Have you ever wondered why every single planche progression video on YouTube all starts day
1 with a tuck planche?
But when you actually try to attempt it yourself, even the tuck planche feels impossible.
How in the world is the tuck planche a given?
I can't be the only one that feels this way, right?
In this video, I will share the techniques I learned but no one talks about, and also
describe what it actually feels like to hold a tuck planche.
The only and most requested skill that people want me to learn is the planche.
I thought about it, but I never really took action because I had to start pretty much
from zero.
When I made videos like learning the muscle-up in 35 days, it was actually learning the muscle-up
with years of rock climbing pull strength training experience in 35 days.
However, the only push strength training experience I have is holding a kick-up handstand for
10 seconds.10秒鐘
That's it, nothing more than that.
As usual, I started from watching at least 10 tutorial videos on YouTube, and basically
they all come down to these 5 points.
First, really keep your arms straight and don't cheat by bending your arms.
Well, my bent-arm strength is weaker than straight-arm strength, so that's not applicable
to me.
Second, protract the scapula.
Well, I used to hunch my back all the time when writing c++ for work, so how hard can
protracting the scapula be, right?
Third, engage the core into a hollow body position, which I learned already from learning
the handstand.
Fourth, rotate the hands out 45 degrees to ease up the wrist pressure when you lean forward.
Great advice.
Finally, "train hard, be strong, and don't be not strong."
Feeling ready, I started to attempt the tuck planche.
The first thing I immediately realized is that it felt like my elbows were about to
snap when I attempted the tuck planche.
When I reviewed the footage, I realized that I had hyperextended elbows.
I spent days searching on the Internet.
The solutions most people talk about are surgery, physical therapy, or using elbow braces.
These all sound too extreme, and I would rather live with my genetic defects and go back to
pulling if those are the only solutions.
Just when I was about to give up, I came across a video explaining how to deal with hyperextended
elbows.
It worked, and I couldn't believe this guy had only a few hundred subscribers.
The idea is to actively co-contract the triceps and biceps when you push instead of passively
putting your weight onto your joints.
It seems so obvious in hindsight, but I guess my body just isn't as gifted as the pros,
whose bodies just do it naturally.
However, I still couldn't successfully do the tuck planche.
I was unable to lean forward enough because my wrists couldn't deal with the pressure.
When I tried to force it, I ended up cramping my abs because my wrists frantically pushed
my body backwards to prevent themselves from snapping while my abs were trying to hold
the position.
I knew if I could make my wrists get used to the pressure, I would be able to get it.
Therefore, the exercises I decided to work on were 3 sets of 3 rep max effort planche
leans, and 3 sets of max effort L-sits.
Planche lean feels like the best way to train the wrists because you can put as much pressure
on your wrists as your wrists can take in a controlled position.
As for the L-sit, it works the core and also the wrists, so I thought it was a good idea
to do them.
I trained and trained and trained.
I always attempted the tuck planche 1~2 times before doing the planche leans and L-sits
to see where I was at.
64 days flew by really fast.
I felt my wrists were getting stronger, but the progress seemed a bit too slow.
I knew there had to be some techniques that I was still not doing right.
I decided to compare my attempt side by side with the pros, and I finally understood it.
Scapula protraction is not equal to hunchback.
Even though both result in a rounded back, they are actually very different.
For hunchback, the "round" happens at the mid-back, and when you stand up and disengage
all muscles, this happens naturally without any effort.
As for scapula protraction, the "round" happens at the upper back and shoulders, and
when you stand up, you actually have to actively engage the muscles at the upper back and shoulders
in order to get into this position.
Again, it seems so obvious in hindsight, but my body just isn't as gifted as the pros,
whose bodies just do it naturally.
I applied this fix and this happened.
Okay, man, but that feels like an L-sit though.
I was so surprised to hold it and I had to double-check the footage to make sure I was
doing it right, so I decided to give it another go with the aim of hitting 5 seconds, and
this happened.
Oh!
Is that it?
Yes!
Haha!
Tuck planche unlock!
Ho!
Ha!
Oh my god!
I found that trying to look forward instead of looking down helps get the scapula protraction
right.
You also want to push very actively, as if your palms are going to leave the ground.
I also don't feel a lot of pressure on my shoulders as all the YouTube experts mentioned,
and it could be because I am still very early in my planche journey.
The main pressure I feel is on my wrists and some on the core.
Another thing I will have to disagree with the YouTube experts is the importance of bent-arm
push strength for achieving the tuck planche.
Stop trying the tuck planche to get the tuck planche.
Work on your bent-arm strength.
Your military press probably sucks. You need to work on your push-ups.
If you can't do 30 push-ups in a row yet, then you really don't want to be trying out
for the tuck planche yet.
My max push-ups are only 6 reps in a row, and of course I am talking about slow and
controlled perfect form push-ups.
If I were to sacrifice the form and rush it, I might be able to get to 10 reps, but in
any case, I am in no way close to the requirement of 25~30 reps mentioned by the YouTube experts.
Thanks for watching the first episode of my road to the full planche.
To be honest, I am getting old, and I don't know how much time I still have for my body
to achieve the full planche.
I feel my body is ascending at the moment, but conventional wisdom says physical decline
is going to happen pretty soon because Father Time is undefeated.
Anyway, I will still try my best to achieve to the full planche and complete this series,
so definitely stay tuned for that.
In any case, make sure to like, subscribe, and check out my website geekclimber.com.
See you in the next video.