How is a planche push-up different from a pseudo planche push-up?

In the Pseudo Planche Push-Up the feet stay on the floor and only part of the body weight is shifted onto the hands. In the planche push-up the feet are off the floor and the hands hold all of it, which makes it a far harder, more advanced skill.

Do I need to hold a full planche before doing planche push-ups?

Yes. Every rep starts and finishes in a Full Planche, so coaches generally want a steady hold of several seconds with locked arms and a flat body before adding reps. Until then, the straddle version or pseudo planche push-ups build the strength.

Should my fingers point forward or turn out?

Turning the hands slightly out eases the strain on the wrists and suits many people better on the floor, while rotating them far back puts more strain on the biceps. Parallettes reduce the wrist bend further, but the floor version demands more wrist strength and balance.

Why do my elbows and biceps get sore from planche work?

The straight-arm planche puts heavy tension on the front of the elbow, and a study of seven high-level ring gymnasts holding a planche on rings found the front deltoid and biceps were the most active of the muscles measured. Soreness at the elbow is a sign to cut volume and spend more time on easier progressions.

Planche Push-Up

What Is the Planche Push-Up?

Planche Push-Up is a compound exercise that primarily targets the shoulders and also engages the chest, serratus anterior, triceps and the muscles that keep the trunk and legs rigid. It is an advanced-level movement and one of the hardest pushing skills in calisthenics: the body is held off the floor in a full planche, legs straight and together, then lowered and pressed back up on the hands alone.

It is often confused with the Pseudo Planche Push-Up, which copies the forward lean while the feet stay on the floor. Here nothing touches the ground but the hands, so the shoulders carry and balance the entire body weight, with the center of mass kept over the hands through every part of the rep. Owning a static Full Planche is the entry ticket, and pressing out of it is a further step, because the lean has to be held while the elbows bend and the shoulders travel forward and back.

The front deltoids do the heaviest work, holding the body up against a long lever, while the serratus anterior keeps the shoulder blades spread and the chest and triceps lower and press the body. At the straight-arm top the biceps are under heavy tension as well, which is why planche trainees watch their elbows closely. The abdominals, glutes and lower back keep the body in one straight line so the legs do not drop. Spreading the legs into a Straddle Planche shortens the lever and makes the straddle push-up the usual step before the full version, and a tucked version is easier still.

This exercise suits advanced calisthenics athletes and gymnasts building planche strength, usually as low-rep work early in a session, right after a skill warm-up. Most people need a long period of straight-arm training first: Lean Planche holds, pseudo planche push-ups and a solid Tuck Planche build the wrists, elbows and shoulders for it, and coaches generally look for a clean full planche hold of several seconds before asking for reps.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Deltoid: Primary
Pectoralis Major: High
Serratus Anterior: High
Triceps Brachii (Lateral Head): High
Biceps Brachii: Medium
Gluteus Maximus: Medium
Rectus Abdominis: Medium
Triceps Brachii (Medial Head): Medium
Erector Spinae: Low
Lower Trapezius: Low

Instructions

Place your hands flat on the floor about shoulder-width apart, fingers spread and pointing forward or turned slightly out.
Lock your elbows, push the floor away so your shoulder blades spread apart, and lean your shoulders well forward of your hands.
Tuck your pelvis under, squeeze your glutes and lift into a full planche: feet off the floor, legs straight and together, toes pointed and the body in one straight line parallel to the floor.
Keeping the lean, bend your elbows and lower your whole body as one unit, elbows tracking back along your sides.
Let your shoulders travel further forward as you descend, and stop when your chest is just above hand level with your hands beside your lower ribs and your body still parallel to the floor.
Press the floor away to straighten your arms, keeping the shoulder blades spread and the hips level, until your elbows lock back in the full planche.
Repeat for the planned reps, then lower your feet to the floor under control.

Common Mistakes

Too little forward lean
Keeping the shoulders over the hands instead of well in front of them leaves the center of mass behind the hands, so the legs drop and the feet touch down.
Pinching the shoulder blades
Letting the shoulder blades squeeze together sinks the chest between the shoulders and takes away the serratus support the planche relies on.
Piking the hips
Bending at the hips to rebalance shortens the lever and turns the rep into an easier, different movement.
Sagging legs and arched back
Letting the legs droop or the lower back arch breaks the straight body line and loads the lower spine.
Elbows flaring out
Letting the elbows drift wide on the way down stresses the shoulders and elbows; they should track back along the sides of the body.
Soft elbows at the top
Stopping each press short of locked arms skips the straight-arm planche that every rep is meant to start and finish in.

Injuries

Planche Push-Up is a high risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The whole body weight rests on the hands with the wrists bent back and the shoulders far in front of them, so small faults are magnified and the tendons are loaded much harder than in any regular push-up.

The usual strain points are the wrists, which take heavy extension under load, the front of the elbow and the biceps tendon, which are stretched and loaded in the straight-arm top position, the inside of the elbow, and the front of the shoulder as it travels forward of the hands. Letting the hips sag or the lower back arch to keep the legs up also loads the lower spine.

Build up through Lean Planche holds, the Pseudo Planche Push-Up, the Tuck Planche and the Straddle Planche before attempting full reps, and add volume slowly, because tendons adapt more slowly than muscles. Warm up the wrists and elbows thoroughly, turn the hands slightly out if the wrists complain, and keep sets short, stopping while the body line is still clean rather than grinding to failure. Parallettes reduce the wrist bend for those who cannot yet tolerate the floor version.

Stop the set at any sharp pain in the wrist, pain at the front or inside of the elbow, or pinching at the front of the shoulder, and drop back to an easier variation until it settles. Persistent elbow or wrist pain that lasts beyond a few days of rest deserves a check from a sports medicine professional.

Overview

Primary Focus: Shoulders
Equipment: Body weight
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is a planche push-up different from a pseudo planche push-up?: In the Pseudo Planche Push-Up the feet stay on the floor and only part of the body weight is shifted onto the hands. In the planche push-up the feet are off the floor and the hands hold all of it, which makes it a far harder, more advanced skill.
Q: Do I need to hold a full planche before doing planche push-ups?: Yes. Every rep starts and finishes in a Full Planche, so coaches generally want a steady hold of several seconds with locked arms and a flat body before adding reps. Until then, the straddle version or pseudo planche push-ups build the strength.
Q: Should my fingers point forward or turn out?: Turning the hands slightly out eases the strain on the wrists and suits many people better on the floor, while rotating them far back puts more strain on the biceps. Parallettes reduce the wrist bend further, but the floor version demands more wrist strength and balance.
Q: Why do my elbows and biceps get sore from planche work?: The straight-arm planche puts heavy tension on the front of the elbow, and a study of seven high-level ring gymnasts holding a planche on rings found the front deltoid and biceps were the most active of the muscles measured. Soreness at the elbow is a sign to cut volume and spend more time on easier progressions.