WHAT IS AGILITY?

Agility is the ability to accelerate, decelerate, and change direction quickly and efficiently while under control.  Many trainers and coaches focus on agility training as one aspect of sport-specific training.  Increasing agility can help prevent such injuries as ankle and non-contact ACL sprains, as well as increase sports performance.  For optimal results speed agility training should be incorporated with other aspects of a training regimen, such as strength, endurance, and power training.  Follow this 5 step progression to create your own agility training workouts!

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   Basic Conditioning:

   Aerobic endurance is the foundation of speed and agility training because it is the our major defense against fatigue. Fatigue is associated with many detrimental effects to performance, including: decreased muscular strength, decreased reaction time, decreased agility and neuromuscular coordination, and decreased concentration and alertness.  The combination of these factors can lead to an increased risk for injury and decreased athletic performance.  Even athletes in sports that require very little aerobic endurance, such as baseball or golf, can benefit from endurance training.  Incorporate jogging 1-3 miles 3-4x per week into your training regimen. Basic conditioning also helps reduce your bodyweight which means you have less weight to manage during those agile moves. As a bonus: learn how to lose weight fast on another post on this site!

2. Strength training:

   Agility training begins with a solid foundation.  In order for the extremities to move quickly and under control, the foundation MUST be strong.  Core strengthening is just as foundational to agility training as basic conditioning. Emphasis should be placed on working the deep abdominals (transversus abdominis, internal/external obliques), deep low back stabilizers (multifidi and quadratus lumborum), hip abductors/external rotators (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius), and hamstrings.

3. Multi-planar Movements

   Once basic conditioning and strength are established it is important to train the body how to move in the three cardinal planes: sagittal (front-to-back), coronal (side-to-side), and transverse (rotational); and in combinations of these three planes.  Keeping this in mind, perform activities incorporating these planes of movement.  Jog forward and backward (sagittal plane).  Side-step 10 yards in each direction (coronal plane).  Karaoke 10 yards in each direction (coronal and transverse plane).  Perform diagonal cutting drills around cones, emphasizing the change in direction (sagittal and transverse).  For sport-specific training, think of all of the directions that your body may need to move during a game and simulate that in your sports agility training.  As these agility training exercises become more familiar, increase the intensity.

4. Footwork:

   When most people think of agility they think of quick feet and speed.  Efficient footwork is paramount to agility, and begins with efficient core strength, hip strength, and motor control of the lower extremity.  Footwork should be trained for maximum speed of movement and in combination with acceleration/deceleration drills.
   -To achieve a maximum speed of movement use drills such as alternating toe touches using a step or small box, or lateral box jumps.  The emphasis should be on moving your feet as quickly as possible.  Going to a stadium or using a long set of steps is a great way to work on footwork.  Run up the steps hitting each step as quickly as possible.  Think “quick feet!”.  Sidestep up the steps doing the same thing.  We’ll come back to using steps when we discuss plyometrics.
   -To emphasize acceleration/deceleration, return to some of the activities we discussed in Section 3, such as running forwards and backwards, sidestepping, and diagonal cutting drills.  As you perform these drills at an increased intensity, focus on starting quickly and stopping quickly.  Begin by sprinting 10 yards, stopping on a dime, and backpedaling to the beginning position as fast as possible.  Once you feel able to accelerate/decelerate efficiently in this distance, decrease the distance to 5 yards.  This drill emphasizes speed training as well as agility.
   -Using an agility ladder to perform footwork drills is a great way to achieve maximum speed of movement and emphasize acceleration/deceleration.  Check out this website for some examples of things you can do with the agility ladder!

5. Plyometrics:

   Plyometric training is a variation of resistance training with an emphasis on power (force x velocity).  When a muscle is stretched there is a reflexive contraction that occurs.  Plyometric training takes advantage of this physiologic property of muscle, known as the stretch-shortening cycle, to increase performance.  The stretch-shortening cycle is a movement that involves an eccentric muscle contraction immediately followed by a concentric contraction.  This is evident in a simple jumping exercise.  If I asked you to jump your first movement would be to bend at the hips, knees and ankle.  These movements stretch the gluteal muscles, the quads, and the calves, all of which will be utilized to produce the force that enables you to jump.  Plyometrics are often performed with boxes and other contraptions, but can just as easily be performed outside using a set of steps.  Here’s an example: jump up the steps, skipping one, two, or three (whatever is best for you).  Jog back down.  Jump up the steps on one leg.  Jog back down.  Jump up the steps sideways on one leg.  Plyometric training is a very beneficial as part of an agility training program.  It is a high-intensity form of exercise and should be approached with caution.

All of the principles that we have discussed can be modified and varied in many different ways to keep your body constantly adapting to the imposed demand and increase your conditioning and agility.  Use what we have discussed to create a program that fits with where you are in your training regimen.  Be safe!