How are joint movements named?

PLANE	AXIS	MOVEMENT	SPECIAL CASES
sagittal	lateral*	flexion extension	hyperextension dorsiflexion/plantar flexion of ankle
frontal	A-P	abduction adduction	fingers/toes ulnar and radial deviation of wrist
transverse	vertical longitudinal	rotation	horizontal abduction of shoulder or hip
multi-planar	oblique	pronation supination	subtalar joint midtarsal joint radio-ulnar jt

* The authors of your text, Clinical Kinesiology, refer to the lateral axis as the transverse axis (p.9). So that students don't confuse the transverse axis with the transverse plane, we'll avoid using the former term.

Various web sites offer video demonstrations of joint movement. You may need to download a movie viewer to see these.

McNulty, J.A. (1998). Joint Actions of Upper Limb. Loyola University Medical Center [On-line]. Available: http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/GrossAnatomy/ue/ueaction.html.

University of Michigan Learning Resource Center. (1994). Muscles in action. [On-line]. Available: http://www.med.umich.edu/lrc/Hypermuscle/Hyper.html.

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Open and closed kinematic chains (Smith, Weiss, & Lehmkuhl, 1996, pp.9-10).

These terms refer to chains of joints. For instance, the shoulder, elbow, and wrist form a chain of three upper extremity joints.

• In open chain joint movements, the proximal joint member is fixed or stable while the distal member moves. Reaching to grasp an object in space, or kicking a ball are examples of open chain movements.

• In a closed chain joint motion, the distal joint member is fixed or stable, and the proximal member moves. The stance phase of walking involves closed-chain motion, as do rising from a chair, or performing a pull-up.

• Trunk movements don't follow this convention, because it is difficult to clearly assign "proximal" and "distal" directions within the trunk. We define trunk motions as open- or closed-chain using a different convention.

Most students first learn to name extremity joint motions by using examples of open chain movement, in which the extremity's distal segment moves freely with respect to a relatively stable proximal segment.

We name "closed chain" motions identically. For example, hip flexion involves an approximation of the anterior surfaces of the pelvis and femur. When the pelvis tilts anteriorly (ASIS moves forward) on a fixed femur, the pelvis' anterior surface moves closer to the femur's anterior surface. Therefore, hip flexion is a joint movement that is associated with an anterior pelvic tilt.

When both the proximal and distal segments seem to move, classifying the joint movement as open or closed chain is difficult. For example, when one extends the knee joint to stand up from a sitting position, both the femur and tibia are in motion. We elect to consider it a closed chain motion because the lower extremity is fixed on the floor at its distal end. This choice helps us analyze gravitational and muscular forces at the knee joint because it leads us to draw the vectors that represent those forces on the mass that is superincumbent to the knee joint.

Reference:

Smith, L.K., Weiss, E.L. & Lehmkuhl, L.D. (1996). Brunnstrom's clinical kinesiology (5th ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.

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Last updated 8-30-00 ©Dave Thompson PT
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