Planche with Resistance Bands

Instructions:

The Planche is a gymnastics and calisthenics street workout exercise that works your abs, arms, shoulders, back, and chest. Holding your body parallel to the ground demands phenomenal strength, coordination, and stability.

The only way to master the full front planche is to work through the series of planche progressions, which we’ve outlined. Once you can maintain a static position for 30 seconds in each progression you know it’s time to advance.

Exercise resistance bands are a valuable tool for planche training as they allow for natural progressions in strength and bodyweight training variability. You can combine bands to offer more assistance when needed, such as when your muscles begin to fatigue. Alternatively, you can use a lighter bands as your strength increases and you need less assistance.

1. Fasten a resistance band to the pullup bar and place it around your waist.

2. Step forward and place your hands on the ground [or parallettes] and find a balanced distance from the bar so that you feel the band’s assistance but it isn’t pulling your backwards or disrupting your balance.

3. Keep your arms straight with your shoulders back and chest engaged as you slowly lean forward to counterbalance the force of the exercise band’s assistance.

4. Squeeze your glutes, lift your legs up, and pull your hips up as you keep your back slightly rounded in a ‘hollow body position’ until you are parallel to the ground.

5. Hold as long as you can before returning to starting position.

Tips:

• Begin you calisthenics planche progression training with the tuck planche, one leg planche, and straddle planche before committing to the full planche. See attached images of various progressions.

• Make sure to stretch your wrists thoroughly before performing this exercise.

• Using parallettes, push up bars can help reduce excess stress on your wrists.

• The further you position yourself from the pull up bar the more the exercise bands will stretch and the easier this exercise will be.

• Try to keep your hips elevated at the same height as your shoulders.

• Gradually increase the amount of time you hold this or use lighter bands for less bodyweight assistance to constantly push yourself slightly further.

• Don’t give up. This is perhaps the hardest calisthenics street workout or gymnastics exercise there is.

Target Muscles:  Arms, Core, Shoulders, Chest, Back

Recommended Bands: Heavy Resistance Band (minimal assistance), Robust Resistance Band (medium assistance), Power Resistance Band (maximum assistance)

Force: Static isometric hold

Position: Supine