In this article I will discuss the role of time in the progress you make in speed and agility, as well as the impact it makes on your speed and agility training.
Below, I have made a video to illustrate the sort of level I train at nowadays. It is by many means more intense than it looks.
By the way if your asking yourself what do abs have to do with speed and agility training, then I have two words for you: Core Strength – this is what enables people to jump over their own heads (that’s what backflipping is by the way).
Now for the illustration of time.
Speed and Agility Training and Time
You see, I could not always train as hard as I can now, and, in a sense, the gains I can make now are higher than the gains I could have made before. It is by both practical experience and body conditioning – the life long art of sculpting a hard body – that I have managed to take my body to a high level of physical fitness.
But from the top of the mountain there is forever much more to discover.
Thus, my focus nowadays is on creating a monks body.
You know what I mean, the monk body, a body that you could brake a bamboo stick on and that could pierce through wood. You’re not going to get that in the gym. And don’t think most pansy assed martial arts schools are gonna teach you that either.
But I digress.
What you can do today is by no means an indication of what you can do tomorow. If it were, people would never progress. You can surpass yourself in many ways every day. And this interestingly, will change the fabric of time for you. Now in any new agey religious sort of way you understand.
It goes like this:
The more life events that you must react to, the faster your mind needs to work, the faster your mind works, the faster your body needs to work, and it needs to work accurately and so your body develops. And from this constant mental activity comes a constant bodily activity, when the blood boils as some may know it. And you seem to enter another plane of existence in the sense that time moves slower for you.
Some may consider this ludicrous, some may have glimpsed it, others might have studied it and maybe some others might know of it. But the fact is that for whatever reason your world moves slower. When you don’t react to anything around you the state that your body enters is known as ZEN. And because there is less to react to, time grows longer.
But Damian, what does this have to do with speed and agility or speed exercises or agility training or whatever else of speed and agility training that is discussed around here? Well, this…
As time passes your body changes in ways that allow you to stress it ways that you could not have done before. The problem is, we are habit machines, and, unless we learn that as time passes our routines most evolve at the same rate as our capacities, then we will flat line. This is what I meant when I told you that speed and agility changes over time and so must your speed and agility training.
What about practical speed and agility training advice – time’s fun and all but how can I get faster
Increase the intensity, do it with focus and always keep your muscles under tension. Never relax during a set.
It must be a tough workout. Otherwise you will not progress.
Are there shortcuts?
Yes.
Do they work?
Yes
Are there side-effects?
Yes
Can I avoid these side-effects?
Yes
An example of the top of your head?
Testosterone
Will you tell me more?
Do you want to hear more? Leave a comment.
Speed – The Difference Between Good Athletes and Great Athletes
A strength training coach for a professional sports team, certified strength and conditioning Specialist and Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology, Mark Strasser was urged by clients to put together a speed training manual that would guarantee to increase speed using Mark’s proven training methods which are used by World-Class athletes and coaches.
Results have proven that athletes not only gained speed, but got stronger and performed better on the field.
Since inception of this program, the former professional football coach and professional strength training coach for the Minnesota Twins organization has helped thousands of men and women get in shape and gain speed for improved 40 yard dash results and enhanced the athlete’s chances to play to maximum ability.
What happens frequently is that many athletes stumble – and more than once on false teachings of other speed programs.
With this speed training system, athletes and coaches gain immediate access to the program created by Mark Strasser that focuses on increasing speed. This step-by-step strategy can be utilized by athletes at all performance and fitness levels. The goal is to achieve rapid speed while developing strength.
So, you’re interested in learning how to improve your speed and agility. You’ve come to the right place. By the end of this article you will have EVERYTHING you need to get started in Speed and Agility Training. This site is a personal blog that scours everything new and everything old. Old is usually good because it has stood the test of time, but the new stuff is sometimes amazing. For example you can check out sports visions training – a newly popularized mode of training that improves the hitherto unclassifiable things like dynamic visual acuity, depth perception, peripheral vision, fusion flexibility and stamina etc. PS: Do you know what’s the easiest way to improve your dribbling skills? Tell a boxer his mom’s a tart. Speed and Agility: How To Get Started The world of speed and agility training can be quite confusing. If you are like most people visiting this site you have realized that, for some reason, you now have a need to improve your speed and agility, but how do you actually go about doing it? Well I am going to attempt to answer this question both in a general and a specific way. Don’t worry, by the end of this article you will have a clear understanding of what you need to be doing. The first thing you must know is -> Why are you trying to improve your speed and agility?
