Planche Progression Exercises (with PDF)

The level of body strength and control needed for planche move makes it difficult to find any other comparable static hold. Even the well-trained athletes see it as a milestone.

Clearly, this move is not for everyone, even before starting to train with the planche progression exercise you need to be properly prepared. You have to work on your balancing, core and shoulder strength. If you have all that and a will to train smartly, patiently and consistently then it is definitely within your reach.

Along with everything mentioned you will also need a guide that will lead you to the right technique towards achieving a planche hold. This article will be that guide for you.

Planche Hold means keeping your body parallel to the ground using straight arms. Before you start learning planche progression exercises, it’s important to know a few things. Planche is an advanced skill, and not everyone can begin practicing planche progressions right away.

There are some things you need to know before heading towards planche progression exercises. If you are already following some other goal specific exercise plan then you should probably come back to planche progression after you achieve that target. It cannot be mixed with any other fitness program.

What muscles do Planche work?

Planche is one of the coolest body weight balancing hold. There aren’t many who can hold this position. If you can, then you have impressive shoulder strength, strong arms and equally robust wrists.

Other than being a proof of your strength the planche hold helps you in strengthening all major muscle groups. It works almost whole body but the primarily involved muscles are abs, arms, chest, shoulders, upper back, lower back, and glutes.

To be specific here is list of technical names of the muscle groups that planche hold works: Major (clavicular), Pectoralis Major (sternal & Abd), Anterior Deltoid, Biceps Brachii, Coracobrachialis, Pectoralis Minor, Rectus Abdominis, Pectoralis, Serratus, Triceps Brachii, Anterior.

How do you do a Planche? 

Balancing skills and upper body strength needed to hold a planche position are comparable with a skilled gymnast. There is proper form of holding a planche, it is not just hanging your body in the air. First off, planche is a static hold where your entire body is held in the air parallel to the floor, and it’s supported by straight arms.

From the beginning you must train correctly because in planche a slight mistake in the position of shoulders, arms, wrists may lead to strain or injury. 

To consider it a proper planche, following criteria must be met.

• Hands must be planted at shoulder distance
• Position of the hands relative to body must be roughly parallel to belly button
• Arms must be completely straight
• Back must not be arched
• You body must be completely lifted from the ground
• Body completely parallel to floor
• To call it a full planche hold your legs must close together
• Fingertips facing front
• Core muscles engaged

Planche Hand Position

You can try different hand positions for the planche. How you hold onto the floor and what feels comfortable for your wrists might be unique to you.

What suits you might not suit others. So, by trying out different common variations, you can find what works best for you and develop your own preference:-

• Fingers spread
• Fingers closed and facing forward
• Hold the floor with fingertips
• Flat hand position
• Fingers facing sideways

Prerequisites

Before getting in to planche progression exercises you must make sure that you are properly prepared for it. The pre-requisites for planche progressions are;

• Good shoulder strength, insane wrist flexibility & mobility, and a lot of core strength as well.

If you can’t even do frog stand with good form, focus on getting stronger shoulders and core (Pike push ups, dips, so on)

How to warm up for Planche?

• Arm Circles
• Wrist rotations
• Alternating Chest Hugs
• Rolling Shoulder Circles
• Planche Lean
• Straddle Planche Lean

Planche Progression Exercises

Before achieving the complete planche hold, you need to go through eight progression exercises. It’s suggested to follow these progressions in the specified order. Make sure to hold each progression comfortably for at least twenty or thirty seconds before advancing to the next one.

From the day you start practicing the first progression, the cumulative hold time must be twenty seconds or more no matter how many sets this may take.

A side tip: Do not combine planche progression exercises with other intense straight arm exercises. Do not get overwhelmed, take one step at a time, be consistent and patient and you will get there for sure. So, lets begin with the progressions.

In all the planche progression exercises hands can be put on the floor or the bars alternatively.

1. Frog Stand
2. Advanced Frog Stand
3. Tuck Swings: should be slow
4. Tuck Planche
5. Advanced Tuck Planche
6. Tuck Planche Push Ups (optional exercise, but a recommended one)
7. One leg Planche
8. Straddle Planche
9. Full Planche

1. Frog Stand

To do a frog stand, start by squatting down and put your hands flat on the floor beside your toes. Then, bring your legs closer so that your knees or inner thighs touch or rest on your elbows from the outer side, with your arms in between. This way, your legs assist in supporting some of the body weight.

Let your arms be slightly bent in elbows. Now lean forward, take the bodyweight on your hands, slowly raise your feet – heels first. The aim is to raise feet completely off the ground.

Practice this until you can do it comfortably. Repeat till the hold time equals twenty+ seconds. Strength and balancing skills will develop with regular practice. The target is to be able to hold frog stand continuously for half minute.

