abs failing!

Whenever I do planche holds and front levers(beginning position, knees tucked, back rounded), my abs fail before my arms, chest or lats. I've been at this planche stuff for ABOUT 2 YEARS NOW and still cannot hold a beginning planche for 60 seconds.

I have resorted to jimmying my resistance band around my ankles to get used to holding the position for a long time(1-1:15). This HAS increased my planche time better than anything else, but my abs and legs fail before my upper body caves.

I have one goal, just one. ) To go from a seated L-sit to a handstand. With that being said, I STILL cannot hold a handstand with the feet against the wall, for 2 mins. And, whenever I kick away from the wall, I can only stay "free" for about 5 seconds. Do you know how frustrating t his is? 2 years and NO PROGRESS AT ALL.

Mark

Im not an expert, but I know that weighted front squats are a great way to work your abs and quads. Perhaps this is the exercise that you seek?

Mark, how long can you hold an L-sit? Coach Sommer has noted that a good L-sit is required before planche work.

Can you work the back lever at all with your workout equipment?

Building the ability to hold a HS on the wall for 2m requires programming it. Basically you need to work up the strength-endurance to hold it that long.

How do front squats help your abs? They're just less straining on the lower back. They might help with the leg problem though. I'd imagine you'd need a good lower back to get from a pike to a HS anyways.

Have you considered core exercises by themselves?

Seiji said:

How do front squats help your abs? They're just less straining on the lower back. They might help with the leg problem though. I'd imagine you'd need a good lower back to get from a pike to a HS anyways.

Have you considered core exercises by themselves?

Have you ever done heavy front squats? Your abs get alot of work stabalizing your torso, as the soreness the next day will tell you. Convential squats work your abs alot to, but not to the same degree as front squats.

i have never felt squats in my abs... sorry

for the core i would suggests hll, l-sit, body levers

for legs i would suggest pistols and other squat variations... if you keep the volume low, you will get more strength/hypertrophy gains... this could help with the planche...

however your post is a bit scattered... first you talk about planche and front lever and how to get more leg/core strength... then you list your only goal is l-sit to handstand... then you comment on your lack of freestanding handstand...

if you're not making progress, take a look at your programing and nutrition... good luck

Griff has a bunch of good points. If your abs are failing, work them. If you can't do body levers, at least do the hanging leg lifts and perhaps some weighted ab work to get you to where you can! Trust me, when you can do body levers your abs will not be what fails you. Second. your abs really aren't doing that much work in the planche in the tucked or advanced tuck, at least not to me. Your back strength and control is quite possibly the big issue.

Your problems are definitely coming from ineffective programming. Before any of us can help you we need to know exactly what your training protocol looks like.