How to Do the Banana Planting Movement

Perfecting the skill of growing bananas is a prerequisite for learning other complex movements in gymnastics. Doing the banana planter is not only for fun, but it is also a fun exercise pose and looks very impressive. Slowly practice, try to improve your balance as well as core and upper body strength, you will surely quickly perform a beautiful and stable banana planting pose. In addition, you need to be patient because there is a saying “If you have a merit to grind iron, you will have a needle”.

Table of Contents

Free standing

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Find a suitable location to practice growing bananas. You need to find a place that is a bit quiet because you will fall several times before you can stand on your hands. A park or front yard is a good choice because the grass will help you land gently and have ample space to practice. The large space ensures that you will not fall on other people or objects around and avoid injury.

Find a place that is flat instead of steep. It is much easier to practice growing bananas on a flat surface.
Some other places that are also suitable for growing bananas are the beach, a gym with a mattress or a room with carpet.

Stretch limbs and joints. You need to warm up a bit before doing the banana pose. Warm-up helps loosen muscles and make the body more flexible, so the risk of injury is minimized. Do the following stretches:

Rotate wrists, ankles, and neck until they are relaxed.
Place your feet together and bend over to touch your toes. Try to keep your legs straight. Hold for 30 seconds, stand up straight and repeat this movement with your feet one foot apart.
Go for a brisk jog around the building to loosen up your muscles. You don’t have to run too far, just run until you feel warm to get ready for another challenge.

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Find a support person. The first time you learn to grow bananas, you should find a support person to help keep you in the correct position until you get used to the balance. Ask a friend or relative to stand in front of you to support your leg and keep you upright.

When you can grow bananas without support, ask them not to support your legs until you are about to fall.
It is not necessary to have a support person. You can perfect your banana growing skills on your own or practice against a wall (see next method).

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Stand straight with your feet naturally extended. This is the initial position. Feet, knees, upper body, and head should be in line and perpendicular to the floor. Let your arms hang naturally at your sides.

Some people like to start with their arms extended overhead. You can try two ways and choose the most comfortable one.

Kick the right foot. When you kick your legs, don’t change into a lunge position, instead, keep your legs straight. You should not step too wide but must be strong enough to kick up. Remember to kick your legs and push your body forward, avoiding any side. If you step to the side, your body will be twisted when you move into the banana position, then it will be difficult for you to keep your balance.

Lean forward. Do not step into a slack position as you will injure your back. As you put your hands on the ground, your legs begin to straighten out. Keep your arms straight and move your head down. Move forward with moderate force in a natural motion on the front foot. This move will help create a balance system on the front leg, when gravity will support the banana position instead of hindering.

People often make the mistake of putting their arms straight on the ground and trying to push their feet up. This move will create a strong swing and cause you to fall forward.

Keep your arms straight as your hands touch the ground. Imagine your body is a T-shape, the pivot leg is the vertical segment, and the dominant arm and leg are the horizontal segment. Keep your body in this T-shape until the pivot leg is off the ground. Your shoulders should be pressed against your neck as if you were shrugging. Don’t let your shoulders sag or bend your elbows because you’ll be more prone to injury.

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Straighten your legs and upper body toward the sky. The sequence of steps forward, leaning, hands on the ground and raising the legs should be smooth and ends in the banana position. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Close your head as if you were standing, back and legs straight. Don’t tilt your head back. This pose will only make your back arch and hurt, and it won’t look good either.
Keep your feet pressed together. Keeping your legs straight and pressed together will often help reduce your tendency to fall to the side.

Rosalind Lutsky

Former gymnastics trainer

Rosalind Lutsky worked as a gymnastics coach at Stanford University’s SB Gymnastics, coaching children aged 5-12 during her time as a Stanford student. She has been a gymnast since childhood and competed for the local gymnastics team in Minnesota.

Rosalind Lutsky
Former gymnastics trainer

What will you do if you start to fall? Rosalind Lutsky, a former gymnastics coach, advises, “If you’re falling forward, tuck your head in — that is, chin to chest — so you can roll out of the banana pose. . If you’re falling backwards or to the side, try to touch your feet to the ground and bend your knees.”

Balance the weight on the hand. Keep your body weight between your palms and first knuckles. Adjust the hand to balance the body weight by pushing the weight towards the fingers; You can easily lose your balance if you push the weight back to your wrist. ^{[2] X Research Source}

When you want to get out of the banana position, separate your legs and lower your dominant foot to the ground. Begin standing up and at the same time place your other foot on the ground.

