Fit to Print Volume 24 Issue 4 December 2015 | Page 13

Group Ex

by Kelly Wallace

How Do You Define Fitness?
Get On The Right Plane!
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Jourdan demonstrates the 3 plane (L to R) Sagittal Plane (1 & 2), Frontal Plane (3), and Rotational Plane (4 & 5)

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s we move into another new year,
we often ask ourselves how can I
make this year better than the
last? What can I do to make the most of
my health and fitness? We all have our
own “definition” of fitness. Some
workout and train for races, others to
lose weight and some use it to clear
their head to make it through life's ups
and downs. Whatever your “definition”
may be the question you should ask
yourself is, “Am I getting the most out
of my fitness routine?” Are my workouts
benefiting my body and my overall
health as each year passes?
There are three planes of exercise that
complete fitness. All exercises fall
under one of these three. Working all
of these planes increases your range of
motion, prevents injury and provides
greater stability for your body. The first
is the sagittal plane; this is any forward
and back movement. Examples of this
are running, biking, rowing and lifting.
The sagittal plane is the most
commonly touched upon way of
training. Next is the frontal plane. This
includes all lateral movements,
adduction (moving in towards the body)
and abduction (moving away from the
body). Examples of this are speed
skaters, dumbbell lateral raise or
sitting in an unweighted squat. Lastly,
the transverse plane. This includes any
rotational or twisting movements.
Examples of this are horizontal
woodchop, transverse cable pull or a
side plank with a crossover rotation.
Using this checklist of movements can

help you determine if you are doing
all you can to be your best fit-self.
It's also important to consider flexion
and extension. Most
3 of us use flexion
on a more regular basis than
extension. Contracting muscles is a
more common practice than
stretching or extending muscles.
Yoga touches on all three of the
planes of exercise, therefore
benefiting balance within your body.
A stretch class is another way that
you can counter all the flexing.
Working all three planes is evenly
distributing your strength throughout
your body, in essence, making you as
fit as you can be, and allowing your
body to work the best it can in
everyday life.
Here at the Fitness Incentive you
have many opportunities with classes
and trainers to make sure you are
touching on all three planes and
getting the most out of every
workout. No matter what your
definition of fitness may be there are
certain benefits our fitness routines
should bring into our everyday life.
For example, the ability to carry
heavy grocery bags, run and play with
our children or grandchildren, reach
for something and not throw our back
out, bend down and tie our shoes and
get up without a problem, balance on
our feet and not fall or have the
ability to break our fall with the
strength of our muscles. We may all
define fitness differently, but we can
Holidays 2015 FIT to Print

all agree, if what we do is not going to
help us in life outside the gym why do
it? Fitness Incentive offers almost
countless opportunities to expand your
fitness routine and to raise your level of
fitness. The New Queenax Bridge is an
excellent way to cover all the planes in
training. With the numerous
attachments you can cover all your
bases and even better, play like kid
doing it! Keeping it interesting and
having fun. Vipr and TRX training also
cover the three planes of exercise.
Keeping the body balanced and strong.
Try to use as many of these options as
you can! Make this the year you employ
techniques at the gym that transfer to
your life outside the gym.

Kelly Wallace manages the Group Exercise
program at Fitness Incentive

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