How to Achieve the Full Planche: Tips and Progressions
What is the Full Planche?
Understanding the Full Planche
The full planche is an advanced calisthenics move that requires incredible strength, balance, and coordination. In this position, your body is parallel to the ground, supported solely by your hands, with your legs extended behind you. Achieving the full planche demands strength in the core, shoulders, arms, and wrists, as well as excellent body control.
Why is the Full Planche So Challenging?
The Physical Demands of the Full Planche
To master the full planche, you need to build substantial muscle strength in the shoulders, core, and wrists. This position places your entire body’s weight on your arms and hands, requiring your shoulder muscles to support not just the weight of your upper body but also the stability of your entire torso.
Core Strength: The planche demands a powerful core to maintain the position without sagging or losing balance.
Shoulder Strength: Your shoulders must be able to stabilize your body while maintaining alignment.
Wrist Strength and Flexibility: Since the wrists bear much of your body’s weight, they need to be strong and flexible enough to handle the load without injury.
Tips for Achieving the Full Planche
Focus on Building Core Strength
A strong core is essential for achieving the full planche. Start with exercises that engage the core and build endurance. Exercises such as planks, hollow holds, and L-sits will help you develop the necessary abdominal and lower back strength.
Progression Tip: Begin with basic planks, then move to hollow body holds and L-sits. Over time, increase the duration of these holds to build endurance and strength.
Develop Shoulder Stability
The shoulders are key in supporting your body during the planche. Focus on strengthening your deltoids and rotator cuff muscles. Handstand push-ups, pike push-ups, and planche lean push-ups are excellent exercises for building shoulder stability.
Progression Tip: Start with wall-assisted handstands to get comfortable with the inverted position, and then move to pike push-ups to develop shoulder strength. Gradually increase the range of motion as you become stronger.
Train Your Wrists and Forearms
Your wrists will bear the majority of your body weight during the full planche. To prepare for this, incorporate wrist conditioning exercises into your training routine. Wrist push-ups, wrist stretches, and forearm exercises will help strengthen the muscles around the wrist joint.
Progression Tip: Begin by doing wrist push-ups on your knees and gradually increase the intensity and difficulty. Wrist stretches before and after training will also improve flexibility and reduce the risk of injury.
Work on Body Alignment
Achieving the full planche requires perfect body alignment. Ensure that your back is straight and your body is in a horizontal line, without sagging in the lower back or bending at the knees. Focus on engaging your entire body, from the toes to the fingertips, to maintain balance.
Progression Tip: Begin by practicing the planche lean, where you shift your weight forward while keeping your feet on the ground. This helps you get used to the body position and build strength in the right muscles.
Planche Progressions to Follow
Planche Lean
The planche lean is an essential progression for building the necessary strength for the full planche. Start in a push-up position and lean your body forward, keeping your elbows slightly bent and your arms engaged. This move targets the shoulders and core while helping you develop body awareness.
How to Progress: Start with a small lean and gradually increase the angle of your body as your strength improves. Keep your core tight and focus on maintaining control.
Frog Stand
The frog stand is a beginner-friendly progression that helps you get used to balancing on your hands. Start in a squat position with your hands on the ground, then lift your feet and balance on your arms. This will help you build strength in the shoulders, arms, and core, while also improving your balance.
How to Progress: As you become more comfortable, try lifting your feet higher and extending your legs out. This mimics the body position of the full planche and helps you transition to more advanced progressions.
Tuck Planche
The tuck planche is another important progression for building strength. In this position, you tuck your knees toward your chest and balance on your hands. This is a more challenging version of the frog stand and engages the core and shoulders even more.
How to Progress: Start with your knees as close to your chest as possible and work on increasing the duration of the hold. As you get stronger, try to extend your legs further away from your body to progress toward a more extended planche.
Advanced Tuck Planche
The advanced tuck planche is a more advanced progression that involves extending your legs further from your body while maintaining the tuck position. This will help you build the necessary strength and balance for the full planche.
How to Progress: Gradually increase the amount of time you hold the advanced tuck position. Work on extending your legs more while keeping your body aligned and engaging your core.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Training for the Full Planche
Failing to Build a Strong Foundation
One of the biggest mistakes when training for the full planche is rushing the progressions. Building strength in the shoulders, wrists, and core takes time, so it’s crucial to focus on mastering the foundational movements before progressing to harder variations.
Tip: Don’t skip progressions! Ensure you have a solid base before attempting more advanced variations like the tuck or advanced tuck planche.
Incorrect Body Alignment
Maintaining proper body alignment is crucial for achieving the full planche. Many beginners make the mistake of arching their backs or letting their legs sag, which makes the move much harder to achieve and increases the risk of injury.
Tip: Focus on keeping your back straight, your core tight, and your body in a straight line from head to toe. Use mirrors or record yourself to check your form.
Overtraining
The full planche requires a lot of muscle activation and strength. Overtraining without adequate rest can lead to burnout or injury. Ensure you are giving your body enough time to recover between training sessions.
Tip: Include rest days in your routine, and don’t train the planche every day. Your muscles need time to recover and rebuild for optimal progress.
Final Thoughts on Achieving the Full Planche
Patience and Consistency Are Key
Mastering the full planche is a long-term goal that requires consistent training, patience, and proper progression. By focusing on building core strength, shoulder stability, and wrist strength, and by following the correct progressions, you’ll gradually build the necessary strength and control to achieve the full planche.
Remember, every individual progresses at their own pace. Stay consistent with your training, be patient, and celebrate the small victories along the way as you move closer to mastering this impressive calisthenics move.
Mastering the full planche requires consistency, patience, and proper progression. By focusing on core strength, shoulder stability, and wrist strength, and following correct progressions, you’ll gradually achieve the full planche. Keep in mind that progress varies for each individual, so stay consistent, be patient, and celebrate your small victories along the way.