Don't Neglect Planes of Motion Training

Many of us could benefit from more "planes of motion" training in our workouts. In a nutshell, the body is designed to move in three planes of motion: sagittal (like in a squat or bicep curl), frontal (like in a lateral lunge or side cable raise) and transverse (like in a "curtsy" lunge or a bicycle crunch). Most of us live almost exclusively in the sagittal plane limiting our functional mobility, strength and performance.

Read more about the importance of planes of motion. in addition to standard sagittal exercises (which are still great) consider layering in more frontal and traverse moves to your program for your lower body, upper body and core. In this IG post I show some great starter drills and warms ups for sagittal, frontal and transverse lower body moves on the TRX. And in the following video my awesome client Chris shows us six of my favorite lower body moves in all three planes: single leg step downs and goblet squats (sagittal) lateral goblet squats and lateral back squats (frontal) and bodyweight curtsey step overs and side loaded curtsey step overs (transverse).

Want to be a planes of motion rockstar like Chris? As a former athlete, Chris wants to maintain optimal health and mobility as well as performance. So working together we developed part of his weekly workout regime to focus on planes of motion across lower body, upper body and core. Curious what that looks like? Here’s his program which provides a good template and process for how you can begin to incorporate planes of motion into your week.