing a sort of pseudo planche push up with feet on the ground and a more extreme lean.  I am able to continuously vary the lean and stay int he 3-5 rep range.  I did have to work up to two sets of 15 adv tuck holds in addition to 3-4 sets of dynamic before I was able to transition to working on straddle, probably because of my weight.

 

I plan to work straddle for at least a year before attempting a transition to full planche just to be on the safe side. Suggestions and experiences with this would be welcome as well, especially form heavier practitioners.

This is very impressive and inspiring coming from a guy your size. What did your program look like? Were you working other skills too, or did you focus strictly on planche work?

Thanks Bhg1987.  I won't tell you what my program was like then bc it wasn't optimal and for my weight a little on the unsafe side.  But i will tell u in general my training philosophy now.  

Since achieving the straddle I have scaled back on frequency considerably and now only straddle planche and flag once every two weeks and never in the same week.  I have also gained 7 more pounds (207).  The reason is that the straddle planche really stresses my shoulders and i need 2 sometimes two and a half weeks to recover in which I will usually have one session of advanced tuck.  This actually makes quite a bit of sense because the wear on my shoulders is very similar to heavy bench and when I was benching i would only go heavy once every two weeks.  Multiple planche sessions a week may work well for lighter guys but I suspect over 170 lb guys need to adopt a different approach.  

I also have a full lay FL for 2 secs,  SLS with 10 extra pounds for reps, an acceptable flag working towards side lever, lsit working to a v, and I am very close to a one arm chin.  I also am working to a freestanding Hand stand for more than 30 sec and around a 20 rep HeSPU on door.  I throw in volume days once every two weeks of dips chins squats and pushups.

In general I do one limit strength day per week, two days of cardio (barefoot running) and three days of stretching.  The larger and stronger the stiffer so hence the emphasis on stretching.  

If you are just starting out get Foundation and save yourself a ton of trouble.  if you achieve a straddle and if you are a heavier fella then i would recommend scaling back intensity if your joints are not recovering.  

Wise words and respect on your achievements.

I like the fact that you listen to your shoulders and have the patience to wait for them. Some days I feel my shoulders are not ready for doing an exercise and get cross at having to back off as I feel I have less time available (being older). But - ignore that Sensei JP :-) - waiting it out is very necessary.

ASNB said:

Thanks Bhg1987.  I won't tell you what my program was like then bc it wasn't optimal and for my weight a little on the unsafe side.  But i will tell u in general my training philosophy now.  

 

Since achieving the straddle I have scaled back on frequency considerably and now only straddle planche and flag once every two weeks and never in the same week.  I have also gained 7 more pounds (207).  The reason is that the straddle planche really stresses my shoulders and i need 2 sometimes two and a half weeks to recover in which I will usually have one session of advanced tuck.  This actually makes quite a bit of sense because the wear on my shoulders is very similar to heavy bench and when I was benching i would only go heavy once every two weeks.  Multiple planche sessions a week may work well for lighter guys but I suspect over 170 lb guys need to adopt a different approach.  

 

I also have a full lay FL for 2 secs,  SLS with 10 extra pounds for reps, an acceptable flag working towards side lever, lsit working to a v, and I am very close to a one arm chin.  I also am working to a freestanding Hand stand for more than 30 sec and around a 20 rep HeSPU on door.  I throw in volume days once every two weeks of dips chins squats and pushups.

 

In general I do one limit strength day per week, two days of cardio (barefoot running) and three days of stretching.  The larger and stronger the stiffer so hence the emphasis on stretching.  

 

If you are just starting out get Foundation and save yourself a ton of trouble.  if you achieve a straddle and if you are a heavier fella then i would recommend scaling back intensity if your joints are not recovering.

Thank you for your reply. Its always interesting to read how other heavier guys plan their training. Im on the other end of spectrum with regards to frequency, however Im very catious of my overall volume and intensity and pay close attention to fatigue.

LateStarter@46 said:

Wise words and respect on your achievements.

I like the fact that you listen to your shoulders and have the patience to wait for them. Some days I feel my shoulders are not ready for doing an exercise and get cross at having to back off as I feel I have less time available (being older). But - ignore that Sensei JP :-) - waiting it out is very necessary.

Thanks Latestarter.  Backing off is hard for me as well, in fact it is harder than working through the pain, but it needs to be done so I find other safer ways to expend energy...like a three or four hour hike or something that will not eat into recovery.

Bhg1987 said:

Thank you for your reply. Its always interesting to read how other heavier guys plan their training. Im on the other end of spectrum with regards to frequency, however Im very catious of my overall volume and intensity and pay close attention to fatigue.

No problem.  Actually I think heavier practitioners should share more experiences because  the exercises are substantially more difficult at heavier weight because of  square cross section and cube volume.  

I do want to make something clear tho, once I moved from adv tuck to straddle planche i had to decrease frequency and volume if I wanted to continue to straddle pl.  reason being the only way to reduce the intensity of a straddle is to make it less of a straddle and more of an adv tuck or something else. joints catch up eventually and then you can increase frequency and volume again but not to previous levels.

good luch