Module 1 – Bachelor of Physical Education

Student’s Module in
Movement Education

Quarter 1:
Introduction –
Understanding
Movements

Contents:
What is movement education
Different Laws of Motion
Different Kinds of Movements
Module 1 – Bachelor of Physical Education

What is Movement Education?

Movement education is instruction in the improvement of a
person's motor skills through physical movement. Often a part of
physical therapy, the patient/student gains a deeper
understanding of their body in motion and an increased
efficiency of movement in their day-to-day activities. The aim of
movement education is to improve health and physical
performance.
Movement education can assist a person in recovering from
injury or diminished physical abilities. It provides alternative
movements that are safer and healthier for the body and this
results in a decrease in pain and discomfort. It offers tools to
rehabilitate the body and improve posture and sleep quality. By
including movement education in health plans, employers can
help healthcare professionals help injured employees regain
more motion and return to work as a once again productive
member of the company.

Different Laws of Motion

Newton's Laws of Motion help us to understand how objects
behave when they are standing still; when they are moving, and
when forces act upon them. There are three laws of motion. Here
is a description of Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion and a
summary of what they mean.
Newton's First Law of Motion
Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object in motion
tends to stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it.
Similarly, if the object is at rest, it will remain at rest unless an
unbalanced force acts upon it. Newton's First Law of Motion is
also known as the Law of Inertia.
Basically, what Newton's First Law is saying is that objects
behave predictably. If a ball is sitting on your table, it isn't going
to start rolling or fall off the table unless a force acts upon it to
cause it to do so. Moving objects don't change their direction
unless a force causes them to move from their path.
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As you know, if you slide a block across a table, it eventually

stops rather than continuing on forever. This is because
the frictional force opposes the continued movement. If you
threw a ball out in space, there is much less resistance, so the
ball would continue onward for a much greater distance.
Newton's Second Law of Motion
Newton's Second Law of Motion states that when a force acts on
an object, it will cause the object to accelerate. The larger the
mass of the object, the greater the force will need to be to cause it
to accelerate. This Law may be written as force = mass x
acceleration or:
F=m*a
Another way to state the Second Law is to say it takes more force
to move a heavy object than it does to move a light object.
Simple, right? The law also explains deceleration or slowing
down. You can think of deceleration as acceleration with a
negative sign on it. For example, a ball rolling down a hill moves
faster or accelerates as gravity acts on it in the same direction as
the motion (acceleration is positive). If a ball is rolled up a hill,
the force of gravity acts on it in the opposite direction of the
motion (acceleration is negative or the ball decelerates).

Newton's Third Law of Motion

Newton's Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there
is an equal and opposite reaction.
What this means is that pushing on an object causes that object
to push back against you, the exact same amount, but in the
opposite direction. For example, when you are standing on the
ground, you are pushing down on the Earth with the same
magnitude of force that it is pushing back up at you.
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Different Kinds of Movement

What is Movement?

Without going into complicated physics explanations and

equations, movement involves an entity moving from point A to
point B. The movement is carried out around a fixed axis or
fulcrum and has a direction.

Anatomical movements are no different. They usually involve

bones or body parts moving around fixed joints relative to the
main anatomical axes (sagittal, coronal, frontal, etc.) or planes
parallel to them.

Therefore, the template of anatomical movements consists of the

following (not all of them are required for every movement):

 Anatomical structures involved in the movement.

 Reference axes around which the movement happens.
 Direction, which in anatomy is usually related to a standard
plane, such as the median, medial, sagittal, frontal, etc.

Flexion/extension

The opposing movements of flexion and extension take place in

sagittal directions around a frontal/coronal axis. Flexion, or
bending, involves decreasing the angle between the two entities
taking part in the movement (bones or body parts). In
contrast, extension, or straightening, involves increasing the
respective angle.
Module 1 – Bachelor of Physical Education

Abduction/adduction

The movements of abduction and adduction are intimately

related to the median plane. They both generally occur in the
frontal plane and are happening around an anteroposterior axis.

Protrusion/retrusion

The movements of protrusion and retrusion take place in the

sagittal plane. Since they are also related to the frontal/coronal
axis, but instead of only moving around it, these movements are
also taking place parallel to it. Protrusion involves a movement
going straight ahead or forward.

Retrusion is the opposite and involves going backwards.

Anatomical structures capable of such actions are the tongue,
chin (mandible) and lips.

These movements are sometimes interchanged with protraction

and retraction. However, the latter pair have an additional
movement added to them. Protraction is not only an anterior
movement but an anterolateral one as well. This means that the
structure moves forwards and laterally. Similarly, retraction also
consists of an extra posteromedial movement. The scapulae are
the standard example of bones that perform protraction and
retraction.
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Depression/elevation

While protrusion and retrusion move anatomical

structures forward and backwards, depression and elevation
move them down (inferiorly) and up (superiorly), respectively.

Lateral/medial rotation

Rotation happens in the transverse plane around a vertical

(longitudinal) axis that happens relative to the median
plane. Medial rotation involves bringing the anatomical structure
closer to the median plane, while lateral rotation involves moving
it further away.

Although very similar, rotations are distinct from

abductions/adductions, due to the planes the movements are
happening in.

Pronation/supination

Strictly speaking, pronation and supination are considered as two

special types of rotation. They are restricted to the forearm and
involve the radius twisting over the ulna.

Circumduction

Circumduction is a special type of movement that is actually a

combination of many other ones. The overall movement starts
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with flexion, followed by abduction, extension and

finally adduction. The order must be sequential, but it can start
from either flexion or adduction. The result is a circular
movement. Due to the multitude of movements, circumduction is
restricted to ball-and-socket type joints, such as the shoulder and
the hip.

Deviation

Deviation is a special type of movement that is restricted to

the wrist joint. The movement happens in a longitudinal plane
through the wrist relative to an axis passing from palmar to
dorsal through the wrist. 

Opposition/reposition

These two movements are restricted to the digits of the hand.

Essentially, they involve pinching, such as when sprinkling salt
over food or snapping your fingers. Anatomically
speaking, opposition involves touching the pad of any one of your
fingers with the thumb of the same hand. Reposition is the
reverse, which consists of separating them.

Inversion/eversion

The antagonistic movements of inversion and eversion take place

relative to the median place and are specific to the foot.
In eversion, the plantar side of the foot is moved away from the
median plane so that it is turned laterally. In inversion, the
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plantar side is moved towards the median plane, resulting in a

medial turn.