The Importance of Rotational Movements in the Gym & in Everyday Life

At Wilcox Wellness & Fitness continual improvement is our #1 core value.  In the world of exercise and fitness there are constantly new ideas and approaches to make exercise even more effective and increase the benefits seen in every day life.  Being part of a culture that is continually exploring new ideas and looking to improve our training techniques is incredibly satisfying and I'm so proud to be a part of it.

We use a functional training approach in our programming, with the goal of helping our clients live their best life, free of limitations, outside of the gym.  ​

​The exercises that we use in our training sessions are movements that we all use throughout our day. 
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For example, every time we sit down we are essentially doing a squat, and practicing squatting movements helps to ensure that we are able to sit down and stand up effortlessly, now and as we age.  When we perform a deadlift we are practicing safe and effective ways to pick up heavy objects.  

This time of year clients will comment on the practice that they experience in the gym and its correlation to stacking wood or shoveling snow.  I always love hearing clients talk about how they are seeing the work that they do in the gym apply to their every day life!

We move our bodies in three planes of motion - Sagittal, Frontal and Transverse.   The sagittal plane includes movements from front to back such as a squat, a lunge, or a bicep curl.  The frontal plane refers to movements laterally or off to the side, and the transverse plane is all about rotational movements.

It's important to incorporate exercises that include movement in all three planes of movement since that's how we move in real life!  

In our daily lives we move in all three ways constantly, and maintaining balance across all three planes is what allows us to move effectively in our daily life.

We move sagittally when we sit down and stand up, and when we walk or run. 

You might move in the frontal plane side stepping a puddle, or any movement where your arms or legs move out to your side.  
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Transverse movements include rotation, and occur constantly throughout our day. 

Our bodies move in the transverse plane when shoveling snow and chopping wood and also quite likely when you're moving groceries from your cart to your car, picking up your kids and moving them from one place such as the floor to another place like their chair, rotating the body to change the position.  We rotate constantly....in fact, if you really pay attention you're actually moving in the transverse plane when you walk as you swing your arms and rotate through your thoracic spine....the mid back and portion of the spine that is connected to your ribs.

Transverse movements are incredibly important, and when designing training sessions it is important to create a balance of sagittal, frontal and transverse movements.  This ensures that there is balance in how our muscles are being trained to move and allows us to move through our lives freely, gracefully, and with reduced chance of injury.

We are always looking for ways to incorporate transverse movements into our training sessions, and the process of exploring and practicing new exercises for this purpose is a lot of fun! 

​The Brunswick team recently had the opportunity to spend a day with Mike Wilcox discussing the importance of transverse movements in functional training and exploring some new exercise ideas and ways to incorporate these kinds of movements into our training sessions in fun and effective ways.

I feel fortunate to work amongst a team of people who are so committed to getting better at what we do, continually learning, growing and sharing for the benefit of our clients.  The commitment from Mike & Paige Wilcox is incredible. Their wealth of knowledge is an amazing resource to me and my team as is their commitment to our clients across both locations.

Since Mike's visit to Brunswick two weeks ago the team has had a lot of fun incorporating new movements into our training programming, but even more so the approach that we are taking in coaching these movements was broadened through Mike's education.  It's easy to do a skater hop and get a nice lateral (side to side) movement of the arms and legs....I will often joke that I feel like I'm a speed skater in the olympics when doing a skater hop...it's a fun and effective movement.  However, when we truly coach the transverse movement of the skater hop, with focus on rotation of the spine through the movement you will experience a real difference.  It changes the movement entirely and makes it far more effective at training the body to move in this fashion.

As we continue into the winter season the potential to slip on ice will only increase.  Training the body to rotate more effectively, increasing our mobility of the thoracic spine, and making stronger brain-body connections in how this movement feels will help us recover more quickly when slipping and greatly reduce our chance of falling smack on our butts.  

It's been a lot of fun incorporating these movements and improved coaching techniques into our training sessions.  Several clients have told me how much they are enjoying moving their bodies in this way and experiencing muscles that they haven't felt in a while.  

I'm excited to be part of the Wilcox Wellness & Fitness "family" and to have the opportunity to provide our clients with a fun and effective training experience that will enhance all aspects of their lives.  ​​

Photo Credit:  Paige Wilcox.  Thank you Paige for joining us and taking so many great photos!

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