Why Your Planche Isn’t Improving — The Real Reasons Nobody Talks About

Written By Gavin Maxwell

(For athletes who want mastery, not mediocre holds.)

Everyone wants the full planche. Few ever get there.
Not because they’re weak — but because they skip the actual fundamentals that build a planche that’s clean, stable, and consistent.

Here’s the truth: your planche isn’t stuck because you need “more drills” or “more volume.”
It’s stuck because you don’t have complete control over the positions that actually matter:

  • A clean, consistent planche lean

  • Full scapula control (protraction AND depression)

  • A solid tuck planche hold

  • Straight-arm pressing AND straight-arm lowering

  • Force production from different grips (floor, bars, fingertips, rings)

Until these foundations are mastered, you’re building on sand.
Let’s break down why the basics aren’t just the starting point — they’re the bottleneck you’re ignoring.

1. Your Planche Lean Isn’t Actually Clean

Every planche is built on one thing: your lean.
If your lean isn’t controlled, consistent, and technically clean, everything on top of it collapses.

Most athletes lean too far, too soon — trying to “muscle through” instead of learning control.
A proper lean:

  • Loads the shoulders evenly

  • Keeps scapula protracted

  • Maintains straight, locked elbows

  • Allows you to feel stable, not desperate

If your lean position changes every session, your nervous system never learns the planche as a repeatable pattern.

Fix the lean → unlock every progression afterward.

2. You Don’t Have Complete Scapula Control

The planche demands two things at once:

  • Protraction (push the ground away)

  • Depression (shoulders down, not shrugged)

Most athletes can do one… never both.
So they end up:

  • Collapsing the upper back

  • Shrugging the shoulders

  • Losing tension halfway through the hold

  • Loading their elbows instead of their serratus + lats

Planche plateaus almost always come down to inconsistent scap mechanics.
If you can’t control your scapula with micro-precision, you’re not controlling the planche — the planche is controlling you.

3. Your Tuck Planche Is Weak or Ugly (Yes, It Matters)

This is the biggest ego killer.
Everyone wants to skip the tuck planche.

But the tuck is the single most honest diagnostic of your planche structure:

  • Straight arms?

  • Scap protracted?

  • Scap depressed?

  • Hips level?

  • No shoulder shrug?

  • No elbow bend?

If your tuck is shaky, short, or inconsistent, your full planche is dead before it starts.

A tuck planche held clean for 10+ seconds is the minimum standard for sustainable progression.

4. You Can’t Press or Lower with Straight Arms

A full planche isn’t just a hold.
It’s a system: pressing power, lowering control, pushing mechanics, and dynamic strength at every angle.

If you can’t:

  • Press from lean → tuck planche

  • Lower from tuck → lean

  • Press from lean → straddle tuck

  • Lower with control (not collapsing)

…your planche will always be inconsistent.

Straight-arm dynamic strength is what separates advanced athletes from recreational ones.
It proves your shoulders and nervous system can “own” the range — not survive it.

Master pressing and lowering → eliminate 80% of plateaus.

5. You Only Train One Grip (Huge Mistake)

Different grips activate different muscle chains.
If you only train on one surface, you’re leaving half your strength untapped.

Floor:

  • Max scap control

  • Finger activation

  • Most honest planche foundation

Straight bar:

  • More lat + tricep activation

  • Easier to lock elbows

  • Great for straight-arm pressing

Fingertips:

  • Massive forearm + wrist strength

  • Helps stability and balance

Rings:

  • Brutal but transformational

  • Forces full-body tension

  • Builds unmatched straight-arm integrity

If you rotate 2–3 surfaces every few weeks, you build a planche that is adaptable — not fragile.

A planche that only works on one grip isn’t a strong planche.

6. You Don’t Train the Planche at All Angles

Most people only train:

  • Leans

  • Tucks

  • Band-assisted holds

But to defeat plateaus, you must train the planche globally — at every angle, every plane, every variation.

That means:

  • Lean → tuck presses

  • Tuck → lean negatives

  • Straddle raises

  • Bent-arm to straight-arm transitions

  • Hollow and protraction drills

  • Dynamic entry and exit patterns

When you master the planche dynamically — not just statically — your nervous system fills in every gap.
Weak angles disappear.
Your body becomes one unified system, not scattered pieces.

That’s when the plateaus break.

The Real Reason You’re Stuck

You’re not stuck because you’re weak.
You’re stuck because you’re incomplete.

The athletes who break through don’t chase fancy variations.
They become masters of the lean, scapula, tuck, straight-arm mechanics, and multiple gripping surfaces — until the movement is airtight from every angle.

That’s how you stop plateaus for good.

If your planche progression is stalled and you want a structured plan that fixes every weak link, book a free consultation with me.
We’ll build a system that attacks your plateaus at the root — and makes the planche finally click.

Gavin Maxwell
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