Agile, Fast, and Damn Right Unstoppable!

Developing agility involves consistently practice various movements at a quick pace. In most Martial Arts, it include dodging, and slipping in and out of kick and punches; in American Football, Rugby, Basketball and Football (Soccer), it includes weaving in and out of the players of the opposition.

This is the very reason why professional athletes, and gymgoers who are serious about competing in their sport, or even just skill development, will practice ‘Agility Drills’ like throwing a tennis ball against a wall with single alternating hands and catching it in the opposite hand. They practice footwork weaving in and out of agility ladders and cones. They set this up in various ways (i.e. Illinois agility test-type setting).

When watching any sport or athlete, specifically, fast-paced sports, . . . agility and speed go hand-in-hand, and it’s important to develop BOTH if you want to become ‘quick.’

The way to develop that ‘quickness’ and agility is to start how you would start any other gym session, through a warm-up. Except, this warm-up must be specifically tailored to train agility and the specific movements you would use. It’s okay to warm up on the treadmill or bike at a slow to moderate pace to get the heart rate going first, in fact, this is one of the best ways to prevent yourself from getting injured.

The next thing to consider is the type of movements you’re going to be using in a=each session, because this will help you decide how you’re going to warm up.

An important note here is that speed, agility, and power go hand-in-hand, because your body needs to generate enough force to move quickly, so if you’re training for agility, you’re also training for speed and power.

In essence, you would be performing movements in your warm-up that mimic exercises like squats, jumps, ‘side-to-side’ agility ladders, body weight side lunges, and any other movements that would say, mimic an agility/power-based leg session, as an example.

The next phase of your agility-based leg session would involve exercises such as Depth Jumps, Weighted Jump Squats (with dumbbells or a barbell), heavy squats, Jump Lunges, Body-Weight Calf Jumps, and ‘Functional Finishers’ like a Sled Push. These exercises will be added in an appendices at the bottom of this article.

Next you want to structure your sessions in a way where you start your sessions performing the most explosive movements first, such as the Depth Jumps, Weight Jump Squats and the Body Weight Calf Jumps.

Then you move onto the heavier-weighted exercises, but perform them with fewer reps than some of the more explosive exercises. These would be exercises like your heavy Barbell Squats.

Then you’d move onto your ‘Functional Finisher’ like your Sled Push. This helps develop functional power and translates into Sprints.

This entire session described, helps you develop a greater force, which enables you to ‘push’ off the ground and launch yourself into a fast-paced run, for example.

The other sessions you could practice, could be cardio-heavy: performing sprint intervals, either outside or on the treadmill.

The other sessions you could perform are agility or sports drills, laying the cones down on the ground in a specific pattern that requires you to weave in and out, and you would also lay this out in an interval setting. As illustrated below (insert exercise table below).

In addition to improving your agility, you’re also adding to your own ‘gas tank,’ which helps you with your long-term cardiovascular endurance!

If you liked this article and you wish to explore more, then please check out ‘Morning Chalk Up.’

To get even more out of your training, please check out my e-book collection:

Fitness Performance: A Sample of a Recovery Microcycle: Fitness Performance: A Sample of a Recovery Microcycle eBook : Abbott, Bradley: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store.

A ‘How-to-Guide’ in Developing Functional Strength, Power & Adaptability: The Fitness & Philosophy Collection: A 'HOW-TO' GUIDE in DEVELOPING FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH, POWER & ADAPTABILITY (The Fitness & Philosophy Collection Book 1) eBook : Abbott, Bradley: Amazon.co.uk: Books.

Sources:

YouTube Search: ‘Depth Jump:’ How to do a Depth Jump. Accessed: Saturday, 15/03/2025.

YouTube Search: ‘Weighted Jump Squat:’ Weighted Squat Jump. Accessed: Saturday, 15/03/2025.

YouTube Search: ‘Calf Jump:’ How To Do Perform Calf Jumps Exercise. Accessed: Monday, 17/03/2025.

YouTube Search: ‘Jump Lunge:’ Jump Lunge - XFit Daily. Accessed: Monday, 17/03/2025.

YouTube Search: ‘Sled Push:’ How To Do The Sled Push The RIGHT Way! (AVOID MISTAKES!). Accessed: Monday, 17/03/2025.

YouTube Search: ‘Sprinting Technique:’ Proper Sprinting Technique - Posture. Accessed: Monday, 17/03/2025.

Appendices: Exercise Library

Appendix 1: Depth Jump

Appendix 2: Weighted Jump Squat

Appendix 3: Calf Jumps

Appendix 4: Jump Lunge

Appendix 5: Sled Push

Appendix 6: Sprints (See first 2 minutes)