The Importance Of Multi Planar Movements

  Many injuries in physical activities are often caused by weak links, often called muscular imbalances. And one of the major causes of these imbalances is the lack of training in different planes of motion.
 When standing straight, the body is divided into 3 planes. The frontal plane divides the front and back half of the body. The sagittal plane divides the body into left and right halves. And the transverse plane divides the upper and lower body at the waistline. Movements occur in the different planes on an axis running perpendicular to that plane.

 Sagittal motions are flexing/extending motions, basically front to back. Examples include squats, running, curls, etc. Frontal motions are adduction/abduction motions, or side to side. An example would be a side lunge. Transverse motions involve internal and external motions of the body. Examples include hitting a baseball or golfing.

The problem is most people train overwhelmingly in the sagittal plane. But in real life we stop and turn, we move from side to side, basically we go in all types of directions. And because we don't train in different planes it creates muscular imbalances which often leads to injuries.

 So, we need to train in other directions . Exercises like side lunges ( especially with a kettle bell or dumb bell  ) and especially twists/ wood chop motion with a medicine ball can really cover those neglected areas. And only once or twice a week is necessary with this type of training. So get to it.