'Fitness Friday -- Need For Speed: Ladder Agility Drills This past Sunday Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt proved again that he was the fastest man on the planet setting a new Olympic record with a blazing time of 9.63 seconds in the Men\'s 100 Meter. While it\'s true not everyone can be an Olympic runner, most athletes have never been taught how to run, or even move, correctly. The key required for success in any sport is to develop overall athletic ability: speed, agility, power, flexibility, coordination and conditioning. Wink News Fitness Expert Mike Drumm is here today with Performance Fitness Trainer Gavin Watson to demonstrate ladder agility drills that will increase your speed, and give you an edge on the competition. Almost any sport can benefit from a combination of speed and endurance. Agility, being able to explosively brake, change direction, and accelerate again, is more relevant to successful sports performance than all-out speed. Gavin is a certified personal trainer and performance specialist, he\'s also pretty fast! Today he\'s going to demonstrate some ladder agility drills that are an excellent way to improve foot speed, agility, coordination and overall quickness. Agility ladders are essential for improving athletic performance. The cool thing is you don\'t have to be an Olympic sprinter to perform many of these drills. Anyone from age 1 to 100 can benefit from agility training. Ladder Agility Drills Speed ladders, sometimes called agility ladders, are a workout tool used by athletes to improve lower body speed, quickness and agility. Consisting of parallel webbing straps with horizontal bars placed at 12 inch intervals, speed ladders are portable and are available at most sporting goods stores. There are a variety of exercises you can do with a speed ladder. Expert Tip: Perform drills at the start of your session after your warm up. Your muscles should be fresh to ensure good quality of movement. And because they will not leave you totally exhausted, you can perform resistance or endurance training afterwards. • Drill #1: Run Through • Drill #2: High Knees • Drill #3: Single Leg Hop • Drill #4: In-In, Out-Out General guidelines for ladder agility drills: • Push off from the balls of your feet (not the toes) • Arm precedes the leg in a lateral motion • Keep your arms, shoulders and hands relaxed • Maintain an average of 90 degree angle at the elbow joint • Try to keep your head still as much as possible Conclusion: Improving speed and sports performance involves more than just practicing sport specific patterns and plays over and over again. It requires strength, power, balance, and agility training. Many athletic movements take place in 0.1 to 0.2 seconds. The athletes who can apply the most force in the shortest period are usually the most successful. Most team sports are about reaction time. Short reaction time gives you an advantage on your opponent. Ladder drills not only improve acceleration, but they also focus on an important aspect of deceleration. The faster you can slow down and/or stop, the faster you will change direction and aim to achieve top speed. With adequate training, ladder drills will definitely improve reaction time. And remember, many of these drills are effective and safe for any age or fitness level. For More Information Contact: Gavin Watson Owner of Train 2 Perform www.t2pfit.com Phone: 863.370.7132 Email: [email protected]'
Tags: fitness , exercise , speed training , fitness friday , mike drumm , Gavin Watson , Fun2bfit , Fun2befit , Ladder Agility Drills
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