Planes of Motion

Many of us are accustomed to training body parts instead of movements. When you train movements in different planes of motion, you work multiple muscle groups in a variety of ways. Our bodies move in all sorts of directions so it’s important to train them in different movements and planes. In today’s post, I will go over the planes of motion and different movements for each.

Frontal Plane: This consists of motions occurring along the sides of your body, so any lateral or side to side motion is considered the frontal plane. Exercises include:

  • Jumping Jacks
  • Lateral/Side Lunges
  • Lateral/Side Step Ups
  • Side Planks
  • Lateral Raises

Sagittal Plane: This consists of motions that go forward and backward, so most of our movements come from this plane. Exercises include:

  • Squats
  • Lunges
  • Push Ups
  • Rows

Transverse Plane: This consists of twisting motions. Exercises include:

  • Russian Twists
  • World’s Greatest Stretch
  • Cable Woodchop

Incorporating these motions in all three planes, allows us to move our bodies in various movements and directions. This also allows us to move our body freely, functionally, and with little or any compensations. When I program workouts for clients, I think of the various primal movements and the different directions we can perform them in so my client has a well rounded training program. 

Leave a Comment