Orienting ourselves with the bodyPSE4U Mr. MacMillan

What is it?

The anatomical position is:

To be in correct anatomical position, the body must meet 3 criteria:

“the universal accepted starting point used to describe or analyze anatomical terms or movement.”

1. Upright, standing position

2. Face and feet pointing forward

3. Arms at the side, palms facing forward

But how do we use the anatomical position to describe movement?

The Anatomical Position

Before looking specifically at movement, we first have to understand how to describe movement. By the end of this lesson you will be introduced to 4 concepts:

1. Planes

2. Axes

3. Position

4. Movements

You will be learning and expected to use a new language from here on in!

Anatomical Planes

Frontal(Coronal)

-relate to positions in space and found at right angles to each other

-these planes can be positioned on any specific parts of the body

-vertical; splits the body into front and back halves

Frontal section of the human face

Anatomical Planes

Frontal(Coronal)

-relate to positions in space and found at right angles to each other

-these planes can be positioned on any specific parts of the body

-vertical; splits the body into front and back halves

Sagittal

-vertical; splits the body into left and right halves

Sagittal view of the human face

Anatomical Planes

Frontal(Coronal)

-relate to positions in space and found at right angles to each other

-these planes can be positioned on any specific parts of the body

-vertical; splits the body into front and back halves

Sagittal

-vertical; splits the body into left and right halves

Transverse

-horizontal; splits the body into upper and lower halves

Transverse view of the human thigh

The Frontal Plane

The Sagittal Plane

The Transverse Plane

Anatomical Axes-a lot of our movement occurs via our joints

-axes are used to describe the direction of movement at joints

Antero-posterior

-horizontal; extends from front to back

-rotate side to side

Horizontal

-horizontal; runs from one side of the body to the other

-rotate top to bottom

Longitudinal

-vertical; extends superior (head) to inferior (foot)

-rotate around

Body Position Terminology

• The following terms will become like a second language for you. These terms are used to describe position of the body and will be used extensively when we talk about muscles and bones

Medial- towards the midline(centre) of the body

Lateral- away from the midline of the body

Proximal- situated closest to the point of attachment

Distal- situated farthest from the point of attachment

Superior- towards the top of the body (cranial)

Inferior- towards the bottom of the body (caudal)

Anterior- towards the front of the body (ventral)

Posterior- towards the back of the body (dorsal)

Superficial- on or close to the surface of the body

Deep- farther away from the surface of the body

Let’s apply our knowledge

1. 2.

Using what you have learned today, for each of these movements: 1)cartwheel and 2) figure skater spin, describe the motion by which plane and axis each movement occurs

Plane:

Axis:

Plane:

Axis:

Frontal

Anteroposterier

Transverse

Longitudinal

Describe the anatomical plane that each of the following pictures is viewed from:

sagittal

Transverse

sagittal

frontal

frontal

Anatomical Movements

Planes & Movements

Movements in the sagittal plane around a horizontal axis• (e.g. front roll, back roll, cycling, running)Flexion• flexion at a joint results in a decrease of the angle

between the two segments that meet at that jointExtension• extension at a joint results in an increase of the angle

between the two segments that meet at that joint• if the movement occurs beyond the extended position,

the action is called hyperextension

Examples of flexion and extension

Planes & Movements

Movements in the frontal plane around a antereoposterior axis

• (e.g. cartwheel, jumping jacks, galloping)Abduction• occurs when a body part is moved away from the midline

of the body• “Abducted by aliens”Adduction• occurs when a body part is moved toward the midline of

the body• “adding to your body”

Movements & Planes

Inversion• Turning the sole of the foot inward at the ankle (so the sole of the foot

faces toward the midline)Eversion• turning the sole of the foot outward at the ankle (so the sole of the foot

faces away from the midline)Elevation• raising a part to a superior position• e.g. raising your shoulders toward your ears; closing your jaw Depression• lowering a part to an inferior position• e.g. lowering your shoulders to normal or lower than normal position;

lowering your jaw to an open position

More…

Protraction• Sticking jaw out (pouting)Retraction• Bringing jaw back to anatomical position• Lateral bending• bending of the spinal column in the frontal plane

to the left or right• e.g. bending side to side at the waist

More…

Pronation• rotation of the forearm and hand to the palms down

positionSupination• rotation of the forearm and hand to the palms up position

(remember holding a cup of “soup”)Protraction• Shoulder rounding (hunching shoulders)Retraction• Bringing shoulders back to anatomical position, or

squeezing shoulder blades together at back

Special movements

Circumduction• a combination of abduction, adduction, flexion and

extension• this action describes a circle• e.g. moving the shoulder in a circle (swimming, windmill

throw in baseball); can also be done at the hip jointOpposition• Bringing thumb towards fingersReposition• Returning thumb back to anatomical position

Reflection Questions

1. Thinking of three different physical activities, list the planes, axes and movements used in each of the three activities. Make sure to use the proper terminology.

2. What plane do most of your movements occur in? What axes?

3. Why might it be important to understand the different terminologies we learned today?