Planche and Tendon Strengthening

Dr. Yaad interview with Professor Keith Baar, one of the world’s leading researchers on how tendons, ligaments, and muscles adapt to training, nutrition, and hormones.



Among the Youtube comments, I found this summary of Baar's 10-min. protocol for tendon healing/strengthening

1. Recovering trainee: 30 sec hold + 2 mins rest, four times per session. 1-4 sessions 6 hours apart
2. Healthy trainee: 10 sec holds = 2 mins rest, once per day
3. Acutely injured trainee: See segment starting around 1:06 and see your doctor.

It's just a coincidence that Youtube put this video in my feed as I contemplate taking on Free Planche Mini Course by Eduardo Orihuela. I first saw him in GMB Fitness videos, demonstrating skills such as front lever, butterfly kick, planche, etc. Later he started offering his own fitness instructional material.

As part of my decision process of whether or not to go head with the planche mini course as my next training block, I tested a couple of exercises that are in the course to see if any would be painful. I did a planche lean for a few seconds on my parallettes. The elbows felt fine. Planche lean with hands on the floor also feels fine. I also did a couple of pushups on the parallettes. My suspect left shoulder felt some irritation. I then moved the parallettes closer together and tried again - this time the shoulder felt fine.

The interview reminded me of the collagen supplement I took when I experimented with stress relaxation tendon training last year. The mini course does not ask you to do planche leans or planche holds for time right away. The idea of taking the collagen supplement is to provide a supply for the tendon to grow, after being stimulated by isometric holds.

I do not expect to achieve the tuck planche this year, as as result of training under this mini course, let alone a tuck planche pushup. I also do not expect any gain in muscle size, because I don't see anything in the program that would stimulate muscle growth. I do believe, however, that if I do the mini course for at least 6 weeks, I can achieve the crow pose, and be able to do each rep of the Frogger as slowly as 3 seconds. Most people start doing the Frogger with a hop of the feet because they're not strong enough to support their bodyweight on their hands for more than a second. As they get stronger, they can support their weight on their hands for more than a second, and start dragging their feet on the floor instead of hopping. I can currently take between 1-2 seconds to drag my feet on each Frogger rep. The mini course will have me work on dragging the feet more slowly, so that I'll eventually be able to pause for 1-2 seconds with the feet in the air - which would be a sign of progress towards the tuck planche.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 7 Log

5/4
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 178.4
Overhead Press 86.4
Drag Curl 155.4

MM Pike

5/5
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

Last week when I tried 1-arm bridge with the fingers of the supporting palm turned inward to allow my free arm and head to hang more, I felt some shoulder irritation. This time I focused more on pushing harder on the floor with the supporting arm. This eliminated the shoulder pain and improved stability..

5/6
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 179.2
Overhead Press 88.2
Drag Curl 172

5/7
MM Bridge
MM Horse Stance

I took a closer look at the Master Mobility Week 6 programming and realized I was supposed to do 3 rounds of all supersets. I was only doing 3 rounds of the 2nd Bridge superset. I did 2 rounds for all other supersets. So I'll repeat Week 6 next week.

5/6
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 179.2
Overhead Press 84
Drag Curl 166.6

MM Pike

I decided not to do a Week 6 of IsoMax 6x6. Perfomance in the 3 selected exercises has leveled off. 7 weeks is a good enough time to put into this training block. At the time I started this training block, I was hoping my right elbow would feel good enough to clean a 20kg kettlebell again. If so, then I'd do a training block of The Giant, either from the 3.x or 1.x series depending on the result of clean+press rep max testing. Unfortunately, the thumb side of my elbow still feels too sensitive

IsoMax 6x6: Week 6 Log

4/27
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 158.8
Overhead Press 97 PR!
Drag Curl 151.8

MM Pike


I've been focusing on getting more of a stretch in the chest before applying the minimum 61 lbs of force for Overhead Press. Today I felt my pecs firing harder than before. I hit a PR of 97 lbs. Week 5 of Master Mobility brought yet another selection of exercises to practice. I still like the Weeks 1-2 exercises the best for Pike, because they resulted in tangible progress in hamstring flexibility. I really like the Straddle Side Bend in particular and would like to see it again on the schedule. That said, I continue to trust the program.

