Planche Lean cue for protraction

So working on Planche leans today I took video to see how my form looked. I noticed when I just pressed straight through the floor I had a ton of rounding in my upper back. 

Next set I thought about spreading my shoulder blades, by visualizing spreading my hands apart while pressing. 

I think the second photo is a better line? Which method is preferred here? Maybe the rounding is normal in this early progression, and as I put more weight on my arms later this would be less pronounced?

Thanks for any tips. 

Second is better, but I have found this kind of rounding often disguises a lack of depression in adults who are still learning these movements. I'd like to see you work on flattening that further through the t-spine and thinking of pushing the top of your head away from your feet - while keeping a neutral neck- and re assessing where your depth of lean and strength of protraction stand

@Daniel Yarnes In my case I have found the most beneficial cue to be squeezing palms together, as if I'm doing a straight arm chest fly of sorts, and activating the chest. This in combination with a strong protraction/depression and in my opinion my ability to assume the hollow position, and maintain strength in that position of course, has improved 10-fold since beginning on GB programming. Let me know what you think, cues are an interesting point of discussion!!

@Jon Douglas any assessment to see if my depression is holding me back? I can press into L-sits on the floor so my depression can’t be too bad? (I hope lol) I am still working on the PPP progression too, progressing very slowly so maybe my protraction strength is just not enough yet. 

@Ezra Richardson I will give that cue a try in my next workout! Sounds good. Yea hollow position is crushing me on the long holds. My slowest progression so far along with PPP. Brutal. 

8 hours ago, Daniel Yarnes said:

@Jon Douglas any assessment to see if my depression is holding me back? I can press into L-sits on the floor so my depression can’t be too bad? (I hope lol) I am still working on the PPP progression too, progressing very slowly so maybe my protraction strength is just not enough yet. 

@Ezra Richardson I will give that cue a try in my next workout! Sounds good. Yea hollow position is crushing me on the long holds. My slowest progression so far along with PPP. Brutal. 

Hey Daniel, the depression on the L-sit it is much easier because the force exerted it is vertical, on the other side during the planche lean the body it is held in a horizontal position, which makes the necessary strength it specific to the angle of work so the ability to hold depression on L-sit it is less relevant.

Worked on these again today. Thought about performing a chest fly type motion and actively trying to depress my shoulder blades. I think it looks better? Though I believe I need to improve my lean quite a bit more. 

Also it seems I did better trying to put more weight through the first knuckles. I was checking out other peoples videos and noticed that some people have the palm actually lifting off the ground. Is this correct form, to place the weight through the knuckles more than the palm?

if that’s the case I need to work a lot on my knuckle push-ups cause I’m still working from my knees. 

Hi @Daniel Yarnes,

If thats your current level of lean right now then that form is okay. Build strength there and increase your lean after. This will take time and consistency. As for the weight using the knuckles more than the palm, @Alessandro Mainente might have a better answer. For me personally, I use the palm since my hand is not that strong.

@Daniel Yarnes Hi again!

To address your question on weight distribution, I'd say @Leo Trinidad has the right cue. Putting your weight into your fingertips sounds to me like a lack of wrist flexibility, and perhaps an indication that you could play around with hand rotation while you are in the lean. I like to have roughly a 45 degree angle. The weight in the palms is almost certainly safer, I'm willing to bet Coach Sommer would say that the bulk of your weight should be there. I know it varies between people, there is no one size fits all. But early on in development of this position, you are definitely asking the right questions and thinking on the right track!

If I'm wrong in my own thinking, one of the coaches should correct me!

Leo it is correct, trying to reduce the amount of lean (like falling on the floor) with he fingers tends to reduce the shoulder activity. on the other side if you take off the fingers from the equation you can really take all the benefit from this exercise.

Awesome tips. Thanks guys. I will try to keep the weight more centered on my palms and build strength in my current lean. Work in progress.

Plan on getting F2 and Handstand 1 for the new year so I think H1 will help my wrist mobility and leaning ability.