FUNDAMENTAL EXERCISES

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Isometric refers to muscle contractions where muscle length remains constant.

In this context it refers to holding a planche related position without movement.

Progressions of planche holds are broken down into 5 levels. For training purposes,

select a level you can hold for 10-15 seconds WITH GOOD TECHNIQUE.

FRONT SUPPORT AND LEARNING TO LEAN / LEVEL 1

This position provides a foundation for training planche holds. Front support is the

name given to the position at the top of a push-up. The posture of your body should

be a straight line from your toes to your shoulders. Your pelvis should be tilted

posteriorly to ensure a straight lumbar spine (see photos). You can practice this by

lying on your back and trying to flatten your lower back. If you can’t hold the front

support on your feet, start on your knees and progress, as you get stronger.

Posterior pelvic tilt resulting in flat lumbar spine Neutral lumbar spine

WATCH VIDEO LEVEL 1 - FRONT SUPPORT AND LEARNING TO LEAN

WATCH VIDEO FUNDAMENTAL EXERCISES (1/2) - ISOMETRIC PLANCHE HOLDS

FUNDAMENTAL EXERCISES:

ISOMETRIC PLANCHE HOLD

PROGRESSIONS

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Regardless of your level, training with good technique is paramount. Quality over

quantity! With the front support always focus on keeping your shoulders protracted

(see description below) and your body in a straight line.

Once you are comfortable with a front support, walk your feet forward until your

shoulders move in front of your hands. This is key to achieving a planche. Maintain
a straight line through your body without piking (don’t bend at the hips). As your

strength improves, the degree of forward lean should also increase. To ensure that

you are progressing with your front support leans, you can measure the distance from

your hands to your feet. This distance should decrease over time, as you get stronger.

An easy way to monitor this is to position your hands in the same spot each training

session and mark the position of your feet.

FRONT SUPPORT AND LEARNING TO LEAN

LEVEL 1

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HAND POSITION

In a basic planche, hands should be positioned

shoulder width apart. Start with your hands on the

floor in a push-up position with your fingers facing

forward and turn your hands outwards until your

thumbs are facing forward. This is the preferred

position as you won’t impinge (jam up) your wrists

as you would with your fingers facing forward. In

addition, your thumbs can assist you to balance

and prevent you from falling forward. Planche

exercises can also be practiced on parallettes. For

those who experience wrist pain, this is a great

way to reduce stress through the wrist.

ARM POSITION

Your arms should be straight with both elbow

creases facing forward.

SCAPULA (SHOULDER BLADE) POSITION

Your scapulae should be protracted. This means

your shoulders should be in a rounded posture

with the focus on moving your chest away from

the floor.

key tips

(relevant for all progressions)

FRONT SUPPORT AND LEARNING TO LEAN

LEVEL 1

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HEAD POSITION

For training purposes the head should be in a

neutral position as it is when you are standing

up looking straight ahead. This will mean in the

front support position you will look at the floor

slightly forward of your head. In a planche you will

be looking at the floor directly below your eyes.

Head position can be altered at will for aesthetic

purposes.

LEANING FORWARD

The planche involves a considerable amount of

forward-leaning, meaning your shoulders are

positioned in front of your hands. The harder

the progression, the further you will have to

lean to maintain balance. To hold any position,

your centre of mass must be above your base of

support. In a full planche position, your hands

must be somewhere between below your belly

button and hip bones.

WHEN TO PROGRESS?

When you can hold a position comfortably for 15 seconds,

you are ready to progress to the next level.

key tips

(relevant for all progressions)

WATCH VIDEO KEY TIPS

FRONT SUPPORT AND LEARNING TO LEAN

LEVEL 1

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TUCK PLANCHE / LEVEL 2

Kneel down with your hands either side of your knees and try to lift your legs off the

floor. Remember to apply the key tips listed above; thumbs facing forwards, arms

straight, scapulae protracted and lean the shoulders in front of the hands. Lifting

your legs higher is not necessarily better – aim to keep your hips and shoulders level.

A good way to ensure your shoulders and hips are level, is to film your tuck planche

holds and then watch the video to check if you are doing this correctly.

BRIDgING THE GAP FROM FRONT SUPPORT LEAN TO TUCK PLANCHE

Progressing from front support lean to tuck planche can be challenging. Not only

does the tuck planche require greater arm strength, but also compressive strength of

the abdominals and hip flexors to maintain the legs off the floor. A greater degree of

balance is also required as the base of support is now smaller.

TRAINING THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH: ELEVATED TUCK PLANCHE

If you cannot get your legs off the floor, raise your hands with level objects, such as

a couple of phone books or paralletes to assist you. As you improve in this position,

gradually lower the height of the objects under your hands until you can hold your

legs in the air with your hands on the floor. Choose the lowest hand position that

allows you to keep your legs elevated off the floor for training purposes.

