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The planche requires an unfathomable amount of straight-arm pushing strength. While it can sometimes seem that everyone engaging in bodyweight training is striving for this skill; however, those who can perform it well are few and far between.
Many Internet videos now feature this skill and suggest methods for training toward it. However, in most every case, you will find that the subjects in these videos have an extremely arched spine and slightly bent arms. These form errors do more than make the skill less aesthetically appealing; they also make the skill much easier to perform, thus sacrificing overall strength gains. You may hear of people obtaining a "planche" in under a year, but it is likely not a pure variation of this skill.
If an authentic planche is one of your primary goals, avoid form errors, as you would only be cheating yourself out of proper strength development. While it will take longer to achieve an authentic planche, your body positioning and overall level of strength will be significantly better, which will transfer to other bodyweight strength skills as well.
There are a few different hand positions you can use for the planche, each with its own pros and cons. Hands forward makes the skill easier because you have more leverage in your fingers but the movement is harder on your wrists than the following positions. Hands to the side easily transfers from the floor to parallettes or from parallel bars to rings, but it makes the skill more difficult than the previous position. Hands backward makes the skill the most difficult but direccly works your biceps to build large muscles and connective tissue strength.
Unless you have other reasons for desiring the first or third option, hands to the side is recommended - being the most applicable and causing the least amount of wrist irritation-but any of these positions will
work. Those who want to work the planche as quickly as possible will probably find the hands forward position is best for them, while those who will perform a lot of specific work on the rings would benefit from using the hands backward position. (If you choose the hands forward position, make sure to include extra wrist work in your routine to prevent overuse injuries.)
You will likely get frustrated while working toward the planche, simply because it takes so long to get there. Remember, you do not know the strength and condition of those who claim they were able to achieve the position in a short amount of time; they may have had five to ten years of other strength training under their belt, thus speeding up their rate of progress. The key to training far the planche is consistency-even in your supplemental work. If you keep changing up your routine, do not expect to excel at this skill.
For the planche position, your shoulders should be tight and active, and your scapulas should be protracted and depressed as far as possible. This is done by pressing deep into the ground with your hands, arms, and shoulders as one unit, thus resisting all of the downward force on your body. This active position is essential to keep your shoulders safe from impingement, to allow better leverage, and to correctly position your body. This same position is used in many other movements and holds like L-sits, dips, and rings support work.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: Grip the ground or parallettes firmly and lean forward with bent arms until most of the weight is on your hands. Slowlyplaceone knee at a time on the shelf created by your slightly bent elbows. Once you can balance in this position, lean forward until your shoulders and hips are level.
The frog stand is less of a strength skill and more of a balance skill. That is not to say it does not require any strength, but most of your focus will be on getting a feel for the position. One of the alternative ways to move into this position is to begin in a tripod position with your hands and head on the ground, like in a headstand. You then bring down your knees to your elbows and slowly shift your weight backward onto your hands far balance.
As with all the planche skills from here on out, you should prepare your body for the "I'm going to face plant!" sensation. This is normal and a big part of moving up from one progression to the next. You can fight this sensation with your shoulders. Do not bend your elbows (except in the frog stand). This is a bad habit that can be hard to break. The core of your pressing ability should be straight-arm strength through your shoulders.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: Lean forward with your arms straight (instead of bent), while maintaining active shoulders and a tight grip. As you lean forward, place your knees directly above your elbows. Unlike the previous progression, there is no longer a shelfto assist you. Therefore, you will have to rely on your shoulder and abdominal strength.
When you begin the straight-armfrogstand, you may find that you have to slightly bend your arms (as in the illustration above). This is acceptable initially, as this skill is primarily about balance. However, once you straighten your arms the position becomes more about shoulder strength. You will have to lean forward a bit more than you did in the previous progression, which increases the difficulty level. If you get a "face plant" sensation, you will want to flght it now to prepare for future skills.
This skill is somewhat of an intermediary position between the frog stand (which is performed with bent arms) and the tuck planche. Performing this skill with straight arms is fundamental in order to build the correct amount of strength for the planche. Do not move onto the next progression until you can perform this skill without bending your elbows even a little bit.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: Begin in the bottom of a squat. Place your hands on the ground or parallettes and grip firmly.
Keep your arms locked straight and your shoulders tight and active. Lean forward to shift your weight from your feet to your arms. From there, continue leaning forward and raising your hips until they reach shoulder height and you are in a tuck planche position. You should keep your knees to your chest as tightly as possible and your feet tucked toward your butt.
The tuck planche is the first skill in this series of progressions that relies solely on shoulder strength to support the body. Fear of face-planting is often an issue for beginners. It is important to reduce your fear so you can concentrate on properly performing the strength technique. Lay a pillow or other soft cushion on the floor in front of your hands, just in case you fall.
Another issue can arise when this skill is performed on the ground. You may find that you cannot get into a good tuck position with your knees and feet tight. This is an issue of core compression strength, and it can be improved in conjunction with your L-sit training. Concurrently train the tuck planche with your core compression work by using an implement like parallettes or two sturdy twin chairs. Aim to tuck hard and get your knees and feet as close as possible to your chest and butt, respectively. Finally, do not ever forget to keep your shoulders active and strong.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: Begin in the bottom of a squat. Place your hands on the ground or parallettes and grip firmly. Keep your arms locked straight and your shoulders tight and active. Lean forward to shift your weight from your feet to your arms. From there, continue leaning forward and raising your hips until they reach shoulder height and you are in a tuck planche position. You should keep your knees to your chest as tightly as possible and your feet tucked toward your butt. Slowly straighten out your back and extend your legs to the ninety-degree hip angle.
The advanced tuckplanche takes the tuck planche and flattens out the back while continuing to keep the hips and shoulders in line and parallel with the ground. At this point, you should have fairly good command over your tuck position. Dragging your feet will not be an issue when training on the floor. Lock your arms and shoulders and lean forward, placing your weight on your hands while gripping the ground hard. From the tuck planche position, straighten your back until you achieve the advanced position.
At first, you may have a difficult time figuring out how to straighten your back. A lack of back control can typically be corrected by training straight-arm press handstand progressions. Both the planche and straight-arm press handstands are straight-arm pressing skills that work synergistically to increase shoulder strength.
They also facilitate core strength and awareness.
To increase the difficulty of the skill, straighten your back. This will cause you to lean forward more and this increases the corque at your shoulders. If your feet start to sag toward the floor as you straighten out, you are likely facing one of two problems: Either you simply need to lean forward more, or your level of strength is inadequate and you should return to the previous progression until you are ready for this advanced skill.
As fatigue management allows, adding supplemental work will be extremely useful to help develop the strength needed to obtain a planche. Any other shoulder-based pressing movements can also act as drivers for better shoulder pressing strength, but specificity would be very helpful here. As such, pseudo planche pushups and planche leans are a great choice; however, they are a bit hard to measure, which is why they are not listed on the progression charts.
Progressive pseudo planche pushups move your hands further back.
Pseudo planche pushups (which can be abbreviaced PPPUs) are, in essence, a best attempt to simulare holding the planche position and completing a pushup in that position, but with some assistance. When progress is stalling, these can help significantly. Begin in a standard pushup position, but place your feet on an implement instead of on the ground. The implement could be a box, mat, chair-anything that is high enough to align your feet with your shoulders horizontally. With a straight or slightly hollow body, lean forward as far as possible into the planche position and lower yourself so that your shoulders are at least as low as your elbows. Then, push back up to a feet-supported planche position.
A planche lean is exactly what it says it is. Prop your feet up to shoulder height and lean forward as far as possible without tipping over. Hold this position for a set amount of time. From this progression onward, it is common to want to bend your arms slightly or have your hips slightly higher than your shoulders. These errors should be carefully avoided. The proper position will be difficult to hold, due to strength requirements as well as body awareness, but you want to ensure that you are holding it correctly. You should experience a "face plant" sensation, and your hips will likely feel lower than they actually are. Use a spotter or camera to check your form.
As a supplementary exercise for the planche, PPPUs are excellent. The way to make these measurable is to always place the block or chair or other elevated surface in the same place. You can mark it on the floor. Next, mark the distance for the hands progressively as you move them back. You can either mark it from the place where you regularly do pushups or the total distance from your feet. Whatever way you mark them, PPPUs are a great way to begin to gain the increased strength necessary for the planche.
