Planche and levers worth it?

Sort of a wishy washy random question... My legs grow like weeds, on steroids and since finding this place I pretty much dont work my legs or VERY very little so they dont interfere with my goals of planche and front lever....

However I feel like my overall athleticism is lacking from the lack of lower body training, and having recently gotten a solid straddle planche, and had a full front and back lever for a while, I gotta ask is it worth it?

Not harping on levers or planche by any means, just looking for some discussion.

I could still perform almost all the bodyweight feats I enjoy except the above if I resume consistent leg training. Muscle ups, handstands, ring work, Idk I got so obsessed with the planche and now that I have the straddle Im not sure if it was worth giving up the other attributes.....

What say you other fine gentleman(and ladies!) in gymnastic land?

I have the same problem with my legs getting big really easy. They are not as big now as when I used to squat and deadlift and all that but still way too heavy than I would like for planche and levers.

Oh well

I still carry on with the hopes of ever improving in everything. I have up heavy leg lifting and now I do more plyo, bodyweight, tumbling and kettlebell work for legs, and not that often. I haven't lost any jumping power though my tumbling has gotten a bit sloppier from lack of practice in the winter.

Ultimately, body type is a blessing or hindrance, but by no means a barrier. Take a lot of the old school strongmen for example. There were some big dudes who excelled at both heavy lifting and bodyweight feats.

As far as losing attributes(strength +1, dexterity -1) it all depends on your ultimate goals. At some point you will get to a level where you can't do everything all at once. You will have to specialize in something and other traits may suffer, unless you want to be mediocre at everything crossfit style.

I had to make the choice, and decided to focus more on hand balance and acrobatics.

I got asked by a guy at the gym once whether I do cardio. I told him I occasionally do kettlebell swings for higher reps and that's about it. So maybe I can't run a 6 minute mile like I could in high school(I've packed on a bit of muscle since then anyway) but it doesn't apply to my current mode of training so I don't work it.

Maybe in the future I will have a different mind set and do more cardio.

Again it depends on your goals. Planche and front lever are great tricks and have lots of benefits, but if you are a football player for example then maybe you should have focused on other goals.

But no worries

I have long monkey arms and long legs. And 5' 11", which isn't shattering any records, but it means that it's gonna be awhile before I get a full front lever. Torque = force x distance. So two guys both weigh 175, the stocky 5'8" guy will probably get to front lever before the lanky 6'3"guy. And when the tall guy does a flat tuck, it might be just as hard as when the short guy is in a full lever.

For me, my goal out of all of this is to be able to work out from home, condition my joints, get a better sense of body movement/awareness, better all-around strength and conditioning, and to look better in the mirror. Gymnastics allows all of those things, and the exercise are fun, with plenty of variety.

If I never get an inverted cross, I'll live with it. But I will keep working to increase strength and muscle endurance for as long as I'm working out. And I'm sure if I stick with this diligently for 5+ years, I'll probably start to approach the shoulder strength to hold my long armspan and have it support me in an inverted cross.

So if I put 10 lbs on my legs and it delays my planche by 6 months, whatever. I'm still getting stronger. If you're looking to compete in gymnastics...might be a different story.

All depends on your goals.

JM

I've seen a ton of planches and front levers with people who squat above 2x bw and deadlift above 3x. Will they ever get to a maltese or an inverted cross? I don't know and like Yuri said eventually you'll have to specialize but saying you can't get a front lever or a planche because your legs are too big is a bit of stretch in my opinion.

But in the end it depends on how important it is to you. If you really miss leg work and it's important to you than why stress over it? just do it and know that you'll need a bit more strength to pull off the levers.

Also remember that while you might not want your legs to grow, athleticism is usually how fast you can run, how high you can jump and how quickly/efficiently you can change directions. Practicing those things will make your legs a bit bigger but it is no where near as hypertrophy inducing as strength training.

PS not working legs for me is simply not an option, I never want to be referred to as top heavy hahaha.

Thanks for the responses guys.

Great points yuri!, and I love this style of training that is for sure.

Alexx, I couldnt be top heavy if I tried man =) my legs grow too easily....

coincidentally I can squat above 2x and deadlift 3x bodyweight.

I think Ill go back to training legs once a week, volume low and see where I stand.

I appreciate the responses though greatly! Gives me lots to ponder.

Speaking as the resident tall guy on the forum, I can say that the levers have become more that just another training notch for me, but something that I have to attain, for tall people everywhere (I believe the reason you don't see as many huge people doing them is just because they don't train for them).

Recently attaining a full layout back lever (about 20 seconds), straddled front (10 on a good day), but stuck at a 15 second tuck planche, I've been torn between wanting to go like mad and get further, and go slowly so I don't blow my arms. Having followed the progressions and exercises here for two years, I can say that I'm doing the latter.

As far as leg training goes...I gotta say, I've been doing the same thing as you, reluctant to train them as hard for fear that they'll grow too big. Unfortunately, my level of strength has gotten far lower than it has in the past (high school volleyball, I could jump like a kangaroo), so I need to work on getting it back.

Reading the other posts here has been really informative and interesting, I'm always looking forward to reading stuff from the advanced athletes!

6' 6"?!! Seriously. I wanna see what a 6-1/2 foot front lever looks like. That's a loooongggg lever. Pics? Video?

J

JmanDetroit said:

6' 6"?!! Seriously. I wanna see what a 6-1/2 foot front lever looks like. That's a loooongggg lever. Pics? Video?

J

I'll see about making something over the next couple weeks. I do have a video up, but it's over a year old, and my form/strength was pretty bad. :oops: