Cycling Exercise: Super Tuck Planche Push Ups
I was one of the early adopters of this technique, and continued to use it after I saw firsthand that I could descend faster than others with Zipp 404's or 808's and $6-13k framesets. At the time, I was riding on a $400 Fuji Roubaix- aluminum frame and stock wheels.
If you're not familiar with the aero tuck, here's a video of Chris Froome performing one (fast forward to 2:27):
The aero tuck is the most aerodynamic position of any cycling position. The advantage is so great that some Pros have unfairly called it cheating (most notably Dan Martin).
PASSIVE AERO TUCK VS. ACTIVE AERO TUCK
Chris Froome's technique is indicative of a passive super tuck. He uses minimal energy from his upper body by resting his shoulders on the handlebars and supports the rest of his weight through the extended leg. This method only works on straightaways or very slight bends. As demonstrated in the video, he never corners in this position because cornering requires active stability. You can't actively corner in a passive super tuck; otherwise you'll almost certainly crash.
In contrast to Chris Froome, Peter Sagan uses an active super tuck. This requires more upper body and core strength as well as coordination. When done correctly, the arms will act as a suspension device to absorb g-forces, fight lateral shifts, and absorb bumps. When the core and upper body are strong, you can shift more weight forward. By reducing weight on the pedals, the feet can remain in 3 and 9 o'clock- a slightly more aerodynamic position than Froome's method.
If you look carefully at the video below, Peter Sagan isn't just passively resting his chest on the handlebar- he's actively supporting his weight. This allows him to corner, hop, jump, sprint and pedal for substantially longer durations.
I give Dan Martin a lot of heat for suggesting to ban the super tuck because it's something that you have to train for- it's an acquired skill. Banning the super tuck is like banning any other skill that required training to achieve. The problem is that either the athlete or the coaches don't know how to train correctly for this position.
SOLUTION #1: PLANCHE PUSH UPS
The planche push up is one of the fastest and easiest ways to develop the base strength needed to perform the active super tuck. If I could train Peter Sagan, I would have him practice these because it would allow him to carve intense corners without leaving the super tuck. There are a lot of instances where he could have stayed in an aero tuck, but bailed. I can't help but imagine the gap he would create if he could stay in the tuck twice as long throughout a race! Dan Martin would be tweeting up a storm!
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