The band-assisted planche is one of the variations that has become recently popular. This variation allows you to hit the next isometric position in the planche with decreased strength requirements. The body is able to quickly get used to the position and the application of correct strength at particular angles, which may decrease the amount of time it takes to achieve the strength the planche requires. Pseudo planche pushups are preferred over this method, but try both and see which works best for you.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: Begin in the bottom of a squat. Place your hands on the ground or parallettes and grip firmly. Keep your arms locked straight and your shoulders tight and active. Lean forward to shift your weight from your feet to your arms. From there, continue leaning forward and raising your hips until they reach shoulder height and you are in a straight-body position with your legs apart. You should maintain a straight line from your shoulders through your hips/knees/ankles to your toes, but you should also have your legs spread as far apart as possible.
There are a few ways to achieve the straddle planche position, whether on the ground or parallettes. The most common method involves leaning into the skill with your hips slightly bent, and then lifting your legs off the ground once you are balanced on your hands. Another method is to jump into the position and attempt to balance it from there. While this is more difficult, some will prefer this method. Pick whichever feels more natural to you and maintain proper body positioning.
By now, your straddle should be proficient because you have practiced it in press handstands, abdominal compression work, and the back and front lever progressions. If your straddle is not proficient, make time for more straddle work before attempting this skill.
In most cases, supplemental work is required to attain a straddle planche. Commonly, three exercises are used in tandem. The first is the planche isometric, and the other two are supplemental dynamic pressing movements (like planche progression pushups and/or pseudo planche pushups with a dipping or handstand press variation).
To bridge the gap from the advanced tuck to the straddle position you can use the assisted straddle planche or any advanced tuck variation with a higher level of difficulty, such as adding ankle weights or a weighted vest while performing the advanced tuck position. Alternatively, you can use Therabands or other elastic bands to make the straddle planche easier.
Avoid the bent-arms and hips-too-high faults! Use a camera, mirror, or spotter to evaluate and correct your form.
This is an A-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique for Half-Layout: Begin in the bottom of a squat. Place your hands on the ground or parallettesand grip firmly. Keep your arms locked straight and your shoulders tight and active. Lean forward to shift your weight from your feet to your arms. From there, continue leaning forward and raising your hips until they reach shoulder height and you are in a half-layout position: Your knees and legs are together and all of your joints are aligned-from your shoulders through your hips and knees through your legs-except your knees are bent at a ninety-degree angle.
Technique for One-Leg-OutPlanche: Begin in the bottom of a squat position, with your hands firmly gripping the ground or parallettes. Lock your arms straight and keep your shoulders tight and active. Lean forward to shift all of your weight off your feet onto your arms. From there, continue leaning forward and raise your hips until they reach shoulder height and you are in a one-leg-out position, which is the same as the straight-body position except one leg is bent at both the hips and the knee, leaving it in a position that is similar to an advanced tuck.
The half layout position is preferred, as the form more easily transfers to the full layout position. However, if there is another position that feels more natural for you, use it. Regardless of which position you choose, your form must be flawless. If you notice any faults, correct them immediately.
This progression is an optional intermediate step between the straddle planche and the full planche. Most people will try to skip this stage and go straight to the full planche. If you can achieve the position, go for it. Or, you can use this progression to bridge the gap.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back. Technique: Begin in the bottom of a squat. Place your hands on the ground or parallettes and grip firmly.
Keep your arms locked straight and your shoulders tight and active. Lean forward to shift your weight from your feet to your arms. From there, continue leaning forward and raising your hips until they reach shoulder height and you are in a full planche position with your body aligned straight from your shoulders through your torso/hips/knees/ankles to your toes. Your toes should be pointed and your body should be parallelwith the ground.
The key with thefull planche is-like every other skill in this progression-overcoming the face-plant sensation. You should be leaning far enough over that you feel very low to the ground and close to falling on your face. Make sure that you are generating full-body tension by squeezing all of the muscles in your core, glutes, and legs. One of the things that can help generate tension for this skill is to squeeze your hands together while pressing them forward. The extra tension generated from your pectorals and serratus anterior helps increase all of the muscle activity around your shoulder girdle. This can help you attain the last bit of strength needed to execute this skill.
Like the straddle planche, the full planche typically requires some specific supplementary work. By this point you should know what works best for you. What usually holds people back is a lack of musculature or potential imbalances. If you areweak with pulling movements and back strength, work on strengthening your scapular retractors, posterior deltoids, and rotator cuff muscles. If there is no imbalance, you may benefit from performing more high-repetition hypertrophy work in order to gain more muscle mass. Remember, strength = neural adaptations * cross sectional area of muscle. The small amount of weight added at your shoulder for more muscle mass is also beneficial for gaining strength and will not hinder you as much as you may think.
Once you haveachieved clean, perfect straight-body positioning, be sure to take a photo-you are holding a planche! Congratulations! This is no easy feat.
This is a B-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back. As your body rises, your scapulas will transition from protracted to neutral and from depressed to elevated. In the ending handstand position, your scapulas will be fully elevated.
Technique: Begin in a straddle planche position. To initiate the movement, lean forward slightly and increase pressure through your hands to begin lifting your hips. As you move toward the handstand and the torque on your shoulders lessens, the skill will become slightly easier.
The straight-arm straddle planche to handstand skill (which can be abbreviated SA Str PL to HS) can be completed on the FX (ground) or PB (parallel bars). The illustration above depicts it on the FX. This skill is executed by leaning forward into the straddle planche position and then pressing out to a handstand. This technique requires brute strength, so if you are proficient with planches and handstands you can begin to work toward this skill. It is usually easiest to begin by doing it in reverse. Then, once you are stronger and more familiar with the skill, you can perform the full movement.
The main thing to keep in mind is to maintain active shoulders and a straight body. Once you begin leaning forward, it is much like a regular press handstand: You will need to force your hands overhead strongly. You will naturally want to arch your back but this must be avoided.
Avoid bending your arms and arching your back. (It is acceptable to arch your back a little initially, but you will want to eliminate this fault as you get stronger.)
This is a B-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back. As your body rises, your scapulas will transition from protracted to neutral and from depressed to elevated. In the ending handstand position, your scapulas will be fully elevated.
Technique: Same as the previous progression, but on the rings. Begin in a straddle planche position. To initiate the movement, lean forward slightly and increase pressure through your hands to begin lifting your hips. As you move toward the handstand position, the skill will become slightly easier as the torque on your shoulders lessens.
Erute strength is necessary to achieve the rings straight-arm straddle planche to handstand (which can be abbreviated Rings SA Str PL to HS). If you are proficient with planches and handstands you can begin to work toward this skill. It is usually easiest to begin solely in reverse. Then, once you are stronger and more familiar with the skill, you can perform the full movement.
The main thing to keep in mind with this skill is maintaining active shoulders and a straight body. Once you begin leaning forward, it is like a regular press handstand in that you will need to force your hands overhead strongly. You will naturally want to arch your back but this must be avoided.
This is a B-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points, though it is much more difficult than a typical Level 12 skill. Based on previous skills and progressions it should probably be rated Level 13 or 14, around the lower end of Level C on the Code of points.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back. As your body rises, your scapulas will transition from protracted to neutral and from depressed to elevated. In the ending handstand position, your scapulas will be fully elevated.
Technique: Begin in a full planche position. To initiate the movement, lean forward slightly and increase pressure through your hands to begin lifting your hips. As you move toward the handstand position, the skill will become slightly easier as the torque on your shoulders lessens.
The technique and approach here is the same as the straddle planche to handstand. Lean forward and allow yourself to rotate up to a handstand position, while maintaining enough force at your shoulder to prevent yourself from falling forward. Work this skill eccentrically, then concentrically.
This skill is more difficult than the previous two progressions because it begins statically, in the planche position. This means you will have no momentum to help you achieve the handstand position. If you can achieve this skill, you have achieved a rare and remarkable level of strength.
This is a C-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be either depressed and neutral or slightly protracted to start. As you lean forward and your body rises, your scapulas will transition from depressed to elevated and protracted to neutral. In the ending handstand position, your scapulas will be fully elevated.
