If you are tall or heavy don't lose hope - full planche at 202cm 102kg/6'7 225lbs and other feats by heavyweight calisthenics athletes

[thomaslowrens]

@melissamagnus Cool, I have found his video of front lever rows and many front lever holds, but didn't find footage of the straddle planche and hefesto after looking through like 20 of his 80 current videos.

 

[button]

@thomaslowrens When I first started training, I remember thinking I was too tall to reach some of these goals at only 6ft/183cm. Now I know that is complete BS. I love seeing this kind of stuff, thanks for the great write up as usual.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@button Thank you, when I started training I hadn't seen anyone above 180cm hold a full planche so I wondered if it was impossible, but the real limit is much higher, maybe even some genetic outliers above 210cm/7' can reach it.

 

[ghm]

@thomaslowrens Basically the way I understand it, it is down to genetics. I am 6 foot 5 and average genetics, nothing amazing but I can put on muscle. If you transferred my muscle onto smaller levers, I would be able to perform a lot of exercises much much easier. If I have larger levers and my genetic limit means my natural limit is not higher than someone with smaller levers, I can never be as strong correct?

 

[beaud20]

@ghm Longer limbs are a disadvantage lifting weights or in static holds.

Longer limbs in sport is a generally a big advantage. Longer arms mean you can apply force over a longer distance. You can apply more leverage in body contact as well.

In Olympic weightlifting, longer limbs can improve performance because of a longer pull. In powerlifting, long limbs are disadvantage.

"Strong" is contextual.

 

[ghm]

@beaud20 Okay strong may have been the wrong use of words but nevertheless having the same amount of muscle on longer levers does put you at a disadvantage (if you have the same natural muscle limit) because more force is required to hold statics with longer levers. If your natural limit is the same as you with smaller levers, you would be able to perform harder progressions given the same training with smaller levers so therefore you might never be able to achieve a skill with your genetics?

 

[beaud20]

@ghm Absolutely, but you will never know if you don't try.

 

[dawn16]

@thomaslowrens 225 at 6’7” doesn’t seem that heavyweight. By their description I was thinking the person would be obese.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@dawn16 In a sport where the best athletes are around 160cm 60kg/5'3 132lbs, it's a very high weight. These moves require a lot of strength to weight ratio, so someone very tall needs to be very lean with a very muscular upper body and not particularly developed legs. I'm not sure even the shortest of athletes could do those moves while obese, but it would be fun to see.

 

[chalflinch]

@thomaslowrens I achieved straddle planche for 1-2 seconds at 6 foot 5, 81kg in under two months. Were my shoulder's strong? Well... I can only shoulder press 21kg dumbells for 8 reps. However I could lateral raise 10kg for 8 reps. Lesson learn't? STRAIGHT ARM STRENGTH is more important to work on than bent arm strength for planche. That being said I am very bad at planche pushups so building up a weighted dip base would be ideal (I don't have access to a gym however).