planche goal

Been doing some wrist stretching/strengthening. Trained planche yesterday and everything was good. I just have wrist/hand soreness since I'm fairly new to this type of movement, but no injuries...

L-sit for 10s? I'm not sure this exactly counts as mastering the L-sit. On PB or rings? With the elbows turned out or in?

Hi all,

I am also working toward PL and am wary of doing any damage to my wrists. They are fine at the moment and I want to keep them that way. I do plenty of wrist and forearm stretching every day.

I am working a number of static holds with best times of 27s in tuck planche, 27s in l-sit and 45s in advanced tuck front lever. I work for a 60s cumulative hold for each position. Each time I train I try and beat my max time. Is this the correct way to move through the progressions? Coach commented that you should only work with 50% of your max hold. How would this work and how would you lenghten best times doing this?

I am in no hurry to try and complete the PL and my goal is to achieve it without incurring injury.

Hi Gavin,

Coach Sommer recommends working in steady state cycles of 8-12 weeks. During such a cycle, you will not change anything in your workout (duration of holds, number of sets/reps), hence 'steady state'.

At the start of the cycle you determine what your current max hold is for any given static position you wish to work on. You divide this time by two, and use this 50% max hold as a single 'rep'. Your goal is to accumulate reps to a total of 60 seconds work time (with appropriate rest in between reps). So if you have a tuck planche of 27 seconds, divide this by two (~14 seconds) and perform 4 such reps (~56 seconds total work time).

Throughout the steady state cycle you should move from perceived overload to perceived underload, in other words: 60 seconds of total work on a given static position should be very hard for you at first, and easy after 8-12 weeks. After finishing a cycle, you will measure you new max holds and adjust your workout accordingly. When you are able to execute perfect holds for at least 15 seconds (from the top of my head) you could consider moving on to the next progression (e.g., advanced tuck planche).

The reasoning behind the steady state cycle is that you allow your body to get used to the strain on your joints and give it time to heal properly.

Thanks biomieg, very clear.

Gavin S said:

Thanks biomieg, very clear.

No problem. In fact, I'm an absolute newbie in gymnastics/bodyweight training and the tiny bit of knowledge that I have, I picked up here. This means that I may be off a bit regarding the hold times necessary before progressing to a harder variation of an exercise. I thought 15 seconds was more or less 'mandatory' but I think I've also read somewhere that 30 seconds of perfect execution is desirable before moving on. Whichever way you look at it, the key is: work the basics diligently and you will reap the benefits later.

Nice, good luck with the training. Slow and steady wins the race.

Nice thread - I love this site.

I'm another guy who urges the OP to go slow. I was forced to take a ton of time away from planche work because I pushed too fast and hurt my wrist. Very frustrating. Once it was hurt, it would constantly get re-aggravated, and I had to stop PL training altogether. So now, months later, it's like I'm starting all over with my PL training - only this time, I'll be sure not to rush it.

^^^^ Been taking the progressions slowly to avoid injury. My advanced tuck has been getting better every week though as my wrists/hands/fingers get more flexible. Luckily I had strength from weight training before starting the planche, otherwise I wouldn't be this far. I guess lifting for a years can come in handy despite the overall supremacy of bodyweight exercises

[quote name=matt=>]^^^^ Been taking the progressions slowly to avoid injury. My advanced tuck has been getting better every week though as my wrists/hands/fingers get more flexible. Luckily I had strength from weight training before starting the planche, otherwise I wouldn't be this far. I guess lifting for a years can come in handy despite the overall supremacy of bodyweight exercises

Any type of strength development has some carryover. Guys like you and me who lifted a lot before coming here have good muscular development, which gives us an advantage compared to an untrained person. Don't make the mistake of thinking that we are somehow better prepared because of our weight training background as compared to someone who spent the same amount of time working the bodyweight exercises! I fervently wish that I could have spent my two and a half years on my ship primarily doing the gymnastic progressions instead of lifting so much. I would be much, much farther along and stronger as a whole. I don't feel bad about how I spent my time, since I was doing the best I could with what I knew, but I am fully aware that I would be as strong or stronger in the weight room as I am now, as well as far, far more advanced with the gymnastic exercises if I had spent the same time on the gymnastic work.

slizzardman, I couldn't agree with you more. I have also thought about how much gymnastic progress I could have made since I started lifting two to three years ago. Still, besides the fact that most people use weight lifting for vanity and ego, I did gain strength I would not otherwise, so it wasn't all wasted time. Just glad I didn't do NOTHING over the past few years hahaha

Definitely not wasted time! Any time spent in the pursuit of fitness is time well spent to me. With the exception of doing things that are sure to get you hurt!