Technique: This skill is completed on the rings. Begin in the support position. To initiate the movement, lean forward slightly and increase pressure through your hands to begin lifting your hips. As you move up through a full planche toward the handstand position, the skill will become slightly easier as the torque on your shoulders lessens. Finish in a rings handstand position.
The rings straight-arm, straight-bodypress to handstand (which can be abbreviated Rings SA SB to HS) is essentially a straight-arm hollowback press. If you are proficient with the hollowback press and planche, you can begin to work toward this skill. This is a very difficult skill, so you may need to use some momentum when you are first learning it. As you increase in strength, decrease the amount of momentum used.
This skill can be practiced in reverse, beginning in a handstand. Additionally, you can swing on the rings a bit before initiating the movement if you cannot quite achieve it with strict form. Your body will naturally want to arch, but you must remember to keep your body straight for the entire duration of the movement.
This is a C-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back. As your body rises, your scapulas will transition from protracted to neutral and from depressed to elevated. In the ending handstand position, your scapulas will be fully elevated.
Technique: This skill is completed on the rings. Begin in planche position. To initiate the movement, lean forward slightly and increase pressure through your hands to begin lifting your hips. As you move toward the handstand position, the skill will become slightly easier as the torque on your shoulders lessens. Finish in the rings handstand position.
The technique is the same as two progressions before, but you will complete it on the rings. This skill should be worked eccentrically, then concentrically.
This is a C-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points.
The rings planche posicions are the same as the floor and parallecces variations. The only real difference is orienting your hands to maincain control and stability over the rings. of course, this is the hard part. This is why all of the planche skills in the Gymnastics Code of points are one letter grade more difficult on the rings as opposed to the floor and parallel bars. strength gains from performing these holds on rings are phenomenal and carry over extensively to their floor and parallettes' counterparts.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be procracced and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: Planc your hands on the rings and grip tighcly. Lean forward with bent arms and slowly place one knee at a time on the shelfcreaced by your slightly bent elbows. Once you can balance in that position, lean forward until your shoulders are level with your hips. Orient the rings to the parallel position. You do not wanc them curned out yet because you still need to use your elbow area as a rescing point for your legs. From here, the approach will be the same as a frog stand performed on the floor or parallettes.
The rings will feel very shaky when you begin this skill. By this point, you should be proficient in RTO support work and, potentially, rings pushups as well. These two movements will help substantially as you learn how to stabilize the rings while they are in front of you.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: Plant your hands on the rings and grip tightly. Lean forward with straight arms and place your knees right above your elbows as you did in the previous progression. However, there will no longer be a shelf to assist you, which means this skill will require more shoulder strength.
When you begin the rings straight-armfrog stand, you may have to slightly bend your arms (as in the illustration above). This is acceptable initially, as this skill is primarily about balance. However, once you straighten your arms the position becomes more about shoulder strength. It is important to use straight arms for this movement in order to build the strength required for future progressions. Do not move onto the next progression until you can perform this skill without bending your elbows.
Far the straight-arm frog stand, orient the rings to the parallel position. You do not want them turned out just yet because you still need to use your elbow area as a resting point for your legs. From here, the approach will be the same as a frog stand performed on the floor or parallettes.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: This skill is completed on the rings. Begin in a support position and lean forward, taking all your weight off your feet until they are airborne. From there, continue to lean forward and raise your hips until they reach shoulder height. Your knees should be held to your chest as tight as possible, and your feet should be tucked to your butt.
This is where the technique differs: Instead of orienting the rings in the parallel position like you would on the parallettes, turn them out to forty-five degrees past the parallel position. This will give you more control. Coaches may prefer anywhere from forty-five to ninety degrees past the parallel position, but this is not required unless you want to specialize in gymnastics.
The main difficulty will be keepingyour hips at shoulder height and your arms tightly locked in a straight position. This will be the case for all of the following rings planche progressions.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: This skill is completed on the rings. Begin in a support position and lean forward, taking all your weight off your feet until they are airborne. From there, continue to lean forward and raise your hips until they reach shoulder height. Next, flatten out your back while continuing to keep your hips and shoulders in line and parallel with the ground and at a ninety-degree angle (where your hips meet your torso).
The rings should be turned out to at least forty-6.ve degrees. The rest of the technique for this skill is the same as the variation performed on the floor or parallettes.
You will lean forward while locking your arms and shoulders. This will place your weight on your hands as you grip the rings tightly. Start from the tuck planche position and straighten your back until you achieve the advanced tuck position.
You may have a difficult time 6.guring out how to straighten your back. This lack of back control can be remedied by training the straight-arm press handstand progression. Both the planche and straight-arm press handstands are straight-arm pressing skills that work synergistically to increase shoulder strength. They also facilitate core awareness and strength; both of which help fix issues like this one.
Straightening out will cause you to lean forward more and thus increase the torque at your shoulders, which increases the difficulty of the skill. If your feet begin to sag toward the floor as you straighten out, it is likely caused by one of two problems: either you simply need to lean forward more, or your level of strength is not adequate and you should return to the previous progression.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: This skill is completed on the rings. Begin in a support position and lean forward, taking all your weight off your feet until they are airborne. From there, continue to lean forward and raise your hips until they reachshoulder height. Make sure the line from your hips through your hips/knees to your toes is straight and parallel with the ground. Keep your legs spread as far apart as possible.
Again, the rings need to be turned out to forty-five degrees or more. The rest of the technique for this skill is the same as the variation performed on the floor or parallettes. By now, you should be proficient with the straddle movement because of the practice you have gotten with press handstands, abdominal compression work, and back and front lever progressions. If your straddle still needswork, hone it before training this skill.
Once you are on the rings, there are two ways to move into position. You can either lean forward into the skill from the support position or begin from a tuck planche and extend your legs. You can also execute this skill from the floor or a mat near rings height by leaning into the position, similar to the floor and parallettes progressions. As long as proper body positioning is maintained, any of these will work.
Remember to avoid the bent-arms and hips-too-high faults! Use a camera, mirror, or spotter to evaluate and correct your form.
This is a B-level skill in the Gymnastics Code of Points.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back.
Technique: This skill is completed on the rings. Begin in a support position and lean forward, taking all your weight off your feet until they are airbome. From there, continue to lean forward and raise your hips until they reach shoulder height and move into a half layout position. This means your knees and legs are together and all of your joints are aligned-from your shoulders through your hips and knees through your legs-except your knees are bent at a ninety-degree angle. If you prefer to use the one-leg-out position over the half layout, it involves the same straight-bodyposition except one leg is bent at both the hips and knee, similarto an advanced tuck position.
When you get to this point, you may want to tum the rings out a bit more in order to stress your biceps and create more tension in your upper body, resulting in increased stability. The rest of the technique far this skill is the same as the variation done on the floor or parallettes. Use the position that works best far you, although the half layout position's farm transfers more quickly to the full layout position. Maintain proper farm and correct any faults immediately.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and depressed without rounding your upper back. Technique: This skill is completed on the rings. Begin in a support position and lean forward, taking all your weight off your feet until they are airbome. From there, continue to lean forward and raise your hips until they reach shoulder height. Next, align your shoulders with your hips/knees/ankles to reach the full planche position.
On the FIG Gymnastics A-G scale, the ringsfullplanche is a C-level skill. Though Level do is the highest level on the scale, by the time you reach Level C you have achieved an impressive amount of strength. To put it in perspective, a planche on parallel bars and an iron cross are both only B-level skills. If you have reached this level, you probably no longer need advice from this book.
The planche pushup progression is an excellent supplemenc to build your strength for planche isometrics, as you will need to be able to control your body as you move in and out of the planche position and be able to pause in an isometric hold at the top of the movement. Even without the isometrics, this progression is excellenc in its own right for building overall strength. Generally speaking, these pushup variations will typically lag one progression behind their isometric variations.
Three common faults with planche pushups (all variations) are delineated below:
Keep all of these common faults in mind when training these progressions.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and fully depressed without rounding your upper back. They will retract through the eccentric portion of the movement and be fully retracted at the bottom. As you rise back up to the starting position, your scapulas will protract. They will end protracted and fully depressed.
