We function in an unstable, 3D environment. The human body is capable of moving into an infinite number of positions. Your training program should reflect this human ability to move freely within the three planes of motion. The three planes are as follows:
1. Sagittal Plane – divides the body into left and right halves
Exercise/movement example – bench press, crunch, backward lunge, forward sprint
2. Frontal Plane – divides the body into front and back halves (aka Coronal Plane)
Exercise/movement example – lateral lunge, standing side bend, shoulder lateral raise, grabbing a rebound above the head directly to your left
3. Transverse Plane – divides the body into top and bottom halves
Exercise/movement example – standing shoulder external rotation, cable rotation, swinging baseball bat
The combination of two or even all three planes are possible within a given movement and commonly occur in mundane life activities such as when getting into your car (involves all three planes – squat, lateral shift, and a twist!).
From my experience, the vast majority of programs are sagittal plane dominant – up/down, frontwards/backwards. The bodybuilding culture and the invention of machine based training equipment has left many trainees strapped into machines moving largely in the sagittal plane. I cannot think of a machine that moves in more than one plane of motion at a time like life demands. This is one reason why I caution excess use of machines within a training program. Charles Poliquin recommends machine usage to not exceed 20% of the training volume. In some cases, even programs that aren’t machine based ignore the frontal and transverse planes all together despite the fact that many injuries occur in these less-trained planes.
The amount of work to be done in a given plane will be determined by the demands of the client’s work, home, or sport environment. For instance, if I’m training a mail carrier who is constantly twisting from her mail in the truck to a mailbox then we should make sure we include some transverse plane training to ensure ample strength endurance with such motions to meet her work demands. The same idea would hold true for a baseball player or a tennis player due to the amount of transverse plane movement (twisting) involved in these sport. Both of these athletes would require transverse plane training (and other planes) in order to maximize sports performance.
Make sure your health professional is assessing what type of movement will benefit you most. Because all humans do participate in all three planes of motion, your program should spend some time in all three planes and include movements that involve more than one plane at time. At FPS, we take your life and sport demands into account and design a program to meet those demands while at the same time addressing your fitness, sport performance, and body composition aspirations.
