Do You Train Clients in All Three Planes of Movement?
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By Sal | January 27, 2010
[caption id="attachment_631" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Personal trainer performing sprint"]
[/caption]Life happens fast and in all different directions, and I don’t just mean time goes by quickly and has you dealing with diverse responsibilities. People run to catch the train or to catch up with their toddler (or grandkid) and need to be able to bend down efficiently to pick them up. People slip and regain their balance in the blink of an eye, they carry items, walk up and down stairs, change directions and multi-task physically for most of their waking hours.
Personal trainers need to prepare, train, clients in all three planes of movement - frontal, sagittal and transverse – at different speeds. Most people work in the sagittal plane(but usually just moving forward), fewer people work in the frontal plane and scant few do any work in the transverse plane. From my observations, the vast majority of personal trainers do not have their clients perform movements in all three planes in any kind of dynamic, real world manner.
Personal trainers and strength coaches should have their clients perform ground-based, compound movements because they allow movements in all three planes. Life doesn’t happen sitting down and it doesn’t happen in one plane either. And ground-based, compound-movements address life’s movement needs better than any other kinds of exercises.
You need to have clients crawl, roll, sprint, jump, hop, shuffle, back pedal and rotate. Clients must lunge, bend and twist – sometimes all at the same time. These movements develop coordination and balance, two skills that everyone needs to work on. We need to engage our client’s nervous system. Machines do nothing to develop these skills because machine-based exercises train muscles, not movements.
Training should focus on movements and not individual muscles. The nervous system does not distinguish between individual muscles, but does respond to and recognize movements.
Strength coaches and personal trainers can train clients in all three planes of movement without the need for equipment. Inexpensive tools such as medicine balls, Indian clubs, a weight vest, sand bag and/or a weighted bar can be used to add difficulty and intensity to “three plane workouts” and improve all clients’ fitness.
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Topics: Personal Trainer Coaching, Training Philosophy, Training Style | 1 Comment »
One Response to “Do You Train Clients in All Three Planes of Movement?”
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7:38 pm on June 29th, 2010
I totally agree with the above. Your clients become stronger much quicker. The results are outstanding!