Technique: At this point, you should be able to perform a solid tuck planche. This skill begins in a tuck planche isometric hold, with the back rounded and hips at shoulder height. From here, lower your body in a slow and controlled manner. This may appear to be a dip position, with your elbows fully bent and hands near your shoulders, however, the significant difference is a forward lean-enough to keep your hips at shoulder height. Once you hit the bottom of the movement, you can pause (if desired), then begin the concentric movement back to a straight-arm tuck position. Emphasize the starting position by holding it for a few seconds before attempting another repetition.
You can perform this movement on the ground, but if you desire to increase your range of motion you can perform this movement on parallettes, chairs, or other implements that will increase the height of your body. This will make the movement much more difficult, but it will also increase strength and hypertrophy. Parallettes are recommended, if they are available to you.
Keeping your hips level with your shoulders during the entire movement is the hardest element of this skill. You must push forward and downward with your hands for the duration of the skill to maintain this position. Even if you have the strength to do this, you may be inconsistent. Practice with strict form; it will help you in subsequent progressions.
Scapular Positioning: Your seapulas will be protracted and fully depressed without rounding your upper back. They will retract through the eccentric portion of the movement and be fully retracted at the bottom. As you rise back up to the starting position, your scapulas will protract. They will end protracted and fully depressed.
Technique: For the advanced tuck planche position you want a flat back, your shoulders/hips aligned and parallel to the ground, and your hips/knees bent at ninety-degree angles. From here, lower your body in a slow and controlled manner. This may appear to be a dip position, with your elbows fully bent and hands near your shoulders, however, the significant difference is a forward lean-enough to keep your hips at shoulder height.
Once you hit the bottom of the movement, you can pause (if desired), then begin the concentric movement back to a straight-arm tuck position. Emphasize the starting position by holding it for a few seconds before attempting another repetition.
You will likely not reach this level until you can execute a decent straddle planche. Be conservative with these progressions and try not to advance too rapidly. Executing these with perfect form is better than wobbling and constantly changing shoulder and hip angles due to advancing levels prematurely.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and fully depressed without rounding your upper back. They will retract through the eccentric portion of the movement and be fully retracted at the bottom. As you rise back up to the starting position, your scapulas will protract. They will end protracted and fully depressed.
Technique: The straddle planche is executed with a straight-body position and your legs apart. You should maintain a straight line from your shoulders through your hips/knees/ankles to your toes, but you should also haveyour legsspread as far apart as possible. From here, lower your body in aslow and controlled manner. It will look and feel like a dip position, with your elbows fully bent and hands near your shoulders, however, there is a forward lean-enough to keep your hips at shoulder height. Once you hit the bottom of the movement, you can pause (if desired), then begin the concentric movement back to a straight-arm tuck position. Emphasize the starting position by holding it for a few seconds before attempting another repetition.
The most difficult part of the straddle planche pushup is maintaining your hip height, especially at the bottom and top of the movement where it is most difficult. Focus on keeping a tight body to increase tension so you do not cheat the movement. You will be tempted to hollow or arch your body out of straight-body alignment. Resist this temptation.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and fully depressed without rounding your upper back. They will retract through the eccentric portion of the movement and be fully retracted at the bottom. As you rise back up to the starting position, your scapulas will protract. They will end protracted and fully depressed.
Technique: In the half layout position, your knees and legs are together and all of your joints are aligned from your shoulders through your hips and knees through your legs-except your knees are bent at a ninety-degree angle. The one-leg-out position is the same as the straight-body position except one leg is bent at both the hips and knee, similar to an advanced tuck position. Choose if you are doing one-leg-out or half-layout and then lower your body in a slow and controlled manner. Similar to a dip position, your elbows are fully bent and hands are near your shoulders, however there is also a forward lean-enough to keep your hips at shoulder height. Once you hit the bottom of the movement, you can pause (if desired), then begin the concentric movement back to a straight-arm tuck position. Emphasize the starting position by holding it for a few seconds before attempting another repetition.
If you are on the ground, the one-leg-out position can interfere with performing the planche pushup variation. Use the half layout position to perform this intermediate step between straddle and full planche pushups.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be protracted and fully depressed without rounding your upper back. They will retract through the eccentric portion of the movement and be fully retracted at the bottom. As you rise back up to the starting position, your scapulas will protract. They will end protracted and fully depressed.
Technique: For the full planche, align your body straight and parallel with the ground from your shoulders through your torso/hips/knees/ankles to your toes. From here, lower your body into a descent in a slow and controlled manner. This is similar to a dip position, with your elbows fully bent and hands near your shoulders, however, you must add a forward lean-enough to keep your hips at shoulder height. Once you hit the bottom of the movement, you can pause (if desired), then begin the concentric movement back to a straight-arm tuck position. Emphasize the starting position by holding it for a few seconds before attempting another repetition.
Full planche pushups are incredibly advanced. Like full front lever rows, it will be difficult to truly obtain a full range of motion. With the full variations of these skills, you may only be able to move six to eight inches while performing the movement. However, if you continue working them, you should aim for a greater range of motion in order to build more strength.
Rings planche pushups are extremely difficult, but are tremendously rewardingif you can build enough strength to begin training this progression. If you reach the advance tuck or straddle levels, you will have advanced beyond the usefulness of this book. All of these skills are the same as the previous progression but performed on the rings. Remember the following:
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Many articles have been written on correct technique far standardpushups. Here are the basics. You should be able to progress to more difficult skill rather quickly.
Here are a couple of key points far doing quality pushups:
Pushups can sometimes cause back pain. If you arch your back during the movement, it activares your psoas muscles (which help keep your hips neutral) more than your abdominals. The psoas major muscle has its origin on your lumbar spine. Therefore, if your body is allowed to arch and the psoas muscle pulls on your lower back, pain can occur while doing any variation of pushups.
If the exercise is too difficult at first you can scale it by straddling or moving to your knees. You can also incline your body by placing your hands on stairs or an elevated surface.
Once you can do sets of fifteen to twenty repetitions, move onto more difficult pushup progressions.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Diamond pushups take standard pushups a stepfurther. They bring your hands closer together to make the pushup harder. Eventually your index fingers and thumbs will meet in the middle to form a diamond shape.
During the movement, lower your chest to the middle of your hands and then return to the original position. A triceps-biased alternative is to touch your nose inside the diamond created by your index finger and thumbs. This technique puts a lot of stress on your triceps and chest due to increased torque at your elbows and shoulders. Be cautious if your joints start to ache, especially between exercise sessions. This may be a signal of overuse. If this is the case, take a break from these exercises for a couple of days (if not more) to allow your body to fully recover before resuming. You do not want to have any nagging injuries as the progressions get more difficult.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Rings widepushups are performed by keepingyour elbows in line with each other and your clavicles, allowing them to come out as the distance between your hands is increased while moving into the bottom of the position. From there, push out and bring your hands together.
These pushups place emphasis on the chest, which is critical to prepare for future training. If you jump too far ahead in progressions, you may experience twinges of pain in the origins of your pectoralis muscle groups resulting in injuries like costochondritis or tietze syndrome. Even if you are strong enough to perform these techniques, it may be wise to add them to your warm-up to ensure that your connective tissues are up to par. If you feel any type of pain or instability at your joints, skip this progression completely.
Note that the pushups progression started with elbows tucked in, but this progression utilizes elbows wide at the ninety degree angle. Widening the angle is often used as a progression method, but it is best to start with elbows tucked as it is safer for the shoulders. Skip this progression if you find that elbows wider bothers you.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Rings pushups are like standard pushups, but performed on the rings. They are performed with your hands at the same level as your feet, so the rings must be lowered so that they are close to the ground.
Alternatively, you can raise your feet on a box or block. For rings pushups, you want to emphasize keeping your elbows in-at a thirty-degree angle from your body (though anywhere from zero to forty-five degrees is acceptable). This puts most of the focus for developing strength on your shoulders and triceps. From there, the movement is just like a standard pushup.
For all of these pushup progressions, ensure that you are moving through full range of motion. It is very common to see individuals shortcut pushups by not going all the way down and not coming all the way back up. While this may yield more repetitions, it does not fully strengthen your muscles, which is your goal. Since bodyweight strength training puts your muscles in many different positions, it is important to perform everything through full range of motion. This is even more important when trainingon the rings.
For all pushups, your hands must meet your torso at the bottom of the position, your arms must be straight at the top, and proper body positioning should be maintained throughout.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: These pushups should be done with your palms facing forward-at least forty-five degrees from the parallel position-with the optimal palm position being fully forward at ninety degrees from parallel.