TUCK PLANCHE

LEVEL 2

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TRAINING THE BALANCE: FROG STAND

To familiarize yourself with the balance required to perform a tuck planche, train

frog stands in addition to the elevated tuck planches. To perform this, do a full

squat, with your elbows on the inside of your knees and hands resting on the floor

directly in front of your feet. Now gradually lean forward taking the weight through

your hands. The weight of your legs will rest on your elbows through your knees.

Gradually increase the degree of lean until your feet come off the floor. As the elbows

support the weight of the knees, significantly less strength is needed for the exercise

compared with a tuck planche. Note, this is the only exercise in the isometric planche

hold progressions section where the elbows are bent.

STRENGTHENING THE SHOULDERS: FRONT SUPPORT LEANS

A front support can be more challenging on the shoulders than a tuck planche if you

lean far enough. Practice front support leans in addition to elevated tuck planches and

frog stands until you can maintain a tuck planche for 10 seconds on the floor.

WATCH VIDEO LEVEL 2 - TUCK PLANCHE

TUCK PLANCHE
LEVEL 2

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WATCH VIDEO LEVEL 3 - ADVANCED TUCK PLANCHE

ADVANCED TUCK PLANCHE / LEVEL 3

Once you can comfortably hold a tuck planche, try to straighten your lower back

and open the bend at your hips, while keeping your shoulders and hips level. A tuck

planche is considered advanced when the angle between your thighs and torso is at

90 degrees. You do not need to extend your hips further than this.

BRIDGING THE GAP FROM TUCK TO ADVANCED TUCK PLANCHE:

ADVANCED TUCK LIFTS

Going from tuck to advanced tuck is one of the hardest progressions toward planche.

To bridge the gap between these two you can perform an exercise called ‘advanced

tuck lifts’. This involves repetitions of moving from tuck to advanced tuck, then slowly

returning, allowing the use of momentum to get to the advanced position. You will

notice you have to lean forward slightly when moving from tuck to the advanced tuck

position. You should try to make the eccentric (negative) phase as slow as possible

while returning to a tuck planche. Build on doing this for 3 sets of 8 repetitions. You

don’t have to hold the advanced tuck initially, just reach the position and try to control

the lowering phase to build the necessary muscles. As you get stronger you should try

to hold the advanced tuck for 2 seconds before lowering.

ADVANCED TUCK PLANCHE

LEVEL 3

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STRADDLE PLANCHE

LEVEL 4
STRADDLE PLANCHE / LEVEL 4

Once the advanced tucked planche has been mastered, you are ready for straddle

planche. To progress from an advanced tuck, straighten your hips and knees and

move your legs apart. The further apart your legs are, the easier it will be to hold.

BRIDGING THE GAP FROM ADVANCED TUCK TO STRADDLE PLANCHE

DONKEY KICKS

If you struggle to straighten your body, it could be due to lack of strength in the lower

back or gluteal muscles as opposed to lack of strength in the shoulders. A great way

to develop strength in these muscles is the donkey kick exercise. Start with your chest

resting on a high bench, hips bent at 90 degrees with your lower limbs over the edge.

Extend your hips so your body is in a straight line, hold for 2 seconds then slowly

lower back down. This can be done in tuck, straddle or full positions, with increasing

difficulty to simulate planche positions. Perform this for 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions, at a

difficulty where you fatigue in this repetition range.

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WATCH VIDEO LEVEL 4 - STRADDLE PLANCHE

STRADDLE PLANCHE

LEVEL 4

TUCK PLANCHE SINGLE LEG EXTENSIONS

To bridge the gap between advanced tuck and straddle planche, you can perform

an exercise called ‘tuck planche single leg extensions’. This involves holding a tuck

planche and straightening one leg before pulling it back in. You should alternate legs

with each repetition. As with advanced tuck lifts, make the eccentric (negative) phase

as slow as possible while returning to a tuck planche. Build to doing this for 3 sets of 8

repetitions. You don’t have to hold the leg extension initially. Simply reach the position
and then attempt to control the negative phase. As you get stronger hold the leg

extension for 2 seconds before lowering.

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FULL PLANCHE

LEVEL 5

full PLANCHE / LEVEL 5

Once you can comfortably hold a straddle planche, try to gradually bring your legs

together to achieve a full planche. You can practice holds with your legs in positions

between straddle and full planche to bridge the gap between the two. Ensure a

posterior pelvic tilt to minimize the curve in your lower back. The body should be

positioned in a straight line from the toes to the shoulders.

To achieve a maltese (wide arm planche), the same progressions can be followed

using a wider hand placement. For the tuck variations, the hands will need to be

elevated using wide hand positions as the body will be positioned relatively lower