- you are applying for a sport scholarship and you need to increase your speed and agility as fundamental testing is concerned (ex: 40 yard dash)
- you practice a sport (football, basketball, soccer, baseball etc.) and need to increase your sport specific speed and agility
- you are parent looking to help out your child to improve his speed and agility
- you want to be a better coach (teach others to get good and also coordinate a team)
- you are an amateur that wants to get better
Speed and Agility - Dunking vs Flipping
One thing that must be absolutely clear to you is that there are many, many different facets of speed and agility training. Here is an example: a basketball player and a gymnast. Now both of these athletes obviously have great speed and agility. But, can the basketball player do what the gymnast can do? Most certainly not. And the same is true vice versa. Dunking is very different from flipping and this sort of difference can be classified as sport specific speed and agility. There is also something known as general speed and agility. This is the sort of thing that the NFL Combine measures: pure raw athletic ability as measured in speed exercises, strength training workouts or speed and agility drills. These sort of thing can also be trained, BUT… you have to know why and how. Examples:
- how to improve your 40 yard dash or 50m dash
- how to improve your dribbling skills if you play soccer
- if you’re a football player you might be interested in ways that you can more better tackle your opponents or dodge them
You see where I’m going with this? You need to know what aspect you are trying to improve. Now obviously I can’t answer all the questions in the world in one article, but the purpose of this article is to point you in the right direction, so… Step one: why are you interested in speed and agility training? Step two: what aspects of your speed and agility would you like to influence? Here are some possible answers and, as promised, here are some directions that you can go into: There are two groups of people in the world, there are people who focus on learning and there are people who focus on doing. The people who focus on learning will probably delay their results because they haven’t started doing anything until they’ve learned everything there is to know about their field and their objectives. Downside, they delay their results, upside they have the potential to become truly great because once they do start training they know how to train right. The other class of people start doing and learn as they go along. They start improving sooner, but there is a risk that they can learn things incorrectly and then be forced to backpedal and unlearn improper techniques. Tiger Woods had this problem and he had to relearn his whole swing. I recommend a mixed approach. If you want to get started doing something right now. And I mean right now. Here is a link to a great article about improving speed and agility with a simple leg training exercise: Speed and Agility Training With The 1 Legged Squat. PS: Here’s the link for: Speed and Agility Training with Sports Vision training.
Speed and Agility Training: Hand Stand on a Rock
Like dying and taxes, speed and agility training in high temperatures is unavoidable in most parts of the planet. It is crucial that you be familiar with recognizing, preventing and treating heat illnesses. It is also vital that you are aware of the warning signs of heat-related illness which can be in the form of elevated body temperature, cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Whether you are doing strength training workouts as a coach, parent or player, you want to be cognizant of how serious this illness can be. In fact heat sickness can dangerous for everyone and the most dangerous to children. This is reliant on the intensiveness of the condition and age of the athlete. Athletes experience heat illness when their bodies are unable to offset and properly cool themselves.