When you first attempt to turn the rings out, you may have difficulty stabilizing yourself. Persevere until you get the hang of it. From this point on, the movement is simply a standard pushup. When your hands are level with your torso, you are at the accepted bottom position. Push back up and make sure your arms are straight at the top position.
Rings-turned-out pushups (which can be abbreviated RTO PU) decrease leverage at your shoulders by lengthening your pectoralis muscles. Since your pees are a stabilizer during the movement, a decrease in stabilization will require an increase in strength to do the movement. In this position, your biceps are recruited to help, however, they are also elongated, making them relatively weaker. This is true far all RTO movements. Turning rings out will eventually give you more control over the movements.
Even after you have stabilized the support position far the pushup, there will be destabilization when you go down into the pushup position far the first time. Keep the rings turned out and stabilize them as best as possible. It will get easier with practice, and you will get stronger because of it.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Archer pushups are similar to standard pushups, but one arm is kept straight for the duration of the movement. Select an arm to keep straight and turn the rings out in the pushup support position. Descend into the movement. When you reach the bottom position, your straight arm should be out wide. Next, push back up with your bent arm. You can assist your other arm, but it must be kept straight the entire time. Once you have accomplished this, switch to the other arm for a full workout.
When performing rings-turned-out archer pushups (which can be abbreviated RTO Archer PU), it is acceptable if you cannot immediately hold your arm fully straight. Work on progressively straightening your arm for the full archer pushup effect. This will help you increase the bias of strength onto each of your arms.
You can bias the movement more toward your straight or bent arm to varying effect by putting more weight on the arm that is straight or bent, respectively. Biasing toward the straight arm tends to work your chest and shoulder more, and biasing toward the bent arm tends to work your triceps and shoulders more. Focus on improving your weaknesses over favoring your current strengths.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: From the top of the movement, lean forward to obtain a forty-degree angle at your shoulders. The forty-degree lean forward refers to the angle created between an imaginary line running perpendicular to the ground through your hands and the line from your hands to the shoulders. The rings should be turned out. From there, descend into the bottom of the movement (your hands should reach your stomach/waist area) without allowing the rings to turn back in. Pause at the bottom before fully pressing out to the point where your arms reach a forty-degree forward position and are locked. Pause at the top far a few seconds before attempting another repetition.
This skill can be abbreviated RTO 40 Deg PPPU. The pseudo planche pushup and maltese variations focus heavily on forward lean (planche position) to decrease leverage. Contrary to popular belief, this requires immense strength in all of the musculature involved in this movement, not just specific muscle groups.
Your body must be locked in a straight or slightly hollow position, with your hips pointed straight down. Any type of pseudo planche pushup is more effective, albeit harder, when your feet are raised to shoulder height. If you have the strength to do this, go far it.
Far all of the planche movements, the hardest parts of the movement will be at the ends of the range of motion. It is imperative to hold quality pauses at both the top and bottom of the movement in order to effectively develop the strength needed to move in and out of these positions. Make sure to keep the rings turned out, as well as straight-body positioning far the duration of the skill.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: For this movement, you will lean forward to obtain a sixty-degree angle with the rings turned out (see previous exercise for explanation of angle). From there, descend into the bottom of the movement. Your hands should reach your stomach/waist area without allowing the rings to turn back in. Pause at the bottom before fully pressing out to the point where your arms are fully locked. Pause at the top for a few seconds before attempting another repetition.
This skill can be abbreviated RTO 60 Deg PPPU The 60-degree lean forward is very close to the actual planche position, except some of your weight will be on your feet. By performing this exercise regularly, even without specific planche isometric work, it is possible to build up to a good straddle planche on the floor or parallel bars. It will take consistently applied technique over many months or even years. Make sure to keep the rings turned out, as well as straight-body positioning for the duration of the skill.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted anddepressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Begin with the rings turned out and descend into the bottom of the movement (until your hands become level with your torso) while attempting to bend as little as possible. As you descend, slide the rings out roughly a foot from your sides to create a thirty to forty-five degree angle from your torso to your arms.
This skill can be abbreviated RTOMaltese PU If your strength is lacking, you will have to bend your arms a lot to prevent falling while performing this skill. As you get more proficient, you will not have to bend your arms as much. From the bottom of the movement, push back up into the semi-wide arm planche position.
With maltesepushups, slide the rings so that a thirty to forty-five degree angle is created by your armpit and body. This position decreases the leverage of your pectoralis and deltoid muscle groups, which makes the movement much more difficult. Lean your body forward and keep the rings turned out for the duration of the skill. Your body should be kept straight.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: You should begin in a proper planche position (straight-body, level at shoulder height) with your feet on the wall and your body leaning forward over your hands. The majority of your support should come from your hands. From there, descend into a pushup. Go all the way to the ground without actually touching it, allowing your feet to slide down the wall. Pause at the bottom of the movement before pushing back to the top. You can slowly walk up the wall with your feet if sliding them back up proves too difficult.
There are many variations of wall planche pushups (which can be abbreviated "Wall PPPV) on the Internet. A few of them are performed correctly. First, let us cover correct technique. If your back is arched at all and/or your hips are allowed to sag, the effectiveness of the exercise is decreased by as much as thirty percent (depending on how much you arch). Since your focus is gaining strength, do not perform this progression unless you can do so with perfect technique. It would be more beneficial to stick to previous progressions that you can perform correctly.
Your primary focus when performing this skill should be on minimizing your amount of foot support and assistance from the wall. In particular, you may want to change your footwear or reduce the wall resistance (if possible) as you get stronger. Far example, if your wall is particularly sticky you can invest in smooth plastic or linoleum tiling to make the surface of the wall more slippery. Likewise, you can switch between shoes, bare feet, and socks or other slippery materials to make the movement more difficult.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed. Technique: This skill is performed with the rings set close to the wall. This allows you to get your feet on the wall in a supported planche position. From there, turn the rings out and stabilize them. Perform a wall planche pushup, maintaining perfect form.
The rings add a significant amount of instability to wall pseudo planche pushups (which can be abbreviated R "Wall PPPV). It should also be noted that the strength of a planche isometric is required to perform this movement correccly. You muse keep the rings turned out and maintain straight-body positioning for the duration of the skill. However, when you are first learning this skill you can keep the rings parallel to your body, as shown in the first illustration above. If you do not have access to rings that can be mounted close to a wall, skip this progression as well as the Level 13 progression (rings wall malcese pushups). Your primary focus should be on minimizing your amount of foot support and assistance from the wall.
In particular, you may want to change your footwear or alter the wall resistance (if possible) as you get stronger. For example, if your wall has friction you can invest in smooth plastic or linoleum ciling to make the surface of the wall more slippery. Likewise, you can switch between shoes, bare feet, and socks or other slippery materials to make the movement more difficult.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Wall maltese pushups are performed by moving your hands out from the supported planche position until a thirty to forcy-five degree angle is made at the armpit. From there, lower to the ground (without actually touching it) and press back up. Make sure to keep your body straight for the duration of the skill. This will be difficult, as your body will be in a disadvantaged position.
Your primary focus when performing wall maltese pushups should be on minimizing the amount of foot support and assistance from the wall. As you get stronger, change your footwear or the wallresistance (if possible) to make the movement more difficult. For example, switch between shoes, bare feet, and socks or other slippery materials, or you can invest in smooth plastic or linoleum ciling to make the surface of the wall more slippery.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: The rings wall maltese pushup combines and builds on the previous two skills. It is done by moving your hands to a chircy to forty-five degree angle in the armpit. Keep the rings turned out, your body straight and perfectly parallel with the ground, and your feet on the wall. From there, bend your arms and lower to the ground without accually touching it before pressing back up. Pause at both the bottom and top of the movement before attempting another repetition.
Your primary focus when doing rings wall maltese pushups should be on minimizing your amount of faot support and assistance from the wall. As you get stronger, change your faotwear or the wall resistance (if possible) to make the movement more difficult. Far example, switch between shoes, bare feet, and socks or other slippery materials, or you can invest in smooth plastic or linoleum tiling to make the surface of the wall more slippery.
Here are some variations that you can work on if you desire.
