Sagittal Plane: The anatomical planes are hypothetical planes used to describe the location of structures in human anatomy.

They are applied to the human body in the anatomical position.

In this article, we shall look at the anatomical planes in more detail – in particular, the three most commonly used planes: sagittal, coronal, and transverse.

Sagittal Plane

A sagittal plane is a vertical plane that passes through the body longitudinally. It divides the body into a left section and a right section.

A specific sagittal plane is the median sagittal plane – which passes down the midline of the body, separating it into equal halves.

Coronal Plane

A coronal plane is a vertical plane that also passes through the body longitudinally – but perpendicular (at a right angle) to the sagittal plane.

It divides the body into a front (anterior) section and a back (posterior) section.

Transverse Plane

A transverse plane is a horizontal plane. It is perpendicular to both the sagittal and coronal planes and parallel to the ground.

It divides the body into an upper (superior) section and a lower (inferior) section.

Transverse planes are also known as transaxial planes or axial planes.

The planes of the body are anatomical concepts often used by health professionals to describe how your body moves during exercise or other activities.

You can visualize them as flat surfaces that divide the body into front and back, side-to-side, and top to bottom.

Knowing the different body planes can be useful in designing your workout program to ensure you’re moving and strengthening your body in all directions.

This article tells you all you need to know about the three planes of the body, their movements, and other useful anatomical terms.