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Tuck Planche Push-Up

The tuck planche push-up is a horizontal pressing feat that demands enormous anterior deltoid strength as you press while leaning your shoulders far past the hands. Keeping the feet lifted removes the toes as a crutch, forcing the shoulders and scapular stabilizers to do everything. Build it after a solid tuck planche hold and strong pseudo-planche push-ups.

Equipment
Body Weight
Body part
Chest, Shoulder
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Horizontal Press
Muscles worked
Target
Deltoid Anterior, Pectoralis Major Sternocostal, Triceps Brachii Long Head
Secondary
Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Triceps Brachii Medial Head, Biceps Brachii Long Head, Lower Rectus Abdominals
Tertiary
Pectoralis Major Clavicular, Abdominal External Oblique, Erector Spinae, Trapezius Lower

How to do it

  1. 1

    Start in a tuck planche: hands by the hips, shoulders leaning forward, knees tucked to the chest, feet lifted.

  2. 2

    Protract and depress the shoulder blades to lock the scapulae down and out.

  3. 3

    Bend the elbows and lower the chest while keeping the forward shoulder lean.

  4. 4

    Keep the knees tucked and the hips from dropping as you descend.

  5. 5

    Press back up by driving through the hands and pushing the ground away.

  6. 6

    Maintain the lean; the shoulders should stay ahead of the wrists the entire rep.

Tips

  • Lean is everything: the further the shoulders travel past the hands, the harder and more planche-specific the press.
  • Keep the elbows close and pointed back rather than flaring wide.
  • Round the upper back slightly (protraction) instead of pinching the blades together.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • The press ends with the shoulders back over the wrists, which means you pressed yourself out of the planche instead of up inside it; they should stay ahead of the hands from first rep to last.
  • Range shrinks to an inch or two of elbow bend and the reps still get counted. Pick a depth you can hit every time, such as the upper arms reaching parallel with the floor, and hold yourself to it.
  • One elbow bends deeper than the other and the body turns slightly, because the hands are down by the hips and the base is narrow. Film a set from the front; you will not feel this.
  • The chin pushes forward to create the feeling of a deeper rep, which moves the head instead of the chest and tips the head out of line with the body.
  • Breath gets held for the whole rep, and with it the ribs lock and the protraction goes; breathe out through the press and keep the upper back rounded.
  • A set gets planned at eight reps like a push-up, when two or three honest ones make a strong set here and the fourth is usually where the shape changes.

Frequently asked

How many tuck planche push-ups should I do, and what should I be able to do first?
Five or six sets of 1 to 3 reps with three minutes of rest, twice a week, treated as a heavy lift rather than a finisher. You should already hold a tuck planche for 15 to 20 seconds, own several deficit pseudo-planche push-ups, and be able to lower one of these under control for five seconds. Progress by adding a rep at the same depth, then by opening the tuck a few degrees. If the shoulders slide back during the press, end the set, because that rep was not a planche push-up.
How do I make the tuck planche push-up easier or harder?
Easier: tuck the knees tighter, reduce the depth, or go back to a pseudo-planche push-up with the toes down, which keeps the lean and the low hand position while the feet carry some weight. Negatives with a reset from the floor are the other way down. Harder: open the hips toward an advanced tuck and then a straddle, press on parallettes so the chest can drop below hand level, or pause a second at the bottom. Leaning further forward makes everything harder at once.
What is the tuck planche push-up good for, and who should skip it?
It is a horizontal pressing skill that loads the front of the shoulder and the chest in a way no machine imitates, and it is the main working exercise on the road to a full planche push-up. Skip it if a tuck planche hold is not yet calm, since without the hold there is no position to press from, and skip it with an irritable wrist, elbow or front of shoulder, because the lean concentrates load on all three. For chest and shoulder size, dips and presses do far more for far less.

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