The simple variation where you clap your hands in front of your body is not shown in the illustrations above, but it is easier than the variations where you slap your chest or stomach.
This progression is not as useful as the entire pushup progression, especially when performed on the rings. However, it can be used effectively to gain strength and hypertrophy. One of the cool standards that many individuals desire to work toward is the triple clapping variation:
Pushup to (1) clap in front of your body then (2) clap behind your back then (3) clap in front of your body a second time before returning to the pushup variation.
No one has as yet performed a triple clapping variation cleanly without piking their hips, so it may be more difficult than even Level 10-12 strength. If this is your goal you can work on sequencing the different variations in order to work up to the triple clap variation. Building your own progression will be a good indicator of how much you have learned.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapula will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Bend one arm and descend into the movement until your chest barely touches the raised surface. Keep your bent arm at roughly a forty-five degree angle with your body as you do this. Press back up to the one-arm support position.
The hands-elevated, one-arm pushup (which can be abbreviated Elevated OA PU) can be made easier or more difficult by varying the height of the object that your hand is placed on. The key points of technique for this skill include locking your body straight and shifting your weight onto one arm. A straddled leg position may be employed to increase stability.
If your elbow is too far out, the skill will be more difficult to perform due to increased torque. However, increased rotational torque can be used to build core strength. Similarly, having your elbow too close to your body will increase the difficulty of the movement by placing a huge amount of stress on your triceps and shoulders.
Aside from arm angle, other difficulties encountered during this skill are related to the amount of torque on your wrist and possibly your elbows. If the torque at your wrist is an issue, rotate your wrist until you find a better position. If torque at your elbow is an issue, either your shoulder angle is off or you do not have enough elbow strength for this skill. In the event that the latter is true, you can increase the height of the surface to make the skill easier.
If you are new to this progression, start out with your body at a 45-degree angle with the ground. Progressively decrease the height of the block until you can reach the ground, at which point you will move on to the next progression. Decrease ten to fifteen degrees at a time as you improve.
Be sure to keep your core extremely tight. Take a deep breath and descend while squeezing your abdominals, lower back, hip flexors, glutes, and quads. Focus all of the strength through your shoulder during the movement, keeping the rest of your body still. Beyond that, performing the skill is a matter of strength.
Another alternative is using stairs to progressively decrease to work toward the one-arm pushup, as illustrated above.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapula will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: This one-arm pushup variation is performed on the ground. Descend into the movement until your chest barely touches the ground and then press back up to the starting position. You may straddle your legs as wide as possible at first to make the movement easier, but bring them together as you progress to perform the movement with standard form.
When performing astraddle one-arm pushup (which can be abbreviated Straddle OA PU), you want your elbow angle to be forty-five degrees (or a bit less) with your armpit in order to help protect your shoulder and avoid excessive torque at any particular joint. Like the previous progression, core tightness is the key to this skill. Do this and the rest of the skill only involves building your strength.
You may also feel some torque during the movement. This will twist your body slightly. Pressure will be placed on your working arm and, typically, your opposite leg. Resist this pressure as much as possible, as the force will encourage your pelvis to twist, making the movement look sloppy.
Your foot receiving the most pressure may be the one that is opposite of your arm that is performing the pushup. While this is natural, you should aim to equalize this pressure.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas will be fully protracted and depressed at the topof the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: First, lower the rings to within two to four inches off the ground. Alternatively, you can elevate your feet off the ground at rings-height. (The former method is safer.) Begin in a straddle pushup position. Descend until your chest reaches the bottom of the rings and press back up to the starting position.
The rings element adds a fair amount of instability to the straddle one-arm pushup skill (which can be abbreviated Rings Straddle OA PU) but does not make it too terribly difficult. The only real difference between this technique and other straddled one-arm pushups is you want to keep the elbow angle less than forty-five degrees since any sideways displacement from the rings is going to make the movement much harder. Keep your arm as close to your side as possible.
This is a good lead-in to the straight-body one-arm pushup, which requires your arm to be very close to your side, as there is no laterally displaced foot to help you keep your balance. This exercise will improve your triceps and shoulder strength immensely.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapula will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: The technique is the same as the previous skill, except your feet are held together, your elbow is in, close to your body and chest, and your core is kept tight. Begin in the one-arm straight-body pushup position. Descend until your chest lighdy brushes the ground and press back up to the full one-arm pushup starting position.
The straight-body, one-armpushup (which can be abbreviated Straight-Body OA PU) is a feat very few are able to master. This skill requires a very good sense of balance andan extraordinary level of strength in your shoulder girdle and elbows.
The balance component is the most difficult to master: The best advice is to lean toward the arm that is doing the pushup, and learn how to shift your weight from side to side in the descent. There are small corrections that need to be implemented during the descent and ascent, so it may take a bit of practice to get the feel of the balance before you can perform this skill efficiendy.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapula will be fully protracted and depressed at the top of the movement. During the motion, your scapulas will naturally retract. They will be almost fully retracted at the bottom. As you move back to the starting position, you will finish with your scapulas fully protracted and depressed.
Technique: Lower the rings to within two to four inches off the ground. Alternatively, you can elevate your feet off the ground at rings-height. (The former method is safer.) Begin in a straight-body, one-arm pushup position. Descend until your chest lightly brushes the ground and press back up to the full one-arm pushup starting position.
Taking the straight-body, one-arm pushup to the rings (which can be abbreviated Rings SB OA PU) is an impressive feat, as it requires both immense upper-body and core strength. Like the two previous progressions, you want to first solidly lock down your core. Keep your elbow tucked while lowering through the movement and then push out forcefully while keeping your body sturdy. Leaning your body on the strap a bit may help initially but avoid this in the long run.
This technique blasts your core due to the instability of the rings and torsion of only using one arm, similar to the rings straddle one-arm pushup. If your body begins to twist, try to keep the rotation to a minimum because it makes the skill easier.
Congratulations on mastering the one-arm pushup progression! At this point, you can add weight to the movements to make them more challenging and continue to work them.
The basic dip progression on the parallel bars is short, and most of the skills are geared toward beginners. There are some clifficult variations beyond leaned forward dips, but only one-arm dips are inclucled here. (Rings are preferred to build dipping strength.)
The rings add extremely good strength benefits to regular dips. Additionally, they will help you master many of the upper-level progressions in other categories-including the planche. Move away from parallel bar dips and take them to the rings. One exception would be weighted dips, which can still be beneficial.
Scapular Positioning: Begin with your scapulas depressed and neutral. As you lower into the movement, keep them depressed. At the bottom, you will have the choice to relax your scapulas or allow them to be elevated.
Whichever you choose, they should be depressed again before you move back to the top of the movement. Technique: You can either set a block lower so you can squat jump at the bottom of the movement, or your can use your legs to provide assistance. Whichever you choose, begin in the support position and slowly lower to the bottom of the dip before using your legs to jump back to the support position. Try to push through your hands and triceps, using your legs far as little assistance as possible.
Make sure that you go through the full range of motion. This means starting from the support position with your shoulders pushed down (i.e. not shrugged up toward your ears). Lower down into the bottom position of the movement with your hands as far into your armpits as flexibility allows. Then use your legs to help assist your body back to the top position of the movement.
It is common to feel tight in your chest and lats, to the point of feeling a stretch. Use your legs to mitigate the stretch if it is too uncomfartable, but try to sink deep into the stretch in order to help loosen up your shoulders. This flexibility will be put to use much later with muscle-ups, so it is imperative to begin developing it now. If you experience pain and continued aggravation, put this skill on the shelf and consult the Costochondritis section faund in Common Bodyweight Injuries chapter. Focus on improving your shoulder mobility so you can do this skill pain-free.
Alternatively, you can use a Gravitron machine at the gym to help build up to an unassisted concentric dip. This applies far both this progression and the next.
Scapular Positioning: Begin with your scapulas depressed and neutral. As you lower into the movement, keep them depressed. At the bottom, you will have the choice to relax your scapulas or allow them to be elevated.
Whichever you choose, they should be depressed again before you move back to the top of the movement. Technique: Begin in the support position and slowly lower to the bottom of the dip position.
