A different approach to planche?

Recently I have begun training planche like all those Ukrainians you see on YouTube. The method involves training mainly planche leans and PPP, skipping the dragondoor progressions entirely. I like this approach as I find the advanced tuck really awkward and am sick of training it.

Basically I start in a leaned push up position with feet elevated and with my head lightly brushing a wall. I then mark the position of my thumb (I train on fingertips) and begin an SSC cycle of planche leans. As I grow stronger I will move my hands back further and again mark the position of my thumb, making sure to lean far enough to brush my head with each hold.

I also like to train pseudo planche push ups in the same way. The wall helps to ensure there is no backward lean on ascent, and marking hand position makes for easily measured progression of difficulty.

So.... thoughts?

It can work. It may take longer due to the specificity laws but I don't do any isometric work anymore either and my statics are still good too. When you can start working PPP+ I would incorporate that too.

The one obstacle I see to this method is the act of balancing it in the air.

That's like adding part B and getting rid of part A... kind of silly.

What you are proposing to add is good, many of us have noticed that planche leans are very important, and it is clearly important to work on PPP as well.

Having said that, it is quite silly to get rid of the statics. Go through the pre-requisites, including the L sit requirement (and the pre-requisites for that), and then start doing 2-4 sets of 10-15s frog stands, progressing up to a single hold of 60s, do the same with adv frog, and then go to tuck and so on. Do these holds 3-4 days per week, keeping that volume fairly low. just 2 holds at first, then a few weeks later add in a 3rd hold if you think you need it. Progress up to where you're doing two 30s holds with relative ease and perfect position before trying to move on, because this should put you in the 45-60s range for a max hold (which should be tested once a month or so)

Hit the pre-requisites for a single set each day, 4-6 days per week and never stop. They are seriously the key to a lot of long term strength development.

The feets touching the ground will change the biomechanics of the exercise

So slizz, if I were to train a tuck planche with hips above horizontal (trying to make an intermediate stage from tuck to advanced tuck), would I be better off doing 3 sets of 10 seconds (near max hold) or 6 sets of 5 seconds? This is really to just get a base of raised tuck planche so I can have a log enough hold to train with SSCs properly.

Also, would doing tuck planches thrice per week and planche leans once per week be okay?

Thank you.

My previous post contains all of my recommendations regarding time, intensity, and frequency.

You should never be pushing your straight arm strength to the limit until you have a proper 10-15s straddle planche with legs 90-120 degrees apart. At that point the elbow structures are pretty much accustomed to as much force as they are ever going to need to handle, and you will probably benefit from SOME holds to failure of good form. That is several years away from pretty much all beginners.

So, if you can hold a tuck for 10-12s max then that is your strength work, you should only do it 1-2x per week, for 2-4 sets and not 4 sets both days if you do 2x per week. Start with 1-2 sets and slowly ease in to more before upping hold times. I recommend that you not switch to adv tuck planche for strength work until you have, at minimum, a 30s tuck perfect form. The bulk of your freestanding planche work should still be tuck until you hit 45-60s. This is to protect your elbows. You may not be aware of this, but everyone who tries to work towards the planche specifcally gets hurt. Every single person. We just got another one, Andull.

Stop chasing the dragon, so to speak, until you have become a suitable dragon hunter. Build your structure, take your time, and let the planche come to you. It will if you just follow the steps.

i have a question with planche..

if we do a reasonable compare between isometrich and concentric exercise, we can say that 1 concetric is a bout 2 sec of isometrich..so if for the strength is better work into 3-5 reps range, for the isometrich the best range can be 6-10 seconds...so if possible the best thing can be work only in this range?

Jiggle, what specific video are you referring to where the Ukranians emphasize the PPP and Planche Leans? thanks

alex87 said:

i have a question with planche..

if we do a reasonable compare between isometrich and concentric exercise, we can say that 1 concetric is a bout 2 sec of isometrich..so if for the strength is better work into 3-5 reps range, for the isometrich the best range can be 6-10 seconds...so if possible the best thing can be work only in this range?

Where on earth did you get that idea? They are not comparable.

However, if you are careful you could just work that range. The problem is that you will run a high risk of developing your prime movers beyond what your postural muscles are able to keep up with. If you kept perfect form and did reasonable assistance exercises this risk could be minimized, but you will still have the exact same timeframe in terms of what the connective tissue can adapt to. It won't get you to safe planching any faster, I don't think, UNLESS you for some reason have been developing the straight arm portion of the planche through simulated iron cross holds on cables or something. At that point you may have the elbow and biceps tendon integrity you need but not the strength elsewhere.

In that particular case, which is a ridiculous way to go for a couple of reasons, the method you are inquiring about would substantially decrease the training time necessary to perform a planche.

This would be an idiotic way to go because you would be spending the exact same amount of time but almost certainly developing a much narrower range of skills in the same period of time and running a much higher risk of injury.

slizzardman said:

alex87 said:

i have a question with planche..

if we do a reasonable compare between isometrich and concentric exercise, we can say that 1 concetric is a bout 2 sec of isometrich..so if for the strength is better work into 3-5 reps range, for the isometrich the best range can be 6-10 seconds...so if possible the best thing can be work only in this range?

Where on earth did you get that idea? They are not comparable.

However, if you are careful you could just work that range. The problem is that you will run a high risk of developing your prime movers beyond what your postural muscles are able to keep up with. If you kept perfect form and did reasonable assistance exercises this risk could be minimized, but you will still have the exact same timeframe in terms of what the connective tissue can adapt to. It won't get you to safe planching any faster, I don't think, UNLESS you for some reason have been developing the straight arm portion of the planche through simulated iron cross holds on cables or something. At that point you may have the elbow and biceps tendon integrity you need but not the strength elsewhere.

In that particular case, which is a ridiculous way to go for a couple of reasons, the method you are inquiring about would substantially decrease the training time necessary to perform a planche.

This would be an idiotic way to go because you would be spending the exact same amount of time but almost certainly developing a much narrower range of skills in the same period of time and running a much higher risk of injury.

this is reasonable...sorry, i asked it because i've read it in a forum of crossfit training (if i find it i'll post) i wanted some clarification..

Nothing to be sorry about my friend! I am just honestly curious what the justification is for this idea. It doesn't make sense to me. Can you find out what the source of this idea is? I would love to know, maybe there is research that I am completely unaware of. Seriously.

This is a little off-topic but I was wondering what would be a correct advanced tuck planche? There seems to different 'forms' of this exercise and I'm not sure which is correct.

1. like a tucked planche except with a flat back. Hips are level with shoulders so knees are in front of or level with arms:

I find this version easier than a simple tucked planche with hips shoulder high for some reason?

2. hips are raised to shoulder height and body is leaned forward so thighs are perpendicular to floor:

3. hips are above shoulder height and legs are parallel with lean of arms:

Thanks