Tuck PL to Advanced PL help

[Guest Christopher Bassett]

Hello

I am having trouble advancing from tuck to advanced tuck planche.

I can perform a tuck planche for 50s with protracted and depressed shoulders. When I try to lean forward in order to flatten my back, I find I can only hold a position that is somewhere in between a tuck and advanced. I cannot lean forward enough for the flat back and hold it. I would have thought with my time on the tuck planche, I should be able to hold an advanced tuck for at least a few seconds?

I am thinking I should just focus on building up strength with the in between positions and the advanced tuck will come, is this the right way forward?

After reading the forums, I thought about the role of planche leans. My planche leans are not very good in that I do not have a good and far lean. Could that be a factor holding back the transition or not really?

Edited April 18, 2016 by Christopher Bassett

[Wesley Tan]

Christopher, a good deep lean on the planche leans is essential for planche development!

The hands need to be coming in line with the waist, I use the waistband of my shorts as an indicator in videos or using a mirror. 

As you deepen your degree of lean, it will be much harder to maintain shape (protraction of shoulder blades and PPT). When I practice planche leans I feel a huge contraction in the serratus anterior muscles (working hard for that protraction) and in my core also. As the core comes in line with the hands strength here becomes more important.

Tuck planches are a great tranistion to putting full bodyweight on the wrists and through the shoulder girdle but with a lesser degree of lean. 

YOU NEED MORE PLANCHE LEAN 

 

[Guest Christopher Bassett]

Thank you for your informative reply Wesley.
I had a nagging feeling that my planche lean ability might be holding me back and I see now how vital it really is.

I will add 3 x a week of planche leans to my training to build my lean. I will still train the in between positions to build strength.

[Ryan Hutchins]

Sounds like you are overthinking the process. Instead of thinking about flattening your back, think about getting your knees outside of your elbows. If you do this in front of a mirror you will see how this will naturally flatten out your back if your knees are not touching your arms. You should naturally lean forwards to stay balanced in this position. If you are feeling especially strong you can try straightening your legs once outside of your arms. 50s Tuck planche means you've been building a lot of strength. Let me know how it goes!

[Guest Christopher Bassett]

Hi Ryan

I see what you are saying about moving the knees back. When I perform the movement I focus on leaning more forward and bringing my knees back as the counterbalance. The problem is that my knees don't move back far enough before I lose the strength to hold the position so instead of my knees being behind my elbows, they are somewhere in front.

I think I will post a form video so you can see where I am which may help.

 

[Alessandro Mainente]

A good solution is begins directly with the adv tuck position. Pay attention that it requires by fare more more strength in serratus anterior in order to hold the protraction correctly.

[Guest Christopher Bassett]

Here is a picture of my form and wow I never realised how high my hips were! I did not notice that when I tried to look in the mirror. I feel pretty silly I did not notice that  I guess thats the problem! I will focus on bringing my hips down in line with the shoulders and do lots more planche leans.

[Guest Christopher Bassett]

12 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

A good solution is begins directly with the adv tuck position. Pay attention that it requires by fare more more strength in serratus anterior in order to hold the protraction correctly.

Hi Alessandro, sorry I do not understand the good solution part of your reply? I guess my serratus anterior could be weak, I will look up exercises to make it stronger  

[Douglas Wadle]

Frankly, I don't see a problem with your hips being up at shoulder level.  Most people tend to have their hips too low!  I agree with Wesley that the planche leans are likely your deficit. 

[Guest Christopher Bassett]

Hi Douglas, I find the hip height thing quite confusing because I have been through the forum looking at planche form videos and I noticed a common critique that the hips are too high and they must be in line with the shoulders. So I just assumed that is an issue I need to fix however many of the straddle planche pictures I have seen, including this https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/planche-leans-get-you-strong/ and this http://functionallymad.com/images/planche/mainspl1.jpeg the hips are higher than the shoulders?

I am definitely with you & Wesley on the planche leans though which is now a top priority

[Brian Li]

39 minutes ago, Christopher Bassett said:

Hi Douglas, I find the hip height thing quite confusing because I have been through the forum looking at planche form videos and I noticed a common critique that the hips are too high and they must be in line with the shoulders. So I just assumed that is an issue I need to fix however many of the straddle planche pictures I have seen, including this https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/planche-leans-get-you-strong/ and this http://functionallymad.com/images/planche/mainspl1.jpeg the hips are higher than the shoulders?

I am definitely with you & Wesley on the planche leans though which is now a top priority

Those are not perfect straddle planches. You should always strive for perfect form and leveling the hips with the shoulders is one of the things you need to aim for.

[Ryan Hutchins]

On 5/11/2016 at 4:25 PM, Christopher Bassett said:

Here is a picture of my form and wow I never realised how high my hips were! I did not notice that when I tried to look in the mirror. I feel pretty silly I did not notice that  I guess thats the problem! I will focus on bringing my hips down in line with the shoulders and do lots more planche leans.

 

So yeah you need to play with the position some. Spend 10 minutes straight on it if necessary. Try it upside down by doing a front lever advanced tuck. Notice the lean you must have there. While in tuck planche simply attempt to flatten out your back. You will notice that your butt will lift slightly and you should lean forward MAYBE an inch or two. Not much difference at all. I had to go to my setup while writing this to confirm that. If you need a video to clear this up i can post it. 

As far as hip height goes there is an "acceptable range". For starters having your body extended into the air with your arms straight is quite an accomplishment in itself. We're talking a move that 99.999% of the world will never get close to doing(weighted planks are you serious???) That range is 15 degrees off of a line parallel to the floor. In all of those pictures you never see anyone out of that range. So keep an eye on it and don't have a low planche. 

[Guest Christopher Bassett]

The acceptable range seems reasonable to me.  I will still try and get as parallel as possible but I wont be super strict on myself if I am a little higher. I will play around with the position more and try as you suggested. Thanks Ryan