A parallel bar dip eccentric involves performing only the negative portion of this movement; from the top support position down to the bottom (where your hands are next to the armpits). The goal is to take six to eight seconds to perform a single repetition-working up to seven to ten seconds-and perform two to three full sets containing two to three repetitions per set. This gives you enough time under eccentric control to build the strength and muscle mass required to obtain a full range of motion dip.
The key with this skill is to lower uniformly. If you lower too slowly in the first portion of the movement, it consumes too much energy, which causes you to pass through the ending portion of the movement far too quickly and with poor form. Correct this now by lowering uniformly and you will reap the benefits later on. If you experience pain, put this skill on the shelfand focus on improving your shoulder mobility so you can perform this exercise pain-free.
Alternatively, you can use a Gravitron machine at the gym to help build up to an unassisted concentric dip. This applies for both this progression and the previous one.
Scapular Positioning: Begin with your scapulas depressed and neutral. As you lower into the movement, keep them depressed. At the bottom, you will have the choice to relax your scapulas or allow them to be elevated. Whichever you choose, they should be depressed again before you move back to the top of the movement. Once you can perform five to ten full range of motion dips without relaxing your scapulas, you will have enough strength for a muscle-up but it may take some time to master the technique.
Technique: Begin in the support position and slowly lower to the bottom of the dip position. Push through your hands and triceps to ascend back to the starting position.
Parallel bar dips are one of the staples of gymnastics strength and conditioning. The technique is similar to the previous progression, except you receive no assistance from your lower body. While performing this skill, keep your body straight and your core tight-in a support position with your shoulder girdle depressed. Lower yourself to the bottom of the movement so that your hands reach your armpits (or your current flexibility limits) and then push back up to the top of the movement.
Head positioning is not critical, but try not to arch or crane your head up while pushing out of dips. This may lead to tightness and pain behind your neck, as well as tension headaches. If you experience pain, put this skill on the shelfand focus on improving your shoulder mobility so you can perform this exercise pain-free.
Scapular Positioning: Begin with your scapulas depressed and neutral. As you descend into the movement, keep them depressed. At the bottom, you will have the choice to relax your scapulas or allow them to be elevated. Whichever you choose, they should be depressed again before you move back to the top of the movement.
Technique: Begin in the L-sit support position. Slowly lower to the bottom of the L-sit dip position. Push through your hands and triceps to ascend back to the L-sit support position. Make sure you do not allow your legs to drop during any pare of the movement. Your elbows may flare out slightly.
L-sit dips decrease the leverage of your triceps and shoulders by pushing your center of mass backward four to six inches, just likeL-sitpull-ups. This will make the L-sit dip more difficult since there is a mechanical disadvantage when you increase tension on your triceps and shoulders. Expect a further challenge to stabilize through the depth of the movement due to the increased balance component.
It is important to maintain the L-sit position by keeping your legs parallel to the ground. It is equally important to descend as deeply into the dip as possible to get the full benefos of this strength move. This will also set you up for smooth muscle-ups when you reach that progression. Your range of motion for this skill may be limited when you begin training due to the balance component. This will be remedied as you grow stronger with consistent practice.
Scapular Positioning: Begin with your scapulas depressed and neutral. As you descend into the movement, keep them depressed. At the bottom, you will have the choice to relax your scapulas or allow them to be elevated. Whichever you choose, they should be depressed again before you move back to the top of the movement.
Technique: Begin in the support position and lean forward so that your body reaches a forty-five degree angle. Descend, maintaining this forty-five degree angle, until you reach the bottom of the dip and press back up through your hands and shoulders.
Leaning forward during dips, alongwith the planche variations, is oneway to increase the challenge level of a basic skill. These variations require more body control, which puts the responsibility for advancement on the trainee. This is preferred to other methods of making dips more difficult. It is your responsibility to ensure that you keep your body perfectly straight or in a slightly hollow position for the duration of the movement. Arching occurs naturally, but it must be resisted because it makes the skill easier. Dipping with a 45-degree forward lean can be accomplished two ways, the first of which is easier than the second:
A method that makes the skill exercise easier by bending your torso over a wall. Scapular Positioning: Begin with your scapulas depressed and neutral. As you descend into the movement, keep them depressed. They will naturally retract during the movement, which is fine. After you hit the bottom, they will naturally return to a neutral position as you ascend.
Technique: There are two different variationsof theone-arm dip, and away to make eachmoredifficult. These progressions should be performed on a wall, used to brace your legs for balance. It is possible to use a single rail, but it will make the skill significantly harder. Descending and ascending is the same as in the straight-body, one-arm pushup progressions. Keep your arm tucked in close to your body in order to minimize torque at your joints and rotational forces. Your core and legs must also be squeezed tight.
Like the one-arm chin-up or one-arm pushup, this progression can be useful for assessing your unilateral strength balance. It also requires good use of your core stabilizers. Plus, it is fon to see if you can perform this type of skill.
This skill can be made easier by simply bending your torso down and up. This decreases any movement of your legs, which takes weight off your pushing arm. Additionally, your legs can be used for minimal pushing because the wall generates a bit of friction. You will ultimately want to eliminate any forros of assistance by performing this skill with a straight body while only pressing through one arm.
If you bend and/or twist your torso as illustrated above, it can make the skill much easier-to the point where the skill level drops to Level 6 or 7. This can be used as a method to work up to the full skill, and it is also an alternative movement you can use to work on strength in the absence of a weighted vest, weight belt, parallettes, or other equipment.
Rings dips are critical for building upper-body strength. Like the other progressions, these types of dips put the responsibilicy for correct execution on the trainee. Keep your body in the hollow position and commit yourself to resisting the inclination to arch.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas should be depressed and neutral. It is very easy to protract them. thus caving in your chest. This should be avoided.
Technique: Lock your arms so they are straight and in the rings support position. In this position, with your arms locked straight, depress the shoulder girdle (shoulders away from the ears). If you are a true beginner, to make the movement simpler, focus on gluing the rings to your sides to stabilize the position. If you are having difficulty with this movement, work it on parallel bars or parallettes firsc and then transition over to rings.
Your goal is to be able to hold the rings a couple of inches away from the side of your body. To increase the difficulty of the skill, you can start to point your palms forward to attain the rings-curned-out position.
Make sure to remember to breathe. Attempt to build up each hold to thircy seconds before increasing the difficulty of the skill. Focus on maintaining proper body positions, as this will help you significantly in the fucure. This skill is a great warm-up, especially for beginners.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas should be depressed and neutral. It is very easy to protract them, which allows your chest to cave. This should be avoided.
Technique: Lock your arms so they are straight and in the rings support position. Slowly turn your palms to facing forward.
For the vast majority of rings support positions, you will begin with your hands turned in. Eventually, you want to be able to begin with your forearms and palms facing your body and the rings parallel to each other. Once you become proficient in this skill, turn the rings so your palms face forward. The zero to ninety degrees of the rings-turned-out (RTO) movement ranges:
The RTO position is essential for developing many high-level strength skills, and it will eventually give you a lot more balance and stability even though it may not feel that way when you first begin.
The RTO position helps strengthen your elbows and shoulder connective tissues and it provides a straight-arm strength stimulus for your biceps. This will pay dividends in the future as you work up to more advanced rings movements.
The key concept for this position is palms forward. This rotates the inside of your elbows forward, and rotates your shoulder into external rotation. Physiologically, elbows-pointing-forward is the most stable position. By turning out your palms, the head of your humerus is centered in your glenohumeral joint, which puts your rotator cuff muscles in a good position to stabilize the joint.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas shoulcl be depressed and neutral. It is very easy to protract them, which allows your chest to cave. This shoulcl be avoicled. As you clescencl into the movement, keep your scapulas depressed and neutral until you reach the bottom. Once there, you may relax your scapulas and allow them to elevate.
Technique: Lock your arms so they are straight and in the rings support position. Slowly lower from the support position to the bottom of the dip.
Rings dip eccentrics are the same as the bar eccentrics. The goal is to take six to ten seconcls per single repetition and perform two to three full sets of two to three repetitions per set. Sets at this length will builcl the strength and muscle mass neecled to obtain a full range of motion dip.
The key here is to lower uniformly. It is a common mistake, especially at first, to lower too slowly in the beginning portion of the movement. This uses up all your energy, causing you to pass through the encl of the movement far too quickly and with poor execution.