Symptoms of Heat-related illnesses:
Dehydration -might include thirst, less-frequent urination, dry skin, weariness, light-headedness, dizziness, dry mouth and mucous membranes, increased heart rate and breathing
Heat exhaustion – can encompass dehydration, fatigue, weakness, clammy skin, headache, sickness and/or regurgitation, quick breathing, irritability, weak pulse, dilated pupils, disorientation
Heat stroke – possible headache, wooziness, disorientation, agitation or discombobulation, sluggishness, seizure , coma or death
Treatment For mild cases of heat exhaustion:
- Move to a cool shady area
- Hydrate with plenty of cool fluids such as water or sports drinks
- Do not drink beverages containing alcohol or caffeine
- Loosen or remove clothing
Speed and Agility Training: Soccer
Treatment For Heat Stroke:
- Call 911 immediately
- Move the person to a cool bath of water if conscious and can be attended continuously, otherwise, apply cool tepid water to the skin
- Place ice packs in the armpits and groin area
- If conscious and can tolerate, administer fluids by mouth
Prevention:
- Be aware that temperatures over 85 degrees are conditions favorable to heat illness
- Make certain you are acclimated to the temperature, no heavy work on the first few days of high heat
- Make certain there are enough of fluids on hand for hydrating, preferably H2O (no caffeine or carbonation)
- Rest repeatedly Athletes should wear loose and “sweat absorbable” clothing
- Work out in cooler parts of the day, as morning or early evening
- Snacks must be gently salted
In abstract, whether you, your athletes, or your children are doing strength training workouts, know to be cautious, especially when the heat is ON.
Every year over 300 of the best college football players in the country are invited by the National Football League (NFL) to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis Indiana. Why? Millions of dollars are at stake for the teams and players in salary, bonus’ , endorsements, winnings, appearances and more.
There the athletes showcase their athletic skills and abilities to NFL top executives, coaching staffs, player personnel departments and medical personnel from all 32 NFL teams prior to NFL draft. So why is this necessary when teams have already seen these athletes play game after game either live on Saturdays or on TV?
Football player - Speed and Agility Training
The answer is simple, the NFL places great value on the fundamentals of a true athlete. No matter how often a scout has seen an athlete play the game live or on the screen, the NFL needs to evaluate an athlete’s raw ability in speed exercises, strength training workouts and speed and agility drills. In other words, the yards run, the passes caught, the touchdowns scored are not a factor at the combine. It’s all about measuring how fast, agile, strong and explosive the prospect is – athleticism. The following are the actual drills used at the NFL Combine to judge potential draft picks.
40-yard dash
This is the main event. Teams look for explosiveness and speed from a dead start. The athletes are timed at 10, 20 and 40-yard intervals. One of the most important speed exercises.
Bench press
Every athlete is given the weight of 225 pounds to bench press. The objective is to see how many times he can bench press this weight, which is called repetitions, or reps for short. The repetition factor measures the athletes endurance. This also tells a lot about the work ethic of the athlete in college and whether he attended strength training workouts.
Vertical jump
The vertical jump starts with the athlete standing flat-footed while his reach is measured. The athlete then is told to jump and touch a the highest point he can, which is a flag in the series of flags above him. The difference in the standing reach and the flag is the vertical jump measurement. This exercise evaluates the lower-body explosion and power .
Broad jump
The broad jump tests the athlete’s lower-body explosion, lower-body strength and balance. From a starting point, the athlete stands balanced . He then jumps out as far as he can while sticking the landing.
3 Cone Drill
The 3 cone drill tests an athlete’s speed and agility. It measures ability to change directions at a high speed. From a starting line, three cones are place in an L-shape. The athlete runs 5 yards to the first cone and back. Then, he turns, runs around the second cone, runs a weave around the third cone, which is the high point of the L, changes directions, comes back around that second cone and finishes.
Shuttle run
Remember the suicide drills in PE? The shuttle begins with the athlete starting in a three-point stance and exploding out 5 yards to his right, touches the line, goes back 10 yards to his left, left hand touches the line, pivot, and he turns 5 more yards and finishes.
Now Its Your Turn
The NFL, through research and experience has put together drills and exercises it uses to evaluate potential million dollar athletes. If you are a serious athlete, or just someone who wants to be a better athlete, practice the speed and agility exercises above and who knows, and maybe someday you too will be invited to the combine.
People always like to hear the secret, the quick gains how to, the massive improvements in just 3 short weeks and I am going to give to you straight: Massive gains in a couple of “short” weeks are quite possible BUT, they are not for newbies. Let me elaborate on this, when you are first starting any endeavor, both physical and mental, you can expect to get easy increases at the beginning. Training for speed and agility is no different. This is despite improper training, unoptimal eating habits, drinking, yes, a newbie can get past all of these simply because there is so much untapped potential in his body.
