A Scientific Approach to Mastering the Planche: Quantifying Progress and Setting Clear Goals

As a sports scientist with a degree to my name and a master’s in strength and conditioning from Coventry that I moved towards, I’ve always been fascinated by how human movement and physics intersect. When I decided to tackle the planche—a gymnastic move that blends strength, balance, and patience—it quickly became clear that brute force alone wouldn’t get me there. I needed to quantify my progress.

Why? Because trying to measure progress in the planche is like trying to measure the length of a shadow in a thunderstorm. Variations like the tuck, advanced tuck, and straddle offer incremental steps, but it’s impossible to gauge if you’re getting stronger without a benchmark. This frustration drove me to create a system—complete with inputs, torque calculations, and spreadsheets—to set measurable, science-backed goals.

 
Planche Variations: A Tough Nut to Crack
Let’s face it: planche training is brutal. Each variation requires a unique blend of strength and technique. For reference:

Tuck Planche (~60°): Your legs are tucked, reducing the distance of the center of gravity (CG) from your shoulders.

Advanced Tuck (~50°): Slightly harder, as the knees are further extended.

Straddle Planche (~40°): A wide-legged planche where leverage works against you.

Full Planche (~30°): The holy grail of gymnastic holds.

I’d tried progressing through these stages before but found myself stuck in the “am I even improving?” loop. Sure, I could hold the tuck longer, but how do you objectively compare that to working toward the straddle or full planche? I needed numbers—raw, irrefutable data to track my journey.

 
The Spreadsheet: Inputs and Adjustments
Here’s where my sports science background came into play. Torque, the rotational force your body produces, seemed like the perfect metric to quantify planche progress. I based my calculations on this formula:

Torque per arm=Effective Lever Length (m)×Weight (kg)×g×cos⁡(angle)

Inputs I used from my own measurements:

Bodyweight: 102 kg
Height: 1.87 m
Torque Length: 0.422 m (22.5% of height, representing the CG-to-shoulder distance).
Arm Length: 0.56 m (from shoulder to wrist).
 

The Errors and Course Corrections

1. Lever Arm Miscalculation
At first, I used my full arm length (56 cm) to represent the lever arm, ignoring that my body’s CG during a planche lies much closer to my shoulders as my arms full length would put my base of support almost by my knees. Once I realized this, I recalculated based on CG-to-shoulder distance—about 42 cm or 22.5% of height. Suddenly, the math started to reflect reality.

2. Cosine Confusion
Cosine is critical in torque calculations since it accounts for the angle between the force and the lever. But my spreadsheet was set to radians instead of degrees. This meant that at 60∘60∘, where the cosine should be 0.5, my calculations were off by a mile. Once I fixed the setting, the spreadsheet aligned beautifully.

3. Simplified Inputs for Clarity
Initially, I overcomplicated the spreadsheet with too many linked cells. One typo, and the whole thing collapsed. I trimmed unnecessary inputs and focused on the core variables: torque length, angle, and weight.

 
The Final Goals: Planche Variations and Dumbbell Equivalents
The spreadsheet now provides torque values for each planche variation and converts these into an equivalent dumbbell press weight per arm. Why dumbbells? Because they’re easy to track and train with.

Here’s my personal roadmap:

Tuck Planche (60°): ~105.53 Nm per arm, mimicked with 19.2 kg dumbbells.

Advanced Tuck (50°): ~135.67 Nm, with 24.7 kg dumbbells.

Straddle Planche (40°): ~161.69 Nm, using 29.4 kg dumbbells.

Full Planche (30°): ~182.79 Nm, requiring 33.3 kg dumbbells.

By quantifying progress, I now have concrete milestones. Instead of feeling stuck, I know exactly what strength benchmarks I need to hit for each variation.

 
Why Quantification Matters
Planche training is a long game. Motivation wanes when progress feels invisible, and that’s where numbers come in. By quantifying torque and translating it into manageable dumbbell goals, I’ve turned an abstract challenge into something measurable. Now every single rep or weight increase is clear to see.

Lessons Learned
The journey to creating this spreadsheet mirrored the planche training itself—trial, error, and slow, steady progress. Each mistake (and there were many) taught me something new, whether about biomechanics, programming, or simply the value of double-checking your math.

And that’s the point: bodyweight training can feel nebulous, but applying a little science can make it concrete. Whether you’re a sports scientist or just a fitness enthusiast, quantifying your goals can unlock a new level of discipline and motivation.

Get the Spreadsheet
Want to create your own planche progression goals? Download the spreadsheet I painstakingly crafted. Just enter your bodyweight, height, and length of your arms from shoulder to wrist, and it’ll calculate your targets for each variation obviously there will likely be some variation amongst people based on body segment length differences. Click below to get started!

Fill a contact form with the word "Planche" when you click this link and I will send it to you.

"Click Here"

 
Mastering the planche is hard, but with the right tools, it’s no longer a guessing game.