The rings are easily stabilized by pressing them to your sicles to prevent them from wobbling, especially cluring the lowering phase. During the ascent your arms will attempt to move away from your bocly. Keep them glued to your sicle.
If you are having clifficulty, aclclitional support holcl work may be neecled. Work your way up to a sixty-seconcl support holcl, then work it in the RTO position.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas should be depressed and neutral. It is very easy to protract them, but that allows your chest to cave. This should be avoided. As you descend into the movement, keep your scapulas depressed and neutral until you reach the bottom. Once there, you may relax your scapulas and allow them to elevate.
Technique: Begin with the rings turned out (or at least parallel) in the support position. As you descend into the dip, you can allow your hands to rotate in if you desire. Your hands must remain close to your body, if not tight, for stability purposes. Pause in the bottom of the movement and push out to the top.
The instability of the rings provides greater strength increases than solely working the parallel bar dip progression. At this stage, you do not have to turn the rings out to perform rings dips. Work the support position with the rings turned out as soon as possible, but it is not necessary to hold the RTO position for the entire movement.
The key for this skill is to keep your hands glued to your sides and drive force through the base of your palms. It may help to focus on squeezing your chest and lats tight to your body as a cue.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas should be depressed and neutral. Ir is very easy to protract them, but that allows your chest to cave. This should be avoided. As you descend into the movement, keep your scapulas depressed and neutral until you reach the bottom. Once there, you may relax your scapulas and allow them to elevate.
Technique: Begin in an L-sit position (with the rings turned out or at parallel) and lower into the movement while keeping your legs parallel with the ground. Go as far down as possible before pushing back up, keeping your legs level. Remember to keep the rings glued to your sides for the duration of the movement. Pause at the bottom of the movement before pushing back to the top.
Rings L-sit dips, like the parallel bar variation, focus on developing triceps strength and stabilization when the rings are in front of your body. This strength is useful for future progressions where you maintain your hands in front of your body, such as L-cross and front lever progressions.
It is a common mistake to allow your legs to dip. You should keep them at 90-degrees or higher for the duration of the movement. This fault will usually manifest when you push out of the bottom of the dip. You may want to keep your hands slightly in front of you in order to counteract the forces that make your legs dip.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas should be depressed and neutral. It is very easy to protract them, but that allows your chest to cave. This should be avoided. As you descend into the movement, keep your scapulas depressed and neutral until you reach the bottom. Once there, you may relax your scapulas and allow them to elevate.
Technique: There are two variations of rings wide dips:
One variation is done by beginning in the rings-turned-out (RTO) position. From there, allow your arms to go wide. Simultaneously allow your hands to rotate so your palms face backward. Finish the movement by doing the reverse motion, ending in a rings-turned-out support position. This variation internally rotates your shoulder, which places more stress on your lats and chest. It is useful far prepping your shoulders far more advanced moves like the iron cross.
The other variation can be done by simply pushing the rings out six to twelve inches from your body and holding this position while doing the dips. Like the other variation, this motion is hard on your shoulders and has an increased stability factor. Work one or the other (or both), but know that this is just a progression to pass through.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas should be depressed and neutral. It is very easy to protract them, but that allows your chest to cave. This should be avoided. As you descend into the movement, keep your scapulas depressed and neutral until you reach the bottom. Once there, you may relax your scapulas and allow them to elevate. Depress them again as you move out of the bottom back to the top position.
Technique: Begin in the support position, with the rings turned out. Lower in a controlled manner to the bottom of the dip while keeping your body straight. Do not allow your wrists to bend. Press out of the bottom of the dip to the rings-turned-out support position. Keep the rings turned out at the same angle for the duration of the movement.
These skills can be abbreviated RTO 45 DegDips, RTO 75 DegDips, and RTO 90 DegDips, respectively. The more you turn the rings out pase the parallel position, the more difficult the skill. As noted previously, turning the rings out decreases the inherent stability of the rings themselves, forcing you to stabilize them via muscular coordination. Once the rings are turned out, they should never be turned back in for the duration of the movement. The last progression illustrated above shows the rings turned out to ninety degrees pase parallel and held that way for the duration of the movement.
This skill is executed the same as the rest of the dipping movements. Do not forget to keep your hands glued to your sides! Concentrating on limiting instability more than the dipping motion itselfshould make the technique easier. When the rings are turned out this far, you will have to fight to keep them from turning back in at the top and boctom of the movement, especially during the concentric phase. You can do this by locking your forearms in a supinaced posicion.
As you may have noticed, many of the RTO posicions not only tax your stabilizers (in this case, your chest and lats) they also thoroughly work your arms, especially your biceps and its tendons. This is the primary reason for implemencing the RTO dip skills at this point in your training. This increase in dip difficulty prepares your elbows for higher-level rings skills like crosses and one-arm chin-ups.
Scapular Positioning: Your scapulas should be depressed and neutral. It is very easy to protract them, thus caving in your chest. This should be avoided. As you descend into the movement, keep your scapulas depressed and neutral until you reach the bottom. Once there, you may relax your scapulas and allow them to elevate. Depress them again as you move out of the bottom back to the top position.
Technique: Begin in the support position, with the rings turned out. Lean forward to the appropriate angle and lower in a controlled manner to the bottom of the dip. Keep your body straight and do not allow your wrists to bend. Press out of the bottom of the dip to the starting position, maintaining the lean in your body. Keep the rings turned out at the same angle for the duration of the movement.
These skills can be abbreviaced RTO 90 + 30 Dips, RTO 90 + 50 Dips, RTO 90 + 65 Dips, and RTO 90 + 75 Dips, respectively. Leaning forward will build on the control and connective tissue strength that you have already established from the previous RTO dip progressions. The forward lean puts more stress on all of your anterior muscle groups. Although the total range of motion will decrease, the torque will increase. RTO forward-lean dips act like a hybrid version of planche pushups and a leaning maltese progression. They make for excellent work in progressing toward those skills.
Keep a straight or slightly hollow body position. Your body will want to arch heavily, particularly at your abdominal region. This should be avoided because it makes the exercise significantly easier.
The forward lean portion of the skill (at the beginning and end-with straight arms) is very important. While some coaches may not like combining a forward lean with dips, as long as proper form is maintained the combination can build excellent control that can be utilized for moving in and out of other positions. Try pausing/holding for two seconds if you are working toward the maltese.
As you progress in strength, the angle you are able to obtain per level will diminish (similar to the cross). It is not uncommon for people with Level 8 strength to be able to lean forward forty-five degrees and hold this position for a few seconds. This may give you the illusion that you are more than halfway to the maltese. In realicy, you are probably only one-fourth of theway there, due to increases in torque and decreases in muscle leverage.
Multiple gymnasts have ucilized this forward-lean progression to obtain their maltese holds. It is obtainable with only the forward-lean progression absent of dips. Likewise, you can work solely planche leans to obtain the planche. Here, dips are combined with the forward lean because, like pseudo planche pushups, it builds bent-arm and straight-arm strength into one progression. Feel free to use the leaned forward progression alone or in conjunction with dips to work toward the maltese.
Weighted dips are often called "the squat of the upper body" due to the amount of musculature they use. They can be performed on either parallel bars or rings. Rings weighted dips are going to be more difficult than those performed on parallel bars at lower levels. However, once you begin to move toward full 2x bodyweight dips, they actually are easier on rings. While the rings tend to splay outward, physics dictates that the rings will stay put when you add significant amounts of weight to your body. When the rings move out, they also move up. Therefore, gravity, your bodyweight, and additional weight counteract the outward force that is applied to the rings from your hands. This helps to further stabilize the rings.
The weighted dip progression is very easy to measure, which is why it is particularly useful in training. Weighted dips transfer very well to planche skills, although they do not benefit handstand pushups as much. This should be expected, as weighted dips work the extended range of motion of the shoulder, conferring some benefit to the flexion of the planche. However, it is unlikely to confer benefits to fully flexed shoulder positions like handstands and handstand pushups.
Weighted dips will typically outpace weighted pull-ups by a progression or two due to additional involved musculature. Additionally, your triceps are larger and stronger than your biceps. You should be able to perform a 2x bodyweight dip by the time you reach Level 9. This is consistent with the other skills you will develop around that level. As a point of reference, the straddle planche is a Level 8 skill, and the Half Layout / One-Leg-Out planche is a Level 9 skill.
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