Harsh lesson: most newbies won’t get that far after that, and then, frustrated, they will quit. I will wager that this is especially true for speed and agility training. There are some very different approaches in the world: some people, called information junkies, like to read up and know everything there is to know about a subject before doing anything at all. At the other extreme, there are those people who jump in and just start doing. Neither are doing it right. The information junkie people are wasting time, they are throwing away time that could be used to start molding their minds and bodies into a machine of explosive speed and agility for the sake of the most quantity of information. I am not going to even address the topic of lousy information and people teaching stuff that simply is not effective, just to throw you a bone. Then when frustrated and plateauing, get you to buy their products – that don’t work.
The people who just jump into speed and agility training seem to have an advantage in the beginning, this is because if you do anything, just getting off your couch and doing any speed and agility training, you will get some results. This is due to the untapped potential I’ve mentioned earlier. But, the problem with this approach is that they will tend to flatline pretty fast and after that, doing more of the same thing will unlikely produce any more improvement. This is why people who run laps every day will not improve their speed, they will just build more and more endurance, which is fine, as long as that is what they are going after. This is where the info junkies have the edge, this is because:
Practice does not make Perfect, Perfect practice makes Perfect
…and info junkies have the best chance of eventually coming across the good information and getting the right speed and agility training.
Another problem for people who just jump into things is that they may learn improper techniques. Tiger Woods had to relearn his whole swing, because it was not a sustainable swing and would have eventually led to carrier ending injuries. This is the problem most frequent with people who train without guidance. So the best thing is to get the best of both worlds, you need proper guidance and you need to take action. In the world of speed and agility training this is even more true due to the high risk of injury.
Speed and agility training has a higher incidence of injuries and a higher severity of injuries than training for strength, endurance, muscle size, etc. Take a good look at my ankle and learn from my mistakes. Six screws, a titanium plate and 2 months in crutches. Hope you’ll be smarter than me.
This is why I must caution you to be aware than speed and agility training is a long term process. If you want to get anywhere worth going in the shortest amount of time, then think of things in terms of a two year process. This is just a guideline. I don’t want to make this article any longer so let me tell you that I hope you have enjoyed and got something out of it.
Leave a comment and tell me what you though of the article: here.
All the best,
Damian
Speed and Agility Training is fast becoming a focus for more and more athletes as they find that strength training is just not enough anymore — not that it ever was, but as times get more competitive you are going to need all the edge you can get.
The purpose of this article is to function as an introduction into the relation between speed and agility training and a practice known as Plyometric training. You will learn what plyometrics are, what role they play in your speed and agility training. You will also learn and what are some of the benefits you can expect when corectly introducing plyometric drills into your speed and agility training.
So what are plyometrics anyway?
Plyometrics are simply a type of exercises whose purpose it is to link strength with speed of movement in order to create a lot of power. The objective is to be able to use more of your strength — faster — thus producing more power. An example of application of plyometrics in a sport that requires a lot of speed and agility is doing a vertical jump for height in basketball.
Plyometric execises are simple in purpose, they are meant to:
- increase your bodies ability to absorb and store force;
- teach you how to release that force — creating a movement which has a lot of power behind it.
Traditional sports endeavors who have benefited a lot from these types of exercises are those that involve throwing, kicking, jumping and lifting.
Purpose of plyometrics as part of a speed and agility training program
Plyometric drills are meant to train your muscles and tendons to absorb high amounts of force and teach your nervous system how to control and stabilize that force. Speed and agility can be developed very quickly with such practices – the best gains come if you have already strengthened your muscles and tendons.
The short term gains in speed and agility that result from incorporating plyometric exercises come from the education of your nervous system. This is why it is critical to perform plyometric exercises following these guidelines:
- only perform when rested
- perform with maximum concentration and focus for each rep
- keep the rep number low (no more than 20 regardless of the exercise used)
- keep the set number low (no more than 3 sets regarding the exercise)
Gains in the long term will rely on body composition — this is why a focus on nutrition and avoidance of injury are critical with regards to plyometrics. Plyometric training will change the structure of your muscles and tendons. You should be aware that practiced over a longer period of time, the result of plyometric training will make your muscles and tendons and make them have more spring.
