Planche

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The planche is a gymnastics skill where the body is held straight and parallel to the ground, entirely supported by straight arms. Not only does it look impressive, it shows an advanced level of pushing strength that not many people achieve. Fortunately, there are ways to make it easier that allow the planche to be a great progressive exercise that requires no equipment to build an extremely high level of strength.

The Basics

The planche is primarily used as a strength exercise. It is classified as a horizontal upper push movement. It is more generally classified as a upper push movement. Since it involves significant activation of multiple muscle groups, it is considered a compound exercise.

Form

Set Up

• Place your hands shoulder width or slightly wider apart on the ground
• Fingers can be facing forwards, out to the sides, or backwards
• Extend your feet behind you, so that your body is straight
• Face the inside of your elbows forward and keep your arms straight
• Push your shoulders down towards your hands, protracting your shoulder blades
• Your shoulders should be directly above your hands

Execution

• Keeping your arms and body straight, shift your body forward so that your shoulders move forwards and your hands are positioned beneath your core
• Keep your shoulders tight and engaged and your shoulders protracted
• Engage your biceps to stabilize your elbows
• Engage your lower back, hips, and core to help you maintain a straight body
• As your weight is shifted to your hands, lift your feet off the ground, keeping your body straight and parallel to the ground
• Hold the position

Common Mistakes

Bending Your Arms

Keeping your arms straight is an important part of the planche. Your arms should be completely straight, stabilized and held in place by your biceps. If you're bending your arms during the planche, you're likely attepting too hard of a progression.

Arching Your Back

While you have to engage your lower back to keep your body straight, be careful not to arch it. Keep your back held in a neutral position, not arched or rounded.

Shoulder Protraction

A key part of the planche is correctly setting your shoulders. Be sure to keep your shoulder blades protracted and depressed so that your shoulders are in a safe and stable position to hold your weight.

Additional Info

Hand Positioning

Performing a planche requires you to hold all of your body weight on your hands. This can put significant stress on your wrists, and depending on your wrist mobility, certain hand positions may be more comfortable. However, if you have the wrist mobility, it can make the planche easier.

• Forward: Facing your fingers forward puts the most stress on the wrists, but allows you to use your fingers for leverage which makes the planche slightly easier
• Sideways: Facing your fingers sideways makes the planche more difficult, but puts less stress on the wrists
• Backward: Facing your fingers backward puts the least stress on the wrists but is the most difficult and more directly works the biceps

Paralletes

While you most certainly can train the planche without paralletes, they can be quite helpful. Using paralletes makes learning and building your planche strength easier. They put your wrists in a more comfortable position and the extra height makes the tuck progressions easier.

Height and Weight

As the difficulty of the planche comes largely from leverage, your height and weight significantly change how hard it will be for you. For more info on this, check out the Lever/Planche Moment Calculator page.

Related Exercises

Reviews

Performance Standard Ranks

The ranks assume that you are generally healthy, with no underlying health conditions or injuries and have the mobility to perform the exercise correctly. You can determine your rank by comparing your numbers to the tables below. Your rank is also tracked automatically when using our Workout Log feature.

Strength Standards

The tables show the one rep max* in pounds needed to reach each rank at different body weights (also in lbs). The 1RMs on the table are based on world records, balanced ratios, and the average time needed to attain each rank. To see personalized strength standards for every exercise, check out the Strength Standards page. You can also find your Strength Score to see how you rank as part of our Fitness Score System.

*Added weight if positive, assistance if negative. The planche and levers are also notable exceptions as they show the moment at the shoulder, not weight. For more info, check out the Moment Calculator page.