Planes of Motion / Directional Movement

Anatomical TermsExercise Science / Sports Medicine

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Anatomical Position Anatomical Position – Standing upright, feet together or slightly apart, arms hanging but not touching the sides, with palms forward and thumbs pointing out.

Why?The anatomical position is important because it’s the reference for all directional and movement terms.

Sagittal Plane(s): Divide the body into right and left segments.

Cardinal Plane: Divides the body into equal and portions.

Midsagittal Plane: Cardinal Sagittal Plane

Planes of Motion

Coronal / Frontal Plane(s)- Divide the body into front and back segments.

Planes of Motion Continued

Transverse / horizontal Plane(s)- Divides the Body into top and bottom segments.

Planes of Motion Continued

Center of Mass / Center of Gravity – The point at which all three cardinal planes intersect.

Planes of Motion Continued

Inferior-Refers to a structure being closer to the feet or lower than another structure in the body

Superior-Refers to a structure being closer to the head or higher than another structure in the body

Directional/Location Terms

Anterior-Refers to a structure being more in front than another structure in the body

Posterior-Refers to a structure being more in back than another structure in the body

Directional/ Location Terms Cont.

Medial-Refers to a structure being closer to the midline or median plane of the body than another structure of the body

Lateral-Refers to a structure being farther away from the midline than another structure of the body

Directional/ Location Terms Cont.

Distal-(Reference to the extremities only) Refers to a structure being further away

from the root or attachment of the limb than another structure in the limb

Proximal-(Reference to the extremities only) Refers to a structure being closer to the root

of the limb than another structure in that limb

Directional/ Location Terms Cont.

Superficial-Refers to a structure being closer to the surface of the body than another structure

Deep-Refers to a structure being closer to the core of the body than another structure

Directional/ Location Terms Cont.

Ventral-Towards the front or belly Dorsal- Towards the back

Directional/ Location Terms Cont.

Prone-Lying face down Supine-Lying face up

Directional/ Location Terms Cont.

Unilateral- pertaining to one side of the body

Bilateral- pertaining to both sides of the body.

Ipsilateral- movement of both upper and lower extremities on the same side.

Contralateral-movement of opposite upper and lower body extremities.

Directional/ Location Terms Cont.