Frog planche
Master the Frog planche, an advanced bodyweight skill that builds immense core, shoulder, and arm strength.
Description
Frog planche is an advanced bodyweight exercise that engages your shoulder, arm, and core muscles. It involves balancing your body on your hands while keeping your knees on your elbows.
How to Do Frog planche
- 1Setup
Begin in a deep squat position with your hands placed flat on the floor, about shoulder-width apart, fingers pointing forward or slightly outward.
- 2Setup
Lean your torso forward, bending your elbows slightly, and place your knees high up on the outside of your upper arms or triceps, just above your elbows.
- 3
Shift your body weight further forward, maintaining a rounded upper back and protracted scapulae, and slowly lift your feet off the ground.
- 4
Bring your heels towards your glutes, engaging your core and arms to hold this tucked position, keeping your gaze slightly forward or down.
Tips
- Focus on actively protracting your scapulae (pushing your shoulder blades away from your spine) to create a strong, stable base and protect your shoulders.
- Maintain a slight forward lean and rounded upper back throughout the hold; this helps shift your center of gravity and makes balancing easier.
- Actively squeeze your knees into your elbows and your heels towards your glutes to create a compact, stable shape and maximize core engagement.
- Practice against a wall initially if needed, placing your feet gently against it for support as you get accustomed to the lean and balance required.
Common Mistakes
- ×Sagging hips or an arched lower back compromises core engagement; fix this by actively tucking your pelvis and rounding your upper back.
- ×Letting elbows flare out too wide reduces stability and puts undue stress on wrists; fix this by keeping elbows relatively close to your body, pointing backward.
- ×Failing to lean forward enough makes it impossible to lift your feet; fix this by consciously shifting your weight over your hands until your shoulders are well past your wrists.
Variations

Front Plank
Strengthen your entire core, shoulders, and glutes with the Front Plank. This static exercise builds abdominal endurance and improves postural stability.

Full planche
Master the full planche, an advanced bodyweight exercise that builds immense strength across your entire body.

Lean Planche
Master the lean planche, a foundational calisthenics exercise building immense shoulder strength and core stability.

Frog Crunch
Strengthen your rectus abdominis with the Frog Crunch. Lie on your back, knees bent and out, feet together, then crunch up, engaging your core.
Related Exercises

Open Book Stretch
Improve thoracic mobility and shoulder flexibility with the Open Book Stretch. Lie on your side, rotate your torso, and open your arm like a book.

Gorilla Chin
Strengthen your core with the Gorilla Chin, a challenging hanging abdominal exercise. Develop powerful rectus abdominis and improve hip flexor strength.

Front Lever
Master the Front Lever, a challenging static bodyweight hold, to build immense core, back, and arm strength. Elevate your calisthenics game.

Frogger
Frogger is a dynamic full-body plyometric exercise that builds explosive power, strengthens your core, glutes, and legs, while elevating heart rate for

Assisted Standing Triceps Dip
Build triceps strength with machine assistance that lets you focus on proper dip form at a manageable load.

Dumbbell Complex Push-up Row Clean and Press
The ultimate full-body dumbbell complex combining a push-up, row, clean, and overhead press in one flow.
Track Frog planche in your workouts
Log sets, reps, and weight. See your progress over time.
Get Ellim — Free