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Illinois Gymnastics Strength Circuit

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Illinois Gymnastics Strength Circuit

Each year I try to go back to the University of Illinois to visit.  I like to hang out with the current gymnastics team and get to know the team as well as do their strength circuit.  This is the 2014 version - and I’m now 13 years out of competing!!  Time flies! So, let me know how I did!  I say not to shabby for an old man.  

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How To Learn A Gymnastics Planche

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How To Learn A Gymnastics Planche

While I’ve been on a break I’ve had many of YOU ask me for a video on how to learn a Planche - so, here you go.  I have with me today a former University of Illinois Gymanst Chris Silcox - you can check his channel out here - Chris has been doing cirque performances and teaching acrobatics and stretching and today we are going to teach you how you can learn a planche.

A planche is a straight armed horizontal hold that gymnasts usually do on the floor or rings and can come in many forms - either straddle or a more difficult legs together.  This is not an easy move, and it takes gymnasts years of practice to be able to do it well.  It takes plenty of balance and strength to do a good planche, and that takes lots of time to develop.  

you need to lean your shoulders over your wrists to balance out the weight from your lower body.  And, your shoulders need to be strong enough to support that weight.  That’s usually the hang up.  

So how do you learn a planche?  I say it over and over again, practice.  

But don’t just practice jumping up to a planche, you need to do lots of stuff - I think the first thing to practice is a press to handstand.  

This is the beginning to getting your shoulders over your wrists which are turned out a bit, and pressing your body over your head with straight arms.  You can even practice lowering down from handstand and getting your shoulders over your wrists as you slowly come down.  From this straddle press, as this gets easier, practice a pike press with your legs together.  This is more difficult than the straddle press since it adds more weight to the bottom side of that wine bottle and thus requires you to get those shoulders even more forward over the wrists, and thus more load is placed on the shoulders and more strength is required to press your butt over your head.  

If straddle presses become doable, try from an L Sit on Paralletes and master your presses up and down on paralletes.  If you can learn to do multiple press handstands in a row on paralletes, that would be a GREAT start!  Today We are using the Halo Trainer as well as the Extreme Rollers which are like perfect pushups on steroids with 9 rollers on the bottom and and are a fun thing to use to mix up your workout routine.

To Help with your shoulder strength, I recommend practicing handstand pushups, and if you have a spotter, gymnasts do planche presses where a spotter will hold one shoulder and one leg and lower you down, and lift you up.  The hand on the shoulder is so you don’t fall forward on your face and it teaches you to get the shoulders forward to offset the weight from your lower body.     

Depending on where you are at in your development, something else you can practice which will help is planche roll outs on a ball.  Keep your arms straight and roll forward and back without going too far over your wrists and falling on your face.  Keep your body straight and squeeze your butt.  Also note that you want to keep your chest hollow and extended - very important.  

Any questions?  Leave them below in the comments.  Also, let me know how long you can hold your planche.  I competed a straddle planche, but never legs together - couldn’t quite hold that long enough to not have deductions.

 

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