Philippe Geoffrion
Level 7 Valued Member
Hello my fellow SF members,
I’m writing this post to gain the opinions of those who have trekked their long trail before me of achieving, or working towards, a planche or front lever.
Now, I am an Iron Man at heart (cue the proverbial riff) and admittedly, use calisthenics as a filler when the previous barbell is beyond my means, as it is of now.
However, I’ve “practiced” (in the sense I’ve trained for months and hit walls and magically a barbell appears) these movements quite frequently in the past.
The Lever seems to be coming along better than the planche, which is where the real obstacles lay. I’m wondering how those have overcome similar plateaus.
My training for the planche started with Christopher Simmer’s static holds and admittedly, holding the first progression for A FULL MINUTE is well beyond abilities. Other trainers, such as Al Kavado, suggest around 12 seconds to be adequate, which I achieved. However, the progression from tuck planche to advanced is a pretty big leap. Some days it’s there for a few seconds, sometimes I fall face first.
My training is for these movements varies but is quite often. I haven’t suffered injuries from them, so I figure GTG training is helpful. I’ve done a Tuck Planche push-ups, and leans as well to help the forward positioning of the torso.
Now, my body proportions (long limbs) seem unfavorable towards ease of progress on the planche as it’s difficult to get my hips high enough to bare the weight of my legs in the advanced tuck. My leg training is only pistol squats at the moment.
I find the ground best for planche holds as bars seem to cause excess wrist stress and more difficulty balancing but I vary between the two. My hands are at nearly 90 from my torso with the finger tips curled slightly.
So my questions for those who trained these movements:
1)What type of training/frequency did you use to work towards them?
2) How did you overcome sticking points?
3)Any tips to pass along that may help me advance?
Thanks all!
I’m writing this post to gain the opinions of those who have trekked their long trail before me of achieving, or working towards, a planche or front lever.
Now, I am an Iron Man at heart (cue the proverbial riff) and admittedly, use calisthenics as a filler when the previous barbell is beyond my means, as it is of now.
However, I’ve “practiced” (in the sense I’ve trained for months and hit walls and magically a barbell appears) these movements quite frequently in the past.
The Lever seems to be coming along better than the planche, which is where the real obstacles lay. I’m wondering how those have overcome similar plateaus.
My training for the planche started with Christopher Simmer’s static holds and admittedly, holding the first progression for A FULL MINUTE is well beyond abilities. Other trainers, such as Al Kavado, suggest around 12 seconds to be adequate, which I achieved. However, the progression from tuck planche to advanced is a pretty big leap. Some days it’s there for a few seconds, sometimes I fall face first.
My training is for these movements varies but is quite often. I haven’t suffered injuries from them, so I figure GTG training is helpful. I’ve done a Tuck Planche push-ups, and leans as well to help the forward positioning of the torso.
Now, my body proportions (long limbs) seem unfavorable towards ease of progress on the planche as it’s difficult to get my hips high enough to bare the weight of my legs in the advanced tuck. My leg training is only pistol squats at the moment.
I find the ground best for planche holds as bars seem to cause excess wrist stress and more difficulty balancing but I vary between the two. My hands are at nearly 90 from my torso with the finger tips curled slightly.
So my questions for those who trained these movements:
1)What type of training/frequency did you use to work towards them?
2) How did you overcome sticking points?
3)Any tips to pass along that may help me advance?
Thanks all!