Agility Training 101: Getting Down to Business

What is agility, and why does it matter to you as you devise your athletic training regimen?

Often the subject of agility is overlooked in favor of something like strength training. It's not hard to explain why you are seeking to build up your muscles in a training regimen. For those who are involved in sports that demand you move quickly and efficiently, then agility training is absolutely key to making sure that you are performing at the top of your game.

Agility training consists of four basic aspects. These components are speed, balance, strength, and coordination.

One can think of balance as one's ability to keep equilibrium while both moving and standing still. This requires that you're able to coordinate your sensory functions, such as seeing and hearing. Static balance is a reference to balance while still, and dynamic balance is balance while moving.

Speed, of course, refers to quick bodily movement.

Strength agility refers to the ability of your muscles to push back against resistence.

Finally, coordination is the ability to have control over body movements in response to the sensory functions of the body. Think of how you must see a ball flying through the air in order to reach up and catch it.

Agility improvement is possible by employing a series of difference exercises intended to improve your abilities. By working on each of the four components of agility separately, you can use a systemic formula to improve your overall agility.

First, you can try an agility ladder. This is a tool that lies on the ground, and is used in the training for such sports as football, soccer, tennis, hockey, and rugby. It is called a ladder, because that's just what it looks like! You can purchase one from a sports supply outfit, or you can construct one of your own by using some sticks and tape.

There are several exercise possibilities. The most basic would be running through the agility ladder (http://shop.fencing.net/Agility_Ladder_p/gf-139005.htm), placing each foot securely in the center of each square. The movements you make with your foot are deliberate, as you endeavor to place your foot accurately in the square. Create more agility drills by varying the pattern of how you're stepping in the squares; use your imagination!

For those who wish to improve their athletic performance, building and maintaining agility will help. Give these agility suggestions a try - you'll see results sooner than you think!

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