10 Best Exercises With Parallettes
Parallettes are one of the most popular bits of kit in the calisthenics world. No surprise really, because they bring a huge variety of exercises to your training and are suitable for all levels, from complete beginner to mega-advanced.
But the best thing about parallettes?
You can use them anywhere, anytime. You don’t need a gym, or even a park. Just your kitchen floor or garden will do.
Training on the floor (without parallettes) can make for an uncomfortable wrist position. When doing movements like push-ups and handstands, there is a high load on the wrists which can cause pain - especially if your wrists are not accustomed to this load. Parallettes offer a much more neutral wrist position, which in turn is more comfortable and provides better training results without the risk of wrist injury.
Parallettes also allow you to develop strength at extended ranges of motion. Since your hands are slightly further off the ground, you can go deeper when doing any kind of push-up, including handstand push-ups and 90 degree push-ups. Skills such as the l-sit and tucked planche are also more enjoyable with parallettes, because of the increased range of motion.
In this post, we’ll introduce you to our 10 favourite parallette exercises, from beginner to advanced, that you can incorporate into your workouts to start making INSANE strength gains.
Push-ups
Probably the best known parallette exercise is the push-up. Parallettes give you the advantage of going deeper and thus you achieve greater muscle stimulus. In turn this develops greater muscle and strength gains.
Tip: Adjust your hand position to perform wide (chest dominant) or narrow push-ups (triceps dominant), for example:
Pike Push-ups
Similar to the standard push-up, but you are bringing your feet closer to your hands into a piked position. You can do this on the floor, but again, you achieve a deeper range of motion when using parallettes. Ensure your legs remain extended throughout.
Tip: The closer your feet are to your hands, the harder the exercise will be. Try and bring your feet an inch closer each time you train the pike push-up.
L-sit
A fundamental movement in calisthenics, the L-sit uses many different muscles because full body tension is required. Parallettes allow greater practice of this movement as the closer you are to the floor, the more difficult the exercise is. This movement is important to achieve if you’d like to progress to more advanced skills such as the front lever and V-sit.
Tip: Protract shoulders (bring them away from your ears) and fully lock out arms to ensure maximum strength utilised.
Handstand
The handstand combines strength and balance, and is a skill that takes a fair bit of time and patience to master. Handstands are considered very aesthetic, but the best thing is you can show off your skill anywhere in the world, anytime (although we don’t recommend trying it on a cliff edge!). For many, practicing handstands on parallettes is more comfortable due to the more neutral wrist position and therefore better control whilst upside down.
Tip: Train the handstand with a partner or on the wall at first, before trying freestanding. This will build your confidence and unique strength required for the handstand. It is also essential to learn how to bail correctly from a handstand, of which you can learn how to do that here.
Tuck Planche
Tuck planche begins to creep up the skill tree into the advanced skills. It is very similar to frog stand, but with one crucial difference - the knees are not on the elbows, which makes the exercise much more difficult and puts more stress on the wrists. The parallettes help to counteract this and provide a more comfortable wrist position.
Tip: Protract (round the shoulders) as much as possible. This will ensure maximum muscles are stimulated to help keep you up.
Handstand Push-ups
Handstand push-ups (HSPU) require not only good balance and spatial awareness, both of which come from training handstands, but also a lot of strength. You are pushing your entire bodyweight back up again. The combination of strength and balance makes it quite an addictive and fun movement to train for.
Tip: Pike push-ups are one of the best exercises to build strength for the handstand push up. Keep creeping those feet closer to your hands to build HSPU strength.
90 Degree Push-up
Straddle Planche
Many calisthenics athletes have the goal of achieving a straddle planche, to then eventually achieve the full planche (see further down). Considered an advanced skill, a straddle planche requires lots of straight-arm strength, which comes from having strong biceps and forearms. Good protraction is also required for this skill, helping you to unlock strength in your shoulders and core. A strong tuck planche is required before working on the straddle planche as this builds both straight-arm and protraction strength.
Tip: Work on your hip, hamstring and hip flexor mobility. It’s a little easier to hold the straddle planche when the hips can open more and you can straddle your legs wider.
Full Planche
The full planche is considered the "dream skill" in the calisthenics community. The progression from straddle planche to full planche is very large and requires a lot of dedication and training. The most important thing with the full planche is not to get discouraged by slow progress. For some athletes, the full planche can take years, while for others it can take only months.
Tip: Resistance Bands are very helpful in developing a better feel for the full planche and making your workouts more exciting. At the same time, you improve your technique and strength. It is also easy to track your progress as you can work with different strength resistance bands.
One-Arm Handstand