Keep your chest up as you stand up and look up.
Keep your arms by your ears.

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Finish the banana pose.

End the banana pose with your arms by your ears.
Let your arms rest away from your head and turn your palms outward. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Kick your feet into banana planting position. Make sure your body weight is on your shoulders so that you can fall backwards. To start, you’ll bend your elbows and curl up. When you have mastered this skill more, you can do it with your arms straight, this is the right way to practice. Teach your body how to absorb the force of impact instead of letting it hit freely. Never let an arm or ankle bear too much weight. Remember to bend your head to your chest before stretching, or your head may take a bigger hit when you fall. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Another way to fall without pain is to lean back into a “bridge” shape if your body is flexible enough.

Using props

Find a solid wall. In some cases, it is easier to practice planting bananas against a wall or another object. If you are nervous about tipping your head or are afraid of falling, this is the right way to learn how to grow bananas. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Another benefit of this method is that you don’t need a support person. You can completely learn to grow bananas yourself.
You’ll be resting your foot on a prop, so find something that you don’t mind getting dirty, or wear socks when you exercise.

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Get into a plank position with your face facing the wall. In other words, you’ll do a push-up next to the wall by starting in a prone position and lifting yourself up. You should lie close to the wall so that your feet touch the wall.

Your body should be parallel to the wall and your legs forming a 90-degree angle with your upper body.

Step on the wall. Start using your toes to move your feet up the wall. Both hands simultaneously “step” towards the wall. Your body will gradually straighten up as your hands step closer to the wall. Stop when your hands are about 30cm away from the wall. Now, you are growing bananas with the help of the wall!

Keep your body in a straight line and your shoulders pressed together as if you were shrugging.
Your head should be in the middle of your shoulders, don’t tilt your head back too much.

Separate yourself from the wall into a banana planter pose. Use one foot to push slightly to separate your body from the wall so that your weight is completely balanced on your hands. Now, your body lies in a vertical line with the tops of your feet pointing towards the sky. ^{[6] X Research Source}

Move your hand if you need to stay level. Remember to keep your body weight between your palm and first knuckle, and balance by moving your weight toward your fingers.
Bend your legs and move away from the wall when you’re done.

Start in a position facing the wall. Now that you are familiar with the headstand and know how to do the banana pose, it’s time to change the starting position. Instead of stepping lightly on the wall, you’ll be looking directly at the wall to begin with. When you learn how to grow bananas by looking directly at the wall, you will be able to grow bananas anywhere and anytime. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Stand facing the wall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Step forward, lean over and place your hands about 30cm away from the wall.
Keep your arms straight and raise your legs overhead in a smooth motion.
Do not kick hard as the heel can hurt on impact.
Shoulders press against the body and keep the head straight. Keep your legs straight and the tops of your feet pointing upwards.
Make sure your body weight is centered between your palm and first knuckle. Adjust as needed for balance.
When you want to stop, you will do the reverse to get out of the banana position.

Challenge yourself

Plant split leg bananas. This is a beautiful position to end the banana planting movement. Instead of landing in reverse sequence, you’ll get into a split on the ground.

Walk with two hands. Once you’ve mastered banana growing and feel confident to keep your balance, try walking with your hands! Regularly practicing walking on your hands will make your hand muscles strong.

Planting banana push-ups. Once your arm muscles have grown stronger, you can try push-ups while growing bananas.

Plant forward upside down bananas. If you do gymnastics, planting bananas upside down is the next step after you get used to standing on your hands.

Advice

Remember to keep your elbows straight.
Do not sway back and forth while standing on your arms to avoid falling.
Stepping forward that is too short or too long will prevent you from kicking your foot up.
The closer the hand is to the foot when in a kicking position, the greater the chance of success.
Practicing yoga can help with banana planting because your body is stronger and more flexible.
Always keep your body upright.
Practice planting bananas against the wall before planting bananas freely.
Remember to look straight ahead and straighten your legs completely.
Do not jump into the banana position to avoid injuring your back.
Keep your feet pressed together.
When bringing your hand to the ground, do not lean forward.

Warning

Only practice growing bananas in a dry and unobstructed area.
Stop exercising when your arms get tired.
If you’re going to use a wall, make sure it’s strong enough that it won’t puncture when you rest your heel against it.

Things you need

Lawn carpet, floor mat or yoga mattress.
Knee pads if needed.
Anti-collision mattress for gymnastics or soft mattress for landing.
A support person when you are just starting out.
Some people like to wear soft soles or tennis shoes, but others don’t. Depending on the person, this type of shoe can help or hinder you.

Steps