Shoulder discomfort in planche

Hi guys,

I've been working through the planche progressions and have a question. I can easily hold the advanced frog stand with straight arms for 60 seconds straight so I moved on to working the tuck planche. Whenever I do the tuck planche I can hold it with the hips level with shoulders for at least 10 seconds or so, but afterwards I get a lot of discomfort in my shoulder joint. In particular it hits the anterior deltoid/coracoid process attachments for you anatomy types. Even when trying shorter holds I get similar discomfort just less intense. I know when you up the intensity it's normal to feel it more but this pain doesn't really feel like healthy muscle strain.

Any ideas for this? I'd really like to keep working on this skill.

Thanks,

Jeff

P.S. I tried using the search function to see if there were similar posts but couldn't get it to work properly so sorry if this has already been addressed.

I don't want to convince you to work trough the pain but in case of the planche, it was exactly what i was doing. With my shoulders at least. I was doing it 3x10sec every 3 days and the pain alleviated in a few weeks. Note that it was only with my shoulders not my elbows or wrists. Shoulders are a special case I think and it applied for me in the front lever hold too. First, my shoulders were so sore after only trying to get my hips up 3 times every 3 days, but after a few weeks they've accomodated i think, no pain since then.

If you can hold the adv. frogstand for 60sec and the tuck planche correctly for 10 sec there is no intermediate step... just do it with low intensity as i said and wait for your tendons and ligaments to accomodate.

I'm not sure if the post above is correct so wait till the experts assure it...or not

While this isn't ideal, you could start with holding your hips below shoulders at a height that doesn't cause the discomfort, work that for a few weeks, raise your hips an inch or two, and keep repeating until you have no pain in the proper position.

I personally think that you may be failing to lock the arm into the shoulder socket. In Pavel's books he talks about "screwing" the upper arm into the socket. To do this you need to practice it. In a push up position, flex your arm pit and try to externally rotate just a little. You should feel the arm get "sucked" into the socket. This is a technique to teach your body to flex the entire shoulder girdle simultaneously. Swinging PB supports can also help with this as well when they are done right.

So, in essence, you should be working on learning to use your entire shoulder and not just the front part. When performed properly the planche will engage most of the upper body muscles simultaneously.

It may help to combine these two techniques, even learning to do this in a regular PB support. If you do this and shrug up and down in the PB support with straight arms while maintaining the armpit tension you will feel the strangest burn you have ever felt. It is not like doing regular PB support shrugs at all. This will help teach the body to strengthen and use all the muscles that you need to perform a pain-free planche, as well as many other things.

Never train through pain. Discomfort, yes; pain, no. My recommendation is to first build your L-sit etc. prior to beginning PL work.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Ok I need to make an important qualifying statement here: Your arm and shoulder should be fully extended and scapulae protracted during planche work.

The reason I mention pavel's technique is that it is allowing me to train the smaller stabilizing muscles around the shoulders. I use this during push ups, scapular push ups, and other shrugging exercises, and it makes everything much harder and works what feels like a completely different set of muscles. I do NOT actually suck in the arm during planche work, that is not how planche should be done, but I use the analogy to activate my entire shoulder girdle. I am having a tough time putting it into words, because it is a very "by feel" kind of thing. I don't think in words when I do this. I think the main point is that your stabilizing muscles should be strong all around the shoulder and you should be able to activate them at will.

Practicing the support work, FL progressions and finally doing FL work with properly retracted shoulders can really help a lot with this, but I am really having trouble finding the right words. Sorry if this is confusing.

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it.

If I think about it, It was rather discomfort than pain. Sry I didn't want to misinform you, but as I said i'm no expert, just a learner. Good Luck with your training.