What’s better than one Mirafit athlete? Two. GB gymnast Max Whitlock met up with Harry AA to show him the ropes (well the parallettes) and teach him how to perform a planche.

You might think as a professional sprinter Harry would find this easy, think again. Different sports require different levels of fitness, use of muscle groups and a whole different skill set. For Harry this was a completely new experience.

So if you, like Harry, want to level up your gymnastics skills, read all about Max Whitlock’s planche masterclass.

Build Strength In Your Wrists

Performing a planche puts a lot of pressure on your wrists. In order to prepare them for the movement you can do some wrist presses. Start in a plank position and lean over your wrists. Brace your core and lift the heel of your hands off the floor. If you struggle with this, you can just lift one hand at a time, or drop down to your knees in a tabletop position. You will need to do a lot of wrist strengthening if you want to perform a planche.

How to Start a Planche

Before jumping straight into the planche, there are some exercises you can perform to prepare for the movement. These exercises target and activate the same muscles that you'll be using in a planche. You can use these as you work up to the movement, or also include them as a warm-up before you do the planche.

Straight Arm Raises

Lying down on a bench, hold a pair of light dumbbells with your palms facing up and lock your arms out straight. Lift your arms up towards the ceiling and then back down to bench height, keep repeating this movement. You will get the sense of pushing against a force and activating the right muscles for the planche.

Scapular Push Ups

When doing a planche, your shoulders shouldn’t be slumped down. To stop this from happening you can practise scapular push ups. Get in a plank position and protract and retract your shoulders. You should brace your core and keep your arms straight throughout the movement.

Planche Progression Exercises

Progression One

Start in a pike position with your hips high and lean forwards into a high plank, shifting between the two positions. The point of this movement is to get used to the pressure on your wrists and find the balance with your centre of mass.

Progression Two

Next you can use the Parallettes and practise doing little bunny hops. Hold onto the parallettes with your arms straight and shoulders over wrists. Lean forwards and jump up and down, controlling the movement as much as possible. Begin with small jumps and make them bigger as your confidence increases.

Progression Three

Next, add a Plyo Jump Box to level up the previous exercise. You'll be in the same position but with your feet elevated on the box. From here, in your tuck position, lift your legs off the box in an alternating movement, keeping one foot on the box and swapping over. Once you can do this, jump into bunny hops and see if you can pause at the top. 

Progression Four

To advance from this, in the same position, you can jump the feet forwards to the chest in and out. If this feels comfortable, you can hop and push the feet through and extend them out in front of you. It’s all about building control and body awareness whilst doing the exercises.

How to Planche

Now you’re pretty much there, you can practise a tuck planche. In your planche position at the bottom, try to hop your feet up and hold them there. You want to keep your arms as straight as possible and keep your centre of mass forward so that you’re balanced.

When you're comfortable holding a tuck planche you can work into a straddle planche by extending your legs out to the side. 

The planche is an advanced movement, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying, it didn’t stop Harry. With Max’s top tips, you can get to work and you’ll be performing a straddle planche like an Olympic athlete in no time.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

For more content, follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and on our official Mirafit Facebook page.

Tags: Exercise Type > Conditioning ; Misc > Mirafit Ambassadors