2. Advanced Frog Stand

Once you are able to hold the frog stand for one minute, you can move to next progression. Advanced frog stand is – as the name suggests – an advanced variation of the frog stand. You will need a little more shoulder and arms strength to be able to hold this position than the basic frog stand.

The process to move into the advanced frog stand begins similarly to the basic frog stand. From a squatting position, place your hands flat on the floor and lean your knees against your lower arms while keeping the elbows fully extended.

It’s important to note that in the advanced frog stand, the arms cannot be bent. Now, gradually lift your feet off the ground until they are completely in the air.

Engage the core muscles and hold the position. Practice this position till you hit your goal of a consecutive thirty second hold. This variation will help you improve wrist stability and flexibility.

3. Tuck Swings (should be slow)

There might be swings written in the name of the exercise but in practice these are slow and controlled oscillating movements.

Sit down with hand on the bars and knees bent, shin bones laying flat on ground feet facing backwards. At this moment you should be holding the bars with elbows bent.

Perform Tuck Swings by straightening your arms to lift your body, keeping your legs bent as they were at the beginning. Swing your lower body in a motion as if you’re aiming to bring your knees toward your chest and then backward until your hips align with your shoulders. Ensure that your arms remain straight throughout the entire movement.

The movement should be smooth and slow. Aim is to get the movement slower and slower and more controlled.

4. Tuck Planche

You can move ahead to tuck planche progression when you are confident with slow and controlled tuck swings.

The tuck planche position is similar to frog stand. To get into tuck planche position first get into squat down position, hold the floor with flat palms, this time a little in front of the toes. Keep your arms straight, now try to tuck in the knees towards your chest lifting the feet off the ground.

The difference between advanced frog stand and tuck planche is, in tuck planche your knees touch your chest instead of lower arms. Your back would be a little arched in this hold as your knees are all the way up your chest. Here too, aim is to hold the position for half minute.

5. Advanced Tuck Planche

After practicing the tuck planche and you reach the level of being able to hold it for half minute, you can move to advanced tuck planche.

Get into tuck planche position, which is performed with arched back. Now slowly lift your hips up till the back straightens completely. You can move ahead to next planche progression exercise when you are able to hold the back straight for thirty seconds.

6. Tuck Planche Push Ups (optional exercise, but a recommended one)

As the name suggests this progression involves bending and straightening your arms while being in tuck planche position. The aim is to achieve the movement with control.

7. One leg Planche

Being able to hold one leg planche means you are just a step away from your final target. To get in to one leg planche hold you need to first get in to advanced tuck planche. Now move one leg slowly out till it is completely extended. Hold this position for few seconds.

Repeat the process with other leg out. Practice till you can hold the position for half minute.

8. Straddle Planche

Let us increase the difficulty a bit. If you can do straddle planche then you are almost done. Start with the tuck planche position. Then move both the legs out behind you slowly extending the knees. 

You also need to spread the legs while moving them out from the tuck planche position. It is easier to balance if the legs are spread wide.

Begin with ten seconds and aim for at least thirty second hold. Once you have achieved thirty second hold try to bring the legs a little closer together. Progressing towards the full planche.

9. Full Planche

Gradually work towards achieving the full planche. Position your body parallel to the floor, maintaining straight arms, a straight back, and placing your hands near your belly button. Keep your legs together and floating in the air. Aim to hold this position for an extended duration, and gradually increase the duration in small increments as you progress.

Once you have achieved this feat you might be hungry for more. If you are, you can try some advanced variations. There are many such, some of those are listed here;

• Start with handstand and lower to planche hold
• Planche push ups
• Straddle planche to full planche slow movements
• Start with tuck planche to one leg planche alternate legs consecutively
• Tuck planche to full planche repeatative, slow, controlled movements

Don’t miss:

Front Lever Progression Workout
Gymnastic Rings Workout Routine for Beginners
Calisthenics Workout Plan for Beginners
Back Lever Progression Workout

Calisthenics Planche Progression Program PDF

Click on the button to download planche progression exercises pdf template.

Final Words

The more you practice, the better the results, but these progressions can be demanding and may result in burnout or injuries if done in high volume and frequency. Regardless of your training level, it’s crucial not to rush into this program. Gradually ease into it by starting with three days a week. After two months of training, consider adding one more day per week to avoid overexertion and reduce the risk of injuries.

On every move from one progression to next start at lowest level, five seconds, ten seconds, then work it up.

Achieving a full planche is a challenging task for everyone. Even if you are already quite strong, putting in effort with these planche exercises is necessary. Begin with one exercise, practice it extensively, and then progress to another as you improve. Consistent practice and hard work are key. Just keep practicing and working hard, and you’ll get there.