David Reybrock, MPT

Speed and agility are primarily associated with athletes training for sport; but it also occurs in our everyday activities. We are all athletes in one form or another. Whether you are in a sport, involved in recreation, participate in regular exercise, walk a dog, or play with your children; speed and agility training can help enhance your movement skill acquisition and functional mobility.

As movement specialists, Physical Therapists can use speed and agility training to provide stability by varying speeds of motion and body position.  Everyone can benefit from improved balance, quicker feet, and faster reaction time.  Speed and agility in youth can be used for injury prevention, promote exercise participation, and improve physical fitness.  Speed and agility in elderly can be used to improve coordination, prevent falls, and maintain independent living.  Adding speed and agility to an exercise routine or treatment program can help you move more efficiently and effectively.  

What is Speed, what is Agility?

Speed is defined as the ability to move the body in one direction as fast as possible. Training for speed requires strength in the arms and legs to propel your body forward. The muscles in the back of the thigh and leg create triple extension- forceful extension of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. The gluteus maximus muscle of the hip; hamstring muscles of the knee; and gastroc-soleus muscles of the ankle are the muscles used to run faster.

Agility on the other hand, is the ability to accelerate, decelerate, stabilize, and quickly change directions with proper posture. Agility training focuses on performing a variety of movements in a quick manner. It is not simply going as fast as you can, but rather adjusting movements while going as fast and as steady as possible. Training for agility requires good balance and a strong core to support the body as it moves through all three planes of motion.

The combination of speed and agility training should be used to develop movement skills that include acceleration, deceleration, dynamic balance, and change of direction. In developing these skills, appropriate stability, mobility, and sequencing of movement patterns is important for training athletes and treating patients in physical therapy.

Here are some examples of speed and agility drills that can be used to train athletes and treat patients to be able to speed up, slow down, and change direction more efficiently:

Sprints or walking. Run or walk as fast as possible from a standing still position. The distance will vary based on ability and sport specificity. Add change of speed, stop and pivot turns, head movement, inclines or declines to incorporate agility.

High knees wall drill. With arms extended forward and hands on a wall for stability, alternate knees to hip level up and down as fast as possible. For agility, remove hands from the wall and perform with opposite arm swing and change of speed.

Static balance. Sit on a stability ball, stand with a wide or narrow BOS, or single limb stand.

Dynamic balance. Seated balance with arm and leg movement. Tandem forward walking, side-stepping, and carrying objects while walking.

Cone drill example:

Pro-Agility: 20-yard line sprint, 5-10-5
Purpose: Improve the ability to change direction by enhancing footwork and reaction time.
Procedure: Place each cone 5 yards apart. Start in a two-point stance at the starting line, the center cone. Sprint to the end line and touch with your hand. Turn back and sprint to the far cone (10 yards) and touch the line. Turn back and sprint 5 yards through the start line to the finish.

Image- https://mishockpt.com/speed-and-agility-training/

Agility Ladder drill example:

2 feet out, 1 foot in.

Image- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/97/db/15/97db15d22b150e4585a1caa89056b39a.jpg

Plyometrics: Jump, leap, and hop.

References:

Clark, M.A., Sutton, B.G., Lucett, S.C. (2014). NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training, 4th Edition, Revised. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.