I have a love/hate relationship with mirrors when training. They are a useful tool to examine form, but over time we tend to develop the habit of looking at our progress, and even our training program, from one angle only.
This can lead to an overtraining of the mirror muscles, the ones we see when we look at our reflection (think biceps). Sadly, this can be to the exclusion of our many other muscles, creating imbalances and weaknesses throughout the body, and possibly leading to injury.
Mirrors turn our focus to what we can see, when we should actually be focusing on how we feel. It’s important to look away from the mirror from time to time and remember we exist in three dimensions, and take our training that way.
From the fitness perspective, we divide the “dimensions” of the body into three planes: sagittal, frontal and transverse.
Imagine a centre line cutting through the body from the crown of your head to your feet, dividing you into right and left parts. When you swing your arms forward and back, this is on the sagittal plane.
Now imagine there is a glass wall directly in front of you and one behind you. You can only move your body side to side, in a lateral motion. This is the frontal plane.
Lastly, imagine a line dividing you through your midsection, creating a lower half and an upper half. Rotating at the waist to swing your arms across the body is on the transverse plane.
The sagittal plane is probably the most familiar since it includes flexion and extension. For example, squats, bicep curls and deadlifts are done on the sagittal plane. It is productive for working some of our primary movers and for developing strength, but we shouldn’t get trapped here. It’s easy to grab a set of dumbbells and do bicep curls ad nauseum because we get mesmerized by our reflection.
Frontal plane movement is anything involving abduction (taking away) and adduction (bringing back) from the midline of the body. For example, side lunges and lateral hops. The frontal plane is regularly forgotten as exercises like Cossack squats (a low lateral lunge) demand flexibility, which can often be in short supply.
The transverse plane is rotational in nature, and exercises done here help to train stabilizers like the obliques. For example, wood-chops or twists work the transverse plane. The transverse plane should be a major focus for those in sports training, including golf, baseball and hockey, which all demand a great deal of rotational force.
Sometimes when we are training, we need to think like we’re five again. Children run, jump, hop and cartwheel their way through all planes of movement. This helps them grow their stability, flexibility and ease of movement.
Moving in all three planes recruits different muscle groups and joint actions; strengthening these will help us move better in our daily lives. We live in three dimensions, so we should move that way, too.
Remember, do what you can with what you have where you are, and always prioritize the positive.
Melissa Sloos is a certified group fitness instructor, spin instructor and studio manager at Coast Fitness.