4/28
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

The new Bridge exercises include the 1-arm Bridge, which GMB calls the 3-point Bridge. I've practiced this stretch on a somewhat regular basis. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to reach overhead more easily and with greather range than before.

4/29
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 206.4
Overhead Press 93.2
Drag Curl 163

MM Pike

After the IsoMax bar falsely reported 14 lbs. on my last Zercher Squat rep, I started looking at the max score on my 2nd to last rep, in case the bar malfunctioned again on the last. It happened again today. The max force on the 2nd to last rep was 206.4, which is a PR.

4/30
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

I had some time left over so I added a Pike superset. I didn't do the Week 5 Pike superset because I already did it on 4/27 and 4/29. I did the Week 2 superset instead - substituting elephant walk for bear walk - because I missed doing straddle side bend.

5/1
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 177.6
Overhead Press 99
Drag Curl 159.8

MM Pike

I hit a PR again in the Overhead Press, this time 99 lbs. Because I hit 2 PRs in the same week, I decided it was time to raise the target load from 61 lbs. I didn't want to spend another session on 1-rep max retesting just to determine the new target load, so I chose 66 lbs. as the new load. If 95 lbs. is my new 1-rep max the new target load would be 66.5 lbs, which is 70% of 95. The IsoMax only allows whole number loads so I'll just go with 66 lbs. It's higher than 61 lbs. so it should be more than enough to stimulate higher force output. My Drag Curl performance seems to be trending up a bit as well, so I decided to raise the target load from 110 to 112.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 5 Log

4/20
1-rep Max Retest

MM Pike

While I'm in week 4 of 6x6, I'm also in week 3 of Strength Side's Master Mobility program. This week introduced the Jefferson Curl. I'd tried this exercise before with empty hands and a bag of soup cans. Thus, while there has been online debate over the safety of this exercise, I was confident the risk to my lower back was low, as long as I trained with light weight. For the first set, I used an 8kg kettlebell. For the next set I switched to a 12kg KB. I decided to use the 12kg for Jefferson curls going forward. The 12kg is heavy enough to pull my body into a decent stretch, but not so heavy as to cause my body to tighten up.

4/21
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

My right hip flexor or adductor - not sure which - was sore but I got through the Master Mobility Horse Stance superset. I didn't feel as much of a stretch in the pecs when I practiced the Low Bridge. Upon review of the instructions I realized I should have started with my heels of the floor. Anyway, to get a better stretch out of the pecs, I'll try pushing my head higher off the floor. Looks like the hips need to be pushed higher off the floor as well, so the load is not all on the arms.

4/22
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 174.6
Overhead Press 87
Drag Curl 144.8

MM Pike

4/23
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

I was able to stretch my left pec more without irritating my left shoulder. I was also able to stretch my right pec further compared to 4/21.

4/24
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat ??? - IsoMax reported 14.8, which is a glitch that occasionally happens
Overhead Press 87.8
Drag Curl 160.2

MM Pike

IsoMax 6x6: Week 5 1-Rep Max Retest

My Zercher Squat performance has gone up considerably these last 2 weeks so I decided to retest my 1-rep maxes again:

• Zercher Squat - 170.53 up from 141. I've settled into a position that I like so the gains are more from strength increase, than from finding a better position. New target load = 120.
• Overhead Press - 86.867, up from 85.27. Modest gain despite the change to the new technique. New target load = 61.
• Drag Curl - 157.4 up from 153.4. Modest gain but I'll take it. New target load = 110.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 4

4/13
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 169.4
Overhead Press 92
Drag Curl 159.4

MM Pike

While I'm in week 4 of 6x6, I'm also in week 3 of Strength Side's Master Mobility program. This week introduced the Jefferson Curl. I'd tried this exercise before with empty hands and a bag of soup cans. Thus, while there has been online debate over the safety of this exercise, I was confident the risk to my lower back was low, as long as I trained with light weight. For the first set, I used an 8kg kettlebell. For the next set I switched to a 12kg KB. I decided to use the 12kg for Jefferson curls going forward. The 12kg is heavy enough to pull my body into a decent stretch, but not so heavy as to cause my body to tighten up.

