Straightening the arms in an Advanced Frog Stand

[Aaron Griffin]

I have a question for those of you who went through the Advanced Frog Stand to get to at least a Tuck Planche. I currently can't even come close to a tuck, but I can hop a few times and get in the position for a fraction of a second. I feel like I don't understand the mechanics of it.

So, from the bent-arm Advanced Frog, how do you straighten them? What's the most important part? I know I need to lean farther forward, but I can't seem to adjust the center of gravity to make that a stable position. What should I be doing with my legs and torso?

Any other advice? I'm really hoping to just be able to figure out this position in any way possible so I can know what I should be targeting

[Robert Stejskal]

This is what I did.

1) First, I use stands. It saves the wrists and gives you more clearance.

2) Do these near a wall. That way, you can lean forward without the fear of falling on your face. It also takes balance out of the equation. It is sort of the same reason why you do a wall assisted handstand before trying a free standing handstand. You need to work on the strength and balance before you can advance.

3) Just how far away from the wall you want to be will of course depend on how long your levers (arms) are. I'm 6' 1" and find that I need to be ~17 - 20" or so from the wall. Probably you should start out much closer to the wall in the beginning so you trust that the wall will catch you when you lean forward. If you start out say 10" from the wall, you will try to lean forward, your head will hit before you get into position and you will fall back away from the wall. No problem, just back up an inch (or whatever you feel comfortable doing) and try agin. Soon, you will find the right spot and feel safe leaning forward from that spot. I would actually measure this distance so you can repeat the setup time after time. I use my gym bag as my measuring tool. Whatever works.

Also, leaning your head against the wall will take weight off of your shoulders, arms, etc, making the move much easier in the beginning as you are just getting used to supporting the full weight of your body on your arms only with no support. I found this to be a useful step in my progress. You will just naturally want to balance without using the wall for support as you progress, so it will be easy to ween yourself off this as you gain in strength and experience.

4) I think you should start in the basic frog stand position. Just try to get used to the lean forward. Try to keep your hips raised and your legs as high and as tucked as you can. You should notice that it is easier to raise your legs now that you are leaning further forward.

5) When you feel comfortable, try to do this in the advanced (straight arm) frog stand position.

6) To transition from the advanced frog stand to the tuck planche can be tough. I found it really hard to just start doing it without resting my knees on my elbows (advanced frog stand). But, with your knees supported, it is impossible to remove them when you get into position. My solution was to get into an advanced frog stand with a wider than normal hand position and raise my hips and legs to the proper positionn. Then when I got in positon my knees would just naturally slide off my elbows and presto, I was now in the tuck planche. Usually I'm sweating so my knees slide off fairly easily. You could also use some sort of lotion to make them slide off easier. Whatever works. Its more mental than anything. You want to have in your mind that you want your knees to slide off as you prepare the position. After a while, you will just start to get into the position naturally. Later, you will just be able to go immediately into the tuck planche, but I found it hard as hell in the beginning.

Well, that's how I did it anyway.

[CalisthenicGod]

I am also having trouble with the Advanced Frog Stand. I can hold a 60 second Bent Arm Frog Stand perfectly fine with more strength left in the tank, however I can't even get into the Advanced Frog Stand.

What is strange, however is that I can hold a Tuck Planche for about 10 seconds, so I am guessing I may lack the proper technique and groove.

[Aaron Griffin]

Do these near a wall.

I'm floored. I have no idea why I didn't think of this. I even tried constructing things (piece of wood with two pillows on top, for instance) to use as a rest for practicing the lean.

The fact that I didn't even think of the wall at all makes me feel dumb

I'm definitely going to play around with this

[Seiji]

I find the advanced frog stand harder than the tuck haha, because of the lean.

There's a bent arm advanced frog? I thought the difference was bent arms in frog and straight in advanced.

[Cole Dano]

I got the tuck first as well. I find that advanced frog puts allot of pressure on the elbows due to the weight of the body resting above them.

My thinking is that lots of ring support work will help bridge the gap to both tuck and advanced frog PL.

[Samuel Carr]

Try working planche leans for awhile and then go back to adv frog after an ssc cycle or two if it still isn't working out

[Aaron Griffin]

I find the advanced frog stand harder than the tuck haha, because of the lean.

There's a bent arm advanced frog? I thought the difference was bent arms in frog and straight in advanced.

Yeah, the difference is the knees are behind the elbows. It's the middle ground between the frog (elbows outside) and the tuck (elbows inside)

[Robert Stejskal]

Another thing that **might** help is the handstand press.

The reason I say **might** is because, though this skill will develop your "lean", it is done with bent elbows.

Even if it doesn't help with your planche training, it is a useful skill to learn:

http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials/tutorials/40