Breaking Down the Heart Shape

The Heart Shape Frontal Plane Indian clubs exercise: everything you need to know.

Aloha Friends!

We are super excited to publish our first blog of the Wave Chi instructional series of content focused on helping Indian club swinging practitioners learn to use the clubs safely and effectively and get the most benefits out of that fantastic exercise.

Even though there are many types of exercises you can do with Indian clubs, we highly recommend trying The Wave Chi Method. Designed by our Founder and CEO, Jack Gillen, the National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, the Wave Chi system is suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels. It is a gentle, low-stress, low-impact system of training that is really fun.

The cornerstone of the Wave Chi Method is the Heart Shape Frontal Plane exercise. Having received many questions from our customers on the specifics of performing the Heart Shape Frontal Plane exercise with Indian clubs, we decided to put together this blog to address all of them and make it easier for you to learn this pattern. So, let's get started!

Four essential things to consider before attempting the Heart Shape exercise are planes of motion, shape, speed, and weight of Indian clubs. We will cover each of them below.

What Are Planes of Motion?

There are three planes of motion: frontal, sagittal, and transverse.

• Sagittal Plane: Cuts the body into left and right halves. Forward and backward movements are performed in this plane.

• Frontal Plane: Cuts the body into front and back halves. Side-to-side movements are performed in this plane.

• Transverse Plane: Cuts the body into top and bottom halves. Twisting movements are performed in this plane.

The frontal plane is represented by a plane that cuts the body into front and back halves, creating an imaginary track that the body follows when performing side-to-side movements. Another way to visualize frontal plane movement is to imagine two plates of glass pressed up against the front and back sides of the body, creating a channel where the body can only move left or right, not forward and backward.

Speed

The key to the Wave Chi Method is slow motion. You don't have to go fast to get the benefits, and it is a much safer way to perform the exercise. We call it "Tai Chi slow", which gives you an idea of how fast you should move. You can do it as slowly as possible and still have the same effects without hitting your furniture or yourself (this is especially important for beginners).

Weight

The Wave Chi Method is mainly focused on shoulder rehabilitation, increasing shoulder mobility and range of motion, improving sports performance and brain function. Our goal is to make Indian clubs suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels. These are the main reasons why we recommend using lighter Indian clubs. Even though you can use our clubs for strength training (especially for women), they were not designed with this purpose in mind.

Wave Chi Indian clubs weigh from 1.35lbs to 1.45lbs per club and make Indian club swinging safe and just as effective. You can learn more about them here.