Three anatomical body planes can describe how your body moves when you play sports or do other activities. Understanding how your body works can help you develop balanced strength.
The planes of the body are anatomical concepts often used by health professionals to describe how your body moves during exercise or other activities.
You can think of them as flat surfaces that divide the body into front and back, side to side, and top to bottom.
Understanding the different body planes can be useful when designing your exercise program to ensure you are moving and strengthening your body in all directions.
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the three planes of the body, their movements, and other useful anatomical terms.
There are three levels of the body:
Coronal (frontal) plane: separates the front (anterior) and back (posterior) of the body
Sagittal (longitudinal) plane: separates the left and right sides of the body
Transverse plane (axial plane): separates the upper (upper) and lower (lower) halves of the body
To imagine both, it’s useful to imagine a large pane of glass running through your body.
Think of the coronal (frontal) plane as a vertical sheet running through the side of your body, so that the sheet separates the front part of your body from the back.
Think of the sagittal (longitudinal) plane as a vertical sheet that runs through your body from front to back, so that it divides your body into left and right sides.
Finally, imagine the axial (transverse) plane as a horizontal sheet running through your torso, separating the top and bottom halves of your body.
When imagining your body moving, it is useful to imagine your body moving along the glass panes (or planes), but not through them.
The coronal plane is often referred to as the frontal plane. This divides the body into a front (anterior) and a back (posterior) section.
Movements that occur in the coronal (frontal) plane are lateral or lateral. This includes:
Abduction: Lateral movement of the limbs away from the center of the body (e.g. lifting leg to the side)
Adduction: Move your limbs medially toward the midline of the body (e.g. lower your arm to the side of your body)
Elevation: Raise the scapula (shoulder blade) upwards
Depression: Lowering of the shoulder blade downwards
Ankle Inversion: The sole of the foot rotates inward toward the midline of the body (part of supination
Ankle inversion: The sole of the foot rotates outward away from the midline of the body (part of pronation).
Using the glass pane as an example, imagine lifting your arms to the side (abduction). If there was a sheet of glass, your arms would slide along it, meaning you were moving your arms along the coronal (frontal) plane.
However, if you were to raise your arm straight in front of you, the glass panel would “break,” meaning you were moving in a different plane of your body (the sagittal plane).
Movement in the coronal (frontal) plane is less common in everyday life. However, it’s important to incorporate some of these moves into your fitness routine. Examples include jumping jacks, side lunges, side shuffles, side bends, and side arm and leg raises.
The sagittal plane, also called the longitudinal plane, divides the body into left and right halves.
Movements that occur in the sagittal (longitudinal) plane include forward and backward movements. Our daily activities usually take place in this plane, as we usually move by swinging our arms and legs in front of us.
Sagittal (longitudinal) plane movements include:
Flexion: Bending a limb to reduce the angle at a joint (e.g., lifting a dumbbell during a bicep curl bends the elbow)
Extension: Movement that increases the angle at a joint (e.g. lifting the leg backwards while standing to straighten the hip joint)
Dorsiflexion: Bending the ankle so that the top of the foot and toes move toward the shinbone
Plantar flexion: Bending the ankle so that the foot presses down and the toes point away
Considering that it is one of the most common planes of movement, there are many exercises that move in the sagittal (longitudinal) plane. Examples include bicep curls, forward or backward lunges, squats, deadlifts, walking and running.
The transverse plane or the axial plane divides the body into an upper (upper) and a lower (lower) half.
Movements that occur in this plane involve rotation or horizontal movement, including:
Rotation: turning the trunk or a limb about its vertical axis (e.g. turning the head left or right)
Horizontal abduction: Move the arm away from the midline of the body when it is at a 90-degree angle in front of you
Horizontal adduction: Movement of the arm toward the midline of the body when at a 90-degree angle to the side
Movements that occur in the sagittal (longitudinal) plane include forward and backward movements. Our daily activities usually take place in this plane, as we usually move by swinging our arms and legs in front of us.
Sagittal (longitudinal) plane movements include:
Flexion: Bending a limb to reduce the angle at a joint (e.g., lifting a dumbbell during a bicep curl bends the elbow)
Extension: Movement that increases the angle at a joint (e.g. lifting the leg backwards while standing to straighten the hip joint)
Dorsiflexion: Bending the ankle so that the top of the foot and toes move toward the shinbone
Plantar flexion: Bending the ankle so that the foot presses down and the toes point away
Considering that it is one of the most common planes of movement, there are many exercises that move in the sagittal (longitudinal) plane. Examples include bicep curls, forward or backward lunges, squats, deadlifts, walking and running.
The transverse plane or the axial plane divides the body into an upper (upper) and a lower (lower) half.
Movements that occur in this plane involve rotation or horizontal movement, including:
Rotation: turning the trunk or a limb about its vertical axis (e.g. turning the head left or right)
Horizontal abduction: Move the arm away from the midline of the body when it is at a 90-degree angle in front of you
Horizontal adduction: Movement of the arm toward the midline of the body when at a 90-degree angle to the side
Learning these terms can help you better understand movement patterns and anatomy because these terms provide “hints.” For example, you should now know that the superior vena cava sits above the inferior vena cava.
Another example would be the serratus anterior, which suggests that the muscle sits on the front side of the body. Finally, the vastus lateralis sits on the outside of the quadriceps (thigh), while the vastus medialis sits on the inside.
In addition to the body’s musculature, the body holds important organs – or intestines – in various fluid-filled cavities or spaces to keep them safe.
The two main body cavities include the ventral and dorsal cavities. The ventral cavity can be further divided into the thoracic and abdominal pelvic cavities, which are separated by the diaphragm.
chest cavity
The chest cavity is located above the diaphragm and contains the lungs, heart, esophagus, trachea, and various blood vessels and nerves.
Abdominopelvic cavity
The abdominal-pelvic cavity sits below the diaphragm and is usually divided into two smaller cavities: the abdominal and pelvic cavities.
The abdominal cavity contains the digestive tract (small and large intestine), the kidneys and the adrenal glands.
The pelvic cavity contains most of the urogenital system and rectum.
Dorsal cavity
The dorsal cavity is smaller than the ventral cavity, but can still be divided into two smaller sections: the cranial cavity (upper) and the spinal (lower) cavity.
The brain is located in the cranial cavity, while the spinal cord is located in the spine.
Whether we are exercising or just going about our daily activities, our bodies move in many directions, along planes.
The three planes of movement include the coronal (frontal), sagittal (longitudinal) and transverse (axial) planes. These planes include side-to-side, front-back, or rotational movement.
By learning how our bodies move in relation to anatomical directions, you can better understand how the body works and how to program effective workouts to develop balanced strength.
Published by Mayhealthylifestyle