4/14
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

This was the first time I tried the Low Bridge. I was able to get my head off the floor, but I struggled to coordinate pushing my knees away from my hands. I could not hold the position with head off the floor for the prescribed number of seconds.

4/15
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 161.4
Overhead Press 88.8
Drag Curl 158.2

MM Pike

4/16
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

2nd session practicing Low Bridge. The problem on 4/14 was I was using my upper body to lift my head off the floor, and also push my body up and away from my hands. This time I focused on using the glutes and legs to pull my body away from my hands, and only use my upper body to lift my head off the floor, then try to straighten the arms while keeping the head off the floor. With more of the load on my lower body, I was able to hold the position for the prescribed number of seconds. I felt a pretty good stretch on my pecs. This was also my 2nd session practicing Butcher's Block. This time I used my FeetUp headstand trainer, which is a little lower than my keyboard bench at the lowest setting. The lower height made it easier to not have a lower back arch. The instructions say to use a stick to ensure the hands are at a wider width apart the elbows. I found that I shouldn't let hands be too far apart, or else my left shoulder will feel irritated. I thought about continuing to do the side plank micro workout on Thursdays, followed by a Master Mobility session, but then decided to focus entirely on mobility.

4/17
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 144.6
Overhead Press 85.4
Drag Curl 157.6

MM Pike

My Overhead Press performance has been higher with the new technique. Zercher Squat performance jumped quite a bit. Drag Curl performance leveled off compared to last week but was still consistently higher than the last tested 1-rep max of 154 lbs. Thus, I plan to retest my 1-rep maxes this coming Monday.

Changed my IsoMax overhead pressing technique

To perform the Overhead Press on the IsoMax bar, I was doing the following:

1. Squat slightly so I can get my chest under the bar.
2. Pull the shoulder back then pull the elbows down.
3. Begin applying the zip-up technique, starting from the feet and working up the body.
4. As the zip-up is applied, I start feeling force connected from my feet to my hands. This is influenced by previous practice of the jin skill, though folks the six-harmonies space would call what I'm doing "muscle-jin". In this case though I'm not training for 6H martial arts. Rather I'm using muscle-jin to create whole-body tension between the bar and my feet. The resultant force eventually get high enough to make the IsoMax bar start beeping.
5. When the bar starts beeping, start pressing the bar upwards with the chest, arms, and shoulders.

At the point that the bar starts beeping, my body position is close to what it would be if I were pressing double kettlebells The low back and legs are straight. The upper back is not straight because the chest is pulled forward and up and the scapulae are retracted and pulled down.

So the change to my IsoMax pressing technique is this: In Step 5 above, when the bar starts beeping, I think of increasing the pressure of the feet against the IsoMax footplate, by tucking in the tailbone more, squeezing the glutes harder, and unbending the upper back.

On the first day I tried the new technique, my max force on the last rep was 92 lbs. which was a jump of about 15 lbs. of force compared to the old technique

IsoMax 6x6: Week 3 after 1-Rep Max Test Day

4/7
MM Pike MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

I did the MM Pike superset on 4/6, then realized I did't do the superset properly. I had assumed that Master Mobility Week 2 would be exactly like Week 1. When I took another look at the Week 2 instructions, I realized I didn't do the correct number of reps per exercise. So I did the superset again on 4/7, along with the other supersets from Master Mobility.

4/8
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 129
Overhead Press 78.8
Drag Curl 162.6

Tested my straddle sitting on the floor, and for a good number of puzzle mat tiles to sit on in straddle, as reported in this post. Then I did the MM Pike superset. I didn't do the superset before the straddle sit test session, because I wanted to make sure I can straddle sit at a height that allows my back and both legs to be straight, without any extra effort or extra warmup.

4/9
MM Horse Stance
MM Bridge

4/10
Last-rep max force (lbs):

Zercher Squat 165
Overhead Press 77.6
Drag Curl 157.6

MM Horse Stance