I think it’s imperative that athletes train outside of the sagittal plane, whether you are trying to improve sport performance, keep them healthy, or trying to develop enhanced movement quality. It’s hard to argue that athletes need a healthy dose of multi-planar training.
Here are 5 non-sagittal staples in our training programs and their benefits;
- Lateral Bounds: developing stability/eccentric strength to jump but more importantly land safely in the frontal plane
- Side Toss: developing/linking power from the ground through the core/hips in the frontal plane
- Sled Crossover: improve groin health along with sport specific speed/acceleration mechanics
- 1-leg Squat: though you are technically training in the sagittal plane, the muscles surrounding the hip are doing a ton of stabilizing in the frontal and transverse plane, which is huge for injury prevention – the same could be thought for other pure 1-leg exercises like a 1-leg RDL
- Slide Board: large stress on the adductors and abductors for improved groin health