How to Do a Bent Arm Planche: Best Exercises
The bent arm planche looks simple until you try to hold your body forward and realize how much shoulder strength and balance it takes. Most people don't fail because they lack effort, they fail because they skip the basics.
If you want to build this skill, start with the exercises that teach the right strength and body position first. Once those feel solid, the bent arm planche starts to make a lot more sense.
What the bent arm planche really demands
The bent arm planche is mostly about the front side of the shoulders, especially the front delts. That's where a lot of the work happens, so if that area is weak, the position will break down fast.
At the same time, this skill is not only about pressing strength. You also need to control your lean, keep your center of mass over your hands, and learn how to balance while your body moves forward.
Lean forward as much as you can. The bent arm planche works when your center of mass gets over your hands.
Because of that, it makes more sense to build the skill in pieces. First, get stronger in the shoulders. Then learn the lean. After that, work on balance and the actual transition into the position.
Build front shoulder strength with pike pushups
Pike pushups are one of the first exercises to use here because they put more focus on the shoulders than a regular pushup. Start in a pike position with your legs straight and your hips high so your body forms an upside-down V.
From there, lower your head toward the floor and press back up. Keep the movement controlled, and let the shoulders do the work. This exercise is great for building the pressing strength you need for the bent arm planche, especially in the front delts.
If regular pike pushups already feel easy, move to a harder variation. What matters is that the exercise still challenges the shoulders and keeps the pressure in the right place.
Use lever pushups to learn the lean
The next step is a lever pushup, because it starts to look a lot more like the bent arm planche. Set your hands on the floor, then lean your body forward before you begin the pushup. That forward lean shifts the pressure onto the front of the shoulders.
I see many people doing this wrong. They lean too little, or they place the hands too far away from the body. Your hands should stay close to you, because that makes it easier to load the shoulders the right way.
As you press, keep the body tight. The more you lean forward, the more this exercise carries over to the actual skill.
Practice the elbow position and balance
One useful drill is the elbow-supported hold where you bring the elbows into the belly. That teaches body awareness and helps you feel where your weight needs to go. The main goal is not to sit back, but to lean forward as much as possible.
If you don't lean enough, you won't be able to hold the shape. This is where many people miss the point. The hold only works when your weight moves forward and your balance shifts with it.
Balance also matters, so handstand work belongs in your training. A back-to-wall handstand is a simple way to build control. Stay tight, keep your body organized, and get comfortable supporting yourself upside down. Even when the bent arm planche is lower than a handstand, that balance work still helps.
Progress into the actual bent arm planche
Once the basics start to feel strong, you can build toward the skill itself in order:
| Progression | What to focus on |
|---|---|
| Pike pushup | Front shoulder strength |
| Lever pushup | Forward lean and pressing control |
| Elbow-supported hold | Center of mass and body position |
| Handstand work | Balance and control |
That order works because each exercise solves a different part of the problem.
A more advanced progression is lowering from a handstand into a bent arm planche position as slowly as possible. If you need help, use a wall and control the descent. You can also use a straddle position, because spreading the legs makes balance a little easier.
There is also an important difference between the elbow-supported drill and the full bent arm planche. In the full skill, you do not want to rely on jamming the elbows deep into the belly. As the arms move farther out, the exercise gets harder, but it also gets closer to the real position.
Build the skill by mastering the basics
The bent arm planche comes from shoulder strength, a strong forward lean, and balance under control. If one of those pieces is missing, the hold will feel impossible.
Keep working the basics until they feel solid, then move on to the harder progressions. Master the basics first, and the bent arm planche becomes a skill you can build instead of a position you only attempt.