Plyometric movement works like this:
- first the body absorbs and stabilizes the force from a negative (eccentric) contraction
- as it does this, it loads up your muscles and tendons with force (think of it like a compressing a spring)
- your body releases this energy in the opposite direction
- the spring unloads and the body (for legs) or an object (for arms) is propelled with astounding speed
Here’s an example,when you cock back your arm to throw a rock the natural thing you do is to first cock your arm backwards. The effect of this is that the muscles of your arm and shoulder muscles lock, forcing your tendons to stretch thus storing a lot of force in those tendons and essentially turning them into loaded springs. When you throw, the stored force is released, allowing the rock to be accelerated at a rate which is higher than your normal rate of force development.
The reason plyometric training was so big when it came out in the 70 ‘s is that it allowed athletes to specifically train their muscles and tendons to be more spring-like. You naturally use plyometric movements but before plyometric training came out there was no clear cut way to train for this. That is why it was thought for so long that jumping for height for example was an innate ability.
As I said before, the more you use this type of training the more you will also develop an inherent springiness in your muscles and tendons. Coupled with an increased nervous system learning on how to corectly perform the movement at higher speeds, you can expect to see massive improvements in your speed and agility. The question is: how do I adapt the principles of plyometric training to my speed and agility training? The answer is, and you aren’t going to like it, by tailoring your plyometric training to the specific speed and agility requirements of the sport that you are practicing. This is a long discussion and goes way beyond the scope of this article.
In this article you have learned:
- what plyometrics are
- how plyometrics work
- the role of plyometrics as part of your speed and agility training
- the benefits you can expect when introducing plyometric drills into yours speed and agility training
I also recommend you check out this article on exercise for speed and agility training and preventing injuries.
All the best,
Damian
The majority of us have trained at some point in our lives. Odds are that if you have ever taken your training seriously you may have used a training journal or a training log. No matter if you are training casually for fitness and recreation or if you are earnestly involved in speed and agility training, you can benefit from maintaining a journal of this sort.
The major difference between training journals and training logs, is what you write down in them following each workout session. Training journals are just that. They are more of a journal rather than a log. They will typically consist of things like your mental outlook at the time and how you felt over the course of the day or during your workout. You may want to include information about climatic conditions, training location, workout partners, and things of that kind. They can reach a bit into some statistical information but this is normally kept for a training record.
Training logs are usually shaped off of some type of a outline. For instance, everyday you fill out a sheet containing the same fields. Things like current weight, what physical exercises were being completed, diet information, are all things that might be put in a training log on a day to day basis. Distances run, amount of weight used, length and number of reps done and other sorts of training specific information is often included. A log of speed and agility drills would probably include all the various drills that were done in previous sessions.
I would not suggest going exclusively one route or the other, both journaling and logging are important to keep an effective account of your past. You will discover through experience that for convenience sake, it’s good to have the two combined together in some way. This way it’s always easy to remember to do both.
Advantages of Documenting Your Work Out
The number one benefit of documenting your training is to have a complete history to look back on. This could be extremely helpful in terms of planning for example to discover what has worked for you and what hasn’t. It’s very helpful for determining reasons for injuries or for times of burnout. The idea is to discover more about the things that influence your training and performance over time and adapt your current training regimen or behavior by taking those factors into account. Speed and agility training can benefit a lot from these. They are especially beneficial if you are keeping up with a specific speed and agility program that has several components.
Have you ever sat down and tried to plan out training with nothing to work with? If you have something to look back upon with a complete description of what you’ve done over the past few weeks it’s simple to plan ahead. It will effectively enhance your workout intensity, etc to improve for the future. A good illustration would be speed exercises. Documenting distances, times, and coaching observations will help keep you focused on the vital elements of the training and provide you with a road map of sorts.
A complete journal is also really nice to have just for personal use, and to be able to look back on past months and years, to remember different accounts. You may even elect to create a blog or some articles someday and it will make a great source of information about your experiences.
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