There are three planes of motion, the sagittal, frontal, and transverse plane. Each one is of equal importance. Don’t get it twisted, or better yet, DO (pun intended).
Sagittal: Front to back movements, mainly flexion and extension (i.e. squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, bicep curls)
Frontal: Side to side movements (i.e. lateral lunges, lateral raises, cossack squats, jumping jacks)
Transverse: Rotation and anti-rotation exercises (i.e. woodchoppers, pallof press, Russian twists)
If you want all-around strength and injury resilience, then you must train in all three planes of motion adequately and EQUALLY.
Unfortunately, most people do plenty of exercises in the sagittal plane, some exercises in the frontal plane, and little to no exercises that focus specifically on the transverse plane.
This is because we can get beefy from sagittal plane and even frontal plane exercises.
But, the transverse plane is what makes us hard to kill (injury resilient - core stability) and what gives us explosive power as it is our core and hips that transfer force from the lower to upper body. This is why athletes place great emphasis on exercises in the transverse plane of motion.
Note: While there is some degree of stress on the transverse plane with sagittal movements that require you to resist rotation, it is not enough to be satisfied with.
On that the transverse plane is the plane of motion most often forgotten about or simply overlooked, we’ve decided to present to you 14 effective and simple transverse plane exercises that you can incorporate into your routine.
14 SAGITTAL PLANE EXERCISES:
1. Kettlebell Lunge Twist (0:10)
2. 180˚ Squat Jump with Toe Touch (0:25)
3. Low Lunge Twist with Reach (0:34)
4. Pallof Press (0:48)
5. Single Leg Hip Rotation (1:04)
6. Kettlebell Rotational Swing (1:14)
7. Wood Chopper Low to High (1:27)
8. Wood Chopper High to Low (1:41)
9. Russian Kettlebell Twist (1:57)
10. Rotational Forearm Plank (2:07)
11. Plank Pull Through (2:22)
12. Stability Ball Kettlebell Torso Twist (2:40)
13. Rotational Wall Ball Throw (2:50)
14. 180˚ Rotational Wall Ball Throw (2:58)
Remember, if you want to be truly the best and most complete form of a human, not to mention, to be hard to kill (or just get hurt), then give each plane of motion the same amount of attention, which means start doing transverse plane exercises and workouts!
If you are an athlete or already know all of this, then we apologize for preaching to the choir and we hope you enjoy this video.
Please feel free to leave comments below. If you like this video, subscribe, like, comment and share. We appreciate the support!
Buy Kettlebells for Transverse Plane Exercises:
Buy Resistance Bands for Transverse Plane Exercises:
Learn more about transverse plane exercises: