Unless you’re an expert competitor or somebody who considers their recreational kickball association important, there’s a decent possibility agility exercises aren’t a key component of your wellness schedule.

But agility exercises aren’t only for semi-expert sports players, and it’s about time sprinters, weight lifters, and other easygoing exercisers add them to their timetables. The reason: “Everyone benefits from speed and agility,” says Liz Fernandez, a certified personal trainer who has practical experience in strength and agility training at Dimensional Training in New York. All the more explicitly, handling agility exercises can help decrease your risk of injury — both in the gym and in everyday life — and improve your balance, coordination, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

So, how would you be able to begin? Continue reading for advice on the most proficient method to start blending agility exercises and activities into your schedule. When you’re prepared to try the old college try, follow along with Fernandez’s agility workout for beginners that will test your power and speed.

How to Incorporate Agility Exercises into Your Fitness Routine

In the event that you need a update: Agility is the capability to manage your body’s position while quickly changing direction in response to a stimulus, and to do as such successfully and securely, you’ll have to use your balance, coordination, power, and speed, as indicated by the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD). To securely and effectively perform exercises that assist you with improving your own agility, you’ll have to remember a couple of tips.

Establish Your Balance

Before you step into an agility ladder, you first need to have your balance on point, says Fernandez. Practice shifting your weight from one leg to the other, then walking forward and side to side while doing so, she suggests. When you feel comfortable balancing on one leg without toppling over, you can move on to an actual agility workout, she says.

Start Off Slow

Even though you might want to tackle the quick footwork as soon as possible, it’s vital to start off slow if you’re new to the training style, says Fernandez. “I think [beginners] are simply attempting to stay aware of the individual before them or what a video may show them to do, so their brain goes out the window and they’re not processing what they’re really expected to be doing,” she clarifies. “…But there’s a lot of coordination involved, so if you go too fast, you could hurt yourself.” During your first few agility workouts, just walk through the moves, and afterward once you feel comfortable, try gradually speeding up, suggests Fernandez.

Vocalize Your Movements

To reduce the chances of tripping over your own feet, Fernandez proposes saying exactly what you’re doing out loud (think: shouting, “right, left,” “right” as you move your feet).

You’re placing the terms in your mind to the action that you’re executing with your physique,” she elucidates. And establishing this intellect-physique connection can assist you in remaining erect and free from harm.

Become Acquainted With Them

Broadly speaking, you’ll want to incorporate some flexibility training into your schedule twice a week (if you’re exercising five days a week) to reap its benefits, says Fernandez. However, it doesn’t have to be your entire workout: “It’s an excellent way to prepare yourself before any workout you’re doing, whether it’s a HIIT class…or long-distance running,” she says. Merely dedicating 15 to 20 minutes to an agility training routine can assist in improving your coordination, speed, and balance, says Fernandez.

5-Exercise Agility Routine for Novices

Ready to give flexibility training a try? Attempt this five-movement, beginner-friendly flexibility routine created and demonstrated by Fernandez. These cardio-intensive exercises will assist in enhancing your speed, power, balance, and coordination, she says. “If you discover any of these movements [to be too] challenging, initiate at a slower pace and vocalize your thoughts until your body is capable of performing what your mind is commanding it to do,” she adds.

How it operates: Perform all four exercises in Circuit 1 for the suggested duration, then take a 30-second break. Repeat the circuit two more times, taking a 30-second rest after each round. Then, execute the suggested repetitions for both exercises in Circuit 2, rest for 30 seconds, and repeat the circuit once more.

What you’ll require: an agility ladder and a set of penalty boxes (if you don’t have access, try using cones, hurdles, rope, or other household objects).

Circuit 1

Elevated Knees

A. Stand facing forward at one end of the agility ladder with feet shoulder-width apart and arms at sides.

B. Rapidly lift the left knee up to the waist while simultaneously raising the right arm up to the chest, and proceed forward, ensuring that the hips remain parallel. Continue by alternating legs and running forward through the ladder.

Continue for 45 seconds.

Step-Ins

A. Stand facing forward on the left side of the agility ladder with feet shoulder-width apart and arms resting at sides.

B. Swiftly tap the left foot inside the ladder, then push off the floor to bring it back to the outside of the ladder, all the while advancing forward and swinging the arms. Ensure that the foot does not make contact with the ladder itself.

C. Continue tapping the left foot inside the ladder and moving forward through the ladder.

Continue for 45 seconds. Switch sides; repeat.

Ins and Outs

A. Stand facing forwards at the bottom of the agility ladder with feet hip-width apart and arms at the sides.

B. Keeping hips low and arms moving sharply, quickly step right foot into the ladder, immediately followed by the left foot. Step the right foot out to the right side of the ladder, then immediately step the left foot out to the left side of the ladder.

C. Continue bringing the feet into and out to the sides of the ladder one at a time while moving forwards.

Continue for 45 seconds.

Circuit 2

Penalty Box Heisman

A. Stand on the left side of a line of penalty boxes with feet hip-width apart and arms at the sides. Drive the right knee up to the waist and lift the left arm up to the chest.

B. Keeping hips facing forward, hop sideways over the first penalty box, then quickly drive the left knee up to the waist and the right arm up to the chest and move sideways over the next penalty box. Continue, alternating legs and running sideways through the penalty boxes.

C. At the end of the line of penalty boxes, pause, then repeat in the opposite direction.

Do 15 reps each direction.

Penalty Box Speed Skater

A. Stand on the left side of a line of penalty boxes with feet hip-width apart and arms at the sides. Shift the weight into the left leg and lift the right leg off the floor, knees slightly bent.

B. Keeping the chest upright, push off the floor through the left foot and swing the arms to the right to hop sideways to the right side of the penalty boxes, landing on the right foot. Stabilize through the right leg, sweep the left leg behind the body, and pause, holding the right leg in the air. Repeat, alternating sides.

Do 15 reps each direction.

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