Tri-Planar Exercises

Your body can be segmented into three planes. While the frontal plane divides the front and back of your body, the sagittal plane divides your right from the left side. The transverse plane divides your body’s top and bottom halves. When you engage in traditional resistance training, you typically move muscle groups back and forth on one of these planes. Tri-planar exercises weave together complex movements in which your body has to work in all planes of motion.

  1. Functional Strength Training

    • Tri-planar exercises are used for functional strength training or exercises that simulate the complex movements required in sports. According to “Functional Strength for Triathletes: Exercises for Top Performance” by Ingrid Loos Miller and Jim Herkimer, functional strength-training exercises must meet three requirements. First, they need to be tri-planar. Second, they demand stability via one or more “transfer stations,” which include the shoulder, hip, abdominal region or ankle. Finally, they must employ the connected motions used for such activities as running, cycling or swimming.

    Non-Functional to Functional Exercises

    • You can advance a traditional uniplanar, or single plane, strengthening exercise, such as chest press or leg extension, into tri-planar exercise by adding movements in other planes, according to James Crossley’s book “Personal Training: Theory and Practice.” For example, do a dumbbell shoulder press with a side step and then add a trunk rotation. While a single leg squat is the triplanar version of a leg press on a machine, a calf raise done on machine transforms into a triplanar exercise when done with a hip rotation and holding a dumbbell.

    Step-by-Step Examples

    • Perform the inch worm, a triplanar exercise which begins with a forward bend from a standing position. Reach down to the ground and place your hands on the floor, keeping your legs fully extended. Walk your hands as far forward as possible while maintaining a straight back. Hold the peak position for a second and then slowly step your feet toward to your hands. Your body will form an undulating V-shape, resembling the movement of an inch worm. Another triplanar exercise is a forward lunge in which you rotate your body over your lead leg.

    The Benefits

    • Proprioreceptors are receptors located in your muscles, joints, tendons and skin that link to your nervous system and send information to your brain regarding your body’s location in space. This information also tells your brain how far and how fast your muscles are being stretched. The more information your brain can process, the more efficient your movements will be on the playing field, according to Miller and Herkimer. Since triplanar exercises are more complex than uniplanar movements, they help to hone and enhance your neuromuscular system as well as to improve your balance.