Planes of Human MotionWhat are the planes of human motion and why do we care? Let’s sort this out, just between us. If you’re a student of physical therapy, chiropractic or other medical profession, you’ll get this in school if you haven’t already. Those of you who are planning to certify in personal training or strength and conditioning will need to know it. While it’s true that many of the rest of us don’t really need to know planes of human motion, it’s also true we’re going to bump into the terms more and more when reading modern training articles. It’s time we caught up with this generation of training lingo. We’ll take the simple route…promise. Show
The main problem for most of us is that we weren’t introduced to the terms in our early training (today we read that as Who needs it?). Additionally, the actions along the planes don’t seem to match the describing terms. For example, the frontal plane motions are left to right, and our brains just kind of disconnect in a sort of “I can’t learn that” frustration when we see frontal associated with side to side. At its simplest:
To picture the three planes, imagine slicing through the body, like so:
That’s not so hard. It starts to get a little more complicated when we begin to sort out which motions move along the planes. You want to think of the motion as moving along the surface of the plane, rather than visualizing the sectioned-off body. Think of planes of motion like thisSagittal plane motion would include forward and backward motions, like sit-ups, back extensions or biceps curls. The sagittal plane cuts through the center of the body, so the motion is front to back or back to front, including straight forward running. Squats involve flexion (forward motion) and extension (backward on the way up), so would fit into the sagittal plane. Frontal plane motion would include leaning from left to right as in sidebends and lateral raises, or perhaps you might picture jumping jacks for a good image of movement along the frontal plane. Transverse plane motion is the hardest to picture because the plane is horizontal as it divides the top from the bottom, so it’s hard to get our heads around it being a rotating action. The main thing to remember is rotation. An example of a transverse plane exercise would be floor to overhead diagonals with a medicine ball, and a transverse activity might be swinging a golf club. Why would an average trainee need to know this? Two reasons, really. It comes up fairly often as we read the work of our favorite writers because these folks know this stuff and it comes out naturally for them. It’s frustrating to have to skim sections because we don’t know the lingo, and in internet reading, skimming a section often means losing interest and clicking away before we get to the vital parts. Secondly, what’s most important about the planes is to know they exist and to make sure our training programs include exercises along each. Our most common gym exercises are on the sagittal plane, moving forward or back such as in flat pressing, pushups, crunches or even squats and lunges. When you create your training programs, be sure to add some frontal plane and transverse plane exercises to bring up your built-in injury prevention. That’s what’s going to help ensure good balance in your muscular body. Training only on one plane will pretty much do the opposite. Human Movement TerminologyNow let’s take a look at a few other common movement terms that are a touch out of range of many of us. We’ll keep it as brief and simple as possible so you’ll have a cheatsheet for reading some of the more advanced corrective exercise articles found on the ‘net, stuff that might turn around that aggressive aging process. Prone vs supine Superior vs inferior Medial vs lateral Posterior vs anterior Distal vs proximal Extension vs flexion Supination vs pronation Medial vs lateral rotation Inversion vs eversion Elevation vs depression Protraction vs retraction Adduction vs abduction Dorsiflexion vs plantar flexion Joint mobility vs flexibility Stability vs mobility Activation vs
dormant Tendons vs ligaments vs fascia vs myofascia Lordotic vs kyphotic vs lordosis vs kyphosis Bilateral vs unilateral Concentric vs eccentric Isometric vs isotonic Origin vs insertion Primer mover vs synergist vs
antagonist Planes of movement — Sagittal vs frontal vs transverse There ya go: the simplest movement cheatsheet on the ‘net. Now, here’s a short human anatomy FAQ, To continue your learning about human planes of motion, watch the preview clips of our Immaculate Dissection Functional Anatomy video. In this article, Adam Wolf discusses the frontal plane lunge and integrated motion. These two Gray Cook topics will probably be interesting to you: What’s Behind a Mobility Problem? Reactive Neuromuscular Training Here Charlie Weingroff explains the “Joint by Joint Approach,” which is your next step in learning about programming for human motion. For much more on anatomy, check out this fabulous new way of learning anatomy using body painting. Tap into the Brains of Some of the World’s Leading Performance ExpertsFREE Access to the OTP VaultInside the OTP Vault, you’ll find over 20 articles and videos from leading strength coaches, trainers and physical therapists such as Dan John, Gray Cook, Michael Boyle, Stuart McGill and Sue Falsone. Click here to get FREE access to the On Target Publications vault and receive the latest relevant content to help you and your clients move and perform better. Which plane allows adduction and abduction?Frontal Plane
These include: Abduction: Moving (or moving a limb) laterally and away from the midline of the body. Adduction: Moving (or moving a limb) towards the midline of the body. Elevation: Moving the scapula (shoulder blades) up.
Does abduction and adduction occur in the frontal plane?Abduction and adduction occur in the frontal plane of movement. Flexion and extension occur in the sagittal plane of movement. Internal and external rotation occurs in the sagittal plane of motion.
What axis is abduction and adduction?also known as the Sagittal Axis or Anteroposterior Axis
Because of the pin's position, the only movement allowed about this axis is lateral movement (abduction or adduction) in the frontal plane.
What plane of movement is frontal?1. Frontal plane: Also known as the coronal or longitudinal plane, this area comprises an imaginary line cutting vertically through both shoulders, separating the anterior side of the body from the posterior. Side-to-side movement occurs on the frontal plane.
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