Does anyone have any methods of increasing agility?

[tye111]

hi, i've read through some of the stuff in this section of the forum and was wondering if any of u guys know how to increase agility as i'm training for the rugby season, also when i go running some times when i've finished i feel really sick, is this just because i'm not eating the right stuff or does it happen to every one?
thanks alot
paul

[Golden Arms]

Bagua Walk: Seriously, do it for 20min or so every day, and you wont believe the difference it makes. Find someone to teach you how to do it right.

[Ford Prefect]

You can't go wrong with cone drills and ladder drills. You can make home made ones of each very easily. I'm not sure where you can find them online and they are hard to explain in just writing.

[Mortal1]

Start training a wushu style kungfu. It increased my overall athleticism and agility ten fold. I am better at handball, snowboarding, basketball. I was even able to juggle easily. Something I never did in my life.

[_William_]

Search google for the "dot drill".

Do lots and lots of running drills.

Carioca running is good for lateral footwork, which is important. Also plain vanilla sideways running.

You especially need to be able to change direction quickly. This is very very important. Work on this.

Shuttle runs are good for this purpose too, and make up other drills to improve how fast you can change direction while running. Play playground tag with a young sibling, cousin, etc. It will be very difficult to catch them and you will have fun and improve your agility/footwork too.

As for feeling sick after runs, its hard to tell whats going on there until you tell us more. Are you eating too soon before your runs? Are you getting enough fluids, electrolytes, potassium, etc. in your diet? What do you eat in the course of a day?In what way do you feel sick? Of course, you may want to see a doctor about this.

[AndrewS]

Check out the Parisi speed school DVDs, available through elite fitness systems. I've been impressed by the one I picked up. Incidentally, a point continually made on said DVD is that higher relative strength is a prerequiste for agility, something I've definitely come across in my own practice. Hence, some squats may well be in order for you.

As to feeling sick post run- could be anything from normal fatigue induced nausea (aka a 'puker')- likely- to impending myocardial infarction- less likely. If you're a 55 year old male diabetic smoker whose dad and brother died suddenly at 40 and 35, and you're having tingling down your arms with that nausea, you might want to see an MD. If you're 20 with a clean bill of health, prehydrate, look at your regimen, and man up.

Andrew

[tye111]

thanks alot for the help.
well i'm only 16 years old if that helps with me feeling sick after running, and i'm guessing it's probably that i don't eat the right stuff because at the moment i'm on my summer holiday so don't end up waking up till about 11ish so don't eat breakfast, then i don't usually eat until about 3-4ish which is usually only some pasta. then i have another meal at about 10 or so. i go running at 3 most of the time.
paul

[TonyM.]

If your sick after running your probably dehydrated. The best way to hydrate is with water. Anything else has to be digested. Start hydrating a day before.

[hazhardy]

paulo, it's definately to do with what your eating. if you run in the morning it might help,,1 hour before or after food,,increase your flexibility and do ''free'running'' type-running should hook you up. also i would aggree that strength will help too.
drinking jus half a glass of water before you walm up to run should help..
take it easy man,, should see you friday, if not at the BBQ on monday,,
hza

[ElPietro]

Power lifting and Olympic lifting will serve you best. They will give you strength and explosiveness which are two main components of agility. Unless your definition is different than mine.

If you want to be able to change directions in a hurry, you need to have very strong legs, and if you need to get up to full speed in a hurry after that change in directions, they need to be explosively strong.

Squats, deadlifts, powercleans, hangcleans, all of these are your friend. I don't think anything else will help your rugby game more than this, other than actually practicing/playing rugby.

[Chief Fox]

A lot of people have already mentioned doing agility drills with cones, ladders and the dot drill. In addition to those I would get a wobble board. There are tons of exercises you can do on it but I really like one leg squats on a wobble board. It really strengthens your ankles along with the rest of you leg of course.

Another thing I like is trail running. Trails have all kinds of rocks, roots and ups and downs on them. Running on and avoiding these things is great agility training.

[ElPietro]

Agility is sport specific, so all this really isn't all that applicable. If you want to get better at a sport practice the ****ed sport. That's it.

I suggested power and oly lifts, because these things will give your body/joints/connective tissue the strength, and your muscles the explosiveness to maximize the response your CNS adapts to performing that specific sport.

If your sport is wobbling on a board, then I highly recommend wobble boards.

There is a reason NFL Running backs, or Olympic sprinters are massively strong in their power and oly lifts. They do them.

[Chief Fox]

Agility is sport specific, so all this really isn't all that applicable. If you want to get better at a sport practice the ****ed sport. That's it.

I suggested power and oly lifts, because these things will give your body/joints/connective tissue the strength, and your muscles the explosiveness to maximize the response your CNS adapts to performing that specific sport.

If your sport is wobbling on a board, then I highly recommend wobble boards.

There is a reason NFL Running backs, or Olympic sprinters are massively strong in their power and oly lifts. They do them.

Dude, I didn't recommend a wobble board as a primary exercise for agility. I recommended it as a supplement becuase other people, including yourself, had already given solid advice.

As far as agility being sport specific, you couldn't be more WRONG. For example, sports like football, soccer, Lacross, tenis and basketball, among many others, all use simular lateral movements. So the previously mentioned agility drills will be helpfull for all of them.

Agility requires: Speed, power, balance and quick reflexes. Power lifting will give you great explosive power but will do NOTHING for lateral movements, quick reflexes and balance in terms of agility.

[ElPietro]

Ah well you validated my point then without knowing it.

I said it's sport specific, and you mentioned several sports with the same specificity.

My wobble board comment was made because it will not translate into being better at a sport, but it will help strengthen ankles, which can facilitate being better at a sport, or in the least be used as preventative measures for injuries.

This is EXACTLY why I suggested power and oly lifting. Nothing will punish your body more. Nothing will give you greater strength or explosiveness. And nothing outside of the sport, or sport specific activities will prepare you better to improve in that sport.

What exactly is lateral movements? The ability to shift weight, sorta stop/start etc. That motion is very hard on knees, hip flexors, groins, and guess how you can best strengthen and protect those areas?

[_William_]

In my opinion:
Olympic lifting = develop maximum strength, rfd, strengthen connective tissues
Agility drills = helps develop the _skill_ of agility

So why not do both? I'm pretty gung-ho about lifting, but IMO agility drills have their place too.