Understanding Planes of Movement

Hello again and welcome to SSP. This is going to be a short summary to bring everyone up to speed on the planes of motion in relation to body mechanics. The human body operates in three planes of motion called the sagittal plane, frontal plane, and the transverse plane. No matter what the motion we are engaged, the body will operate in any or all planes of motion.

The first plane will we talk about is the sagittal.

Sagittal Plane

This plane cuts the body into left and right sides. Any actions that move forward and backward of the body are sagittal movements. I know you think that those movements would be frontal, right? We address the movement by the direction of travel not relative position. Exercises like standing dumbbell curls, front lunges, and seated cable rows are all sagittal movements. The direction of travel of the arms in these exercises is forward and backward of the body.

The next plane of motion we will touch upon is the frontal (also known as the coronal), which divides the body into front and back. All actions that remain parallel to the body are considered frontal movements. Some examples of these movements are shoulder presses; lateral (to the side) dumbbell raises, and side straddle hops (jumping jacks). The direction of movement for all of the exercises mentioned occur with the appendages traveling up and down and parallel with the body.

Frontal Plane

Finally, we come to the transverse plane. It divides the body into upper and lower halves at about the waist. Anytime there is a twisting motion of the body going from right to left or vice versa, it is considered a transverse movement. Examples of these movements are Russian twists, wood choppers, and standing medicine ball rotation.

Transverse Plane

It is important to remember most sports activities are rarely completed in a single plane. The biomechanics of human movement will always travel through several, or all, planes of movement. If we take a look at a baseball player swinging a bat to strike a pitch, we will observe all planes active at once. The transverse plane is in play as the arms drive the bat from the ready position at the shoulder to contact the ball and follow through to the other side of the body. Simultaneously, the player steps into the swing with his forward leg (even slightly) it is in the sagittal plane, and finally the rear heel rotates on the ball of the foot driving the heel in a frontal plane of movement.

Well, I hope this helps to clarify how the body operates in the frontal, sagittal, and transverse planes of movement.

Until next time,

-Reuben  

References

Chandler, T. Jeff and Lee E. Brown. Conditioning for Strength and Performance. Second. Philidelphia: Wolters Kluwer Lippincott Williams, 2013.

Everett, Aaberg. Muscle Mechanics. second. 2006.

National Academy of Sport Medicine. NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training. Fourth. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2012.

“Plane” TheFreeDictionary.com.N.P.,n.d. Web. 07 Dec 2013 http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sagittal planes.