Day 347 - Speed and Agility Program Design

In order to design and plan a speed and agility training program, many variables need to be addressed on many different levels. The variables are:

Exercise interval - duration (time) or distance

Exercise order - sequence in which a set of reps is executed

Exercise relief - work to rest ratio

Frequency - number of training sessions in a given time period

Intensity - effort at which each repetition is completed

Relief or recovery interval - rest period between reps and sets

Repetition - movement technique

Series - group of sets and recovery intervals

Set - group of reps and relief intervals

Volume - amount of work (reps x sets) completed during a specific training session

Short-Term Planning

Fatigue is a natural occurring process of the human body that can effect performance long before complete failure happens. Individuals should use speed-endurance training to help train multiple metabolic systems in order to improve fatigue-resistance. As the body becomes better at being fatigue-resistant, special speed and agility skills can therefore be performed with greater efficiency.

By using short, intense, exercise, an individual can target phosphagen energy systems and improve their recovery. Phophasgen systems are used in virtually all athletic movements as they are vital to explosive actions and movements. These types of short, intense efforts should be completed early on in a workout before other fatiguing exercises.

Medium-Term Planning

Proper planning and design needs to be implemented into medium-term exercise program design. Research has shown that recovery efforts or growth from one form of exercise can inhibit or hinder the recovery of another form of exercise.

Long-Term Planning

As an athlete progresses through their training program, the speed or effectiveness of their progression may alter the direction of their future training.

Quote of the day:

"How long should you try? Until."

-Jim Rohn

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Day 346 - Methods of Developing Speed & Agility

Primary Method

Many skill-specific activities should be started slow so that proper mechanics can be learned. Once the proper mechanics begin to take hold, then an individual can increase speed to that, or exceeding that, of game speed.

Some mechanics we take for granted and may learn on our own throughout life, such as running or throwing a ball. Unfortunately, there may be flaws with the technique since some individuals may not have be given proper coaching on the specialized technique. In this case, proper technique can be introduced to the individual to help perfect form.

Secondary Methods

Secondary methods involve sprint resistance and sprint assistance:

Sprint Resistance - Also known as an overload effect, the idea is to use resistance in some form to improve explosive strength and stride length. Examples of resistance that can be applied in such a situation would be gravity (running up a grade like stairs or a slope) or such apparatus such as parachutes or weighted vests.

Sprint Assistance - By using assistance techniques such as running downhill or a high-speed towing apparatus, the aim is to maintain proper running form but increase stride frequency.

Tertiary Methods

Tertiary methods are broken down into mobility, strength and speed-endurance categories:

Mobility - Athletic tasks require specific ranges of motion (ROM). If an individual does not use their full mobility at a certain joint or limb, they can impact performance or even increase their likelihood of injury. For example, someone who is running, if there is not enough mobility at the hip joint, there could too much braking effect caused by the foot strike on the ground. Proper stretching and flexibility should be used by all to maintain proper range of motion.

Strength - In order for individuals to improve their speed and agility, their resistance training program should include explosive, quick movements. This does not necessarily mean that only light weights with high velocity should be used. Resistance training that targets a wide range of muscular fiber types should be employed.

Speed-Endurance - To train for speed-endurance events, athletes must use a wide variety of training styles including short-duration intense training as well as long-duration, less-intense exercises.

Quote of the day:
"It is better to travel well than to arrive." 
~ Buddha

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Day 342 - Agility

In the international community, agility is often defined as an individual's collective coordination abilities. In more specific terms, it encompasses an individual's ability to use speed, power and coordination to cover dynamic, power, and fine motor skills. The NSCA defines some agility terms below:

Adaptive ability - adapting to an action or sequence in anticipation to changing conditions.

Balance - static and dynamic equilibrium.

Combinatory ability - coordinating body parts or a combination of body parts to created a coordinated action or movement.

Differentiation - accurate, economical adjustment of body movements and mechanics.

Orientation - spatial and temporal control of body movements.

Reactiveness - quick, well-directed response to stimuli.

Rhythm - observation and implementation of dynamic motion pattern, timing and variation.

To generalize, agility deals with an athlete or individual's ability to control acceleration, maximum-velocity as well as multidirectional skills.

Skill Classification

Skill classification can be broken down into 3 categories; General vs. Special Skills, Closed vs. Open Skills, and Continuous vs. Discrete vs. Serial Skills.

General vs. Special Skills

General agility tasks target the development of one or more basic coordinative skills. Special tasks would then unify or combine general skills or tasks into more specific movements. Special skills are more related to specific practice specificity for an action or sport skill.

Closed vs. Open Skills

Closed skills are those in which there are predetermined and unchangeable variables. In these types of training modes, the athlete or individual has predictable or stable environments. Examples of a closed agility skill would be a timed T-test or agility drill. An open skill would be one that has unpredictable or unstable factors involved. Examples would be real-time sport games or practices such as a football running back dodging a defender or a baseball player fielding a ground ball.

Continuous vs. Discrete vs. Serial Skills

Continuous tasks have no definite beginning or end. Discrete is the opposite of continuous as they have a very defined beginning and end (100m sprint). Then, serial tasks are a number of discrete tasks completed in sequence.

Change in Velocity

Many sports or athletic activities require a specific change in velocity. Sure, there are many variations dependent on the type of sport or activity, the number of players in the field of play and even differences in playing surface but all changes in velocity have a few things in common.

I find velocity changes to be one of the most important and crucial tasks to perform in order to be considered "agile". Changes in velocity typically involve an initial velocity, a deceleration, and change in direction, and then another increase in velocity (acceleration).

Quote of the day:

"Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration."

~ Evan Esar

Check out my new Website: tylerrobbinsfitness.com

Speed and Agility Program Design

In order to design and plan a speed and agility training program, many variables need to be addressed on many different levels. The variables are:

Exercise interval - duration (time) or distance

Exercise order - sequence in which a set of reps is executed

Exercise relief - work to rest ratio

Frequency - number of training sessions in a given time period

Intensity - effort at which each repetition is completed

Relief or recovery interval - rest period between reps and sets

Repetition - movement technique

Series - group of sets and recovery intervals

Set - group of reps and relief intervals

Volume - amount of work (reps x sets) completed during a specific training session

Short-Term Planning

Fatigue is a natural occurring process of the human body that can effect performance long before complete failure happens. Individuals should use speed-endurance training to help train multiple metabolic systems in order to improve fatigue-resistance. As the body becomes better at being fatigue-resistant, special speed and agility skills can therefore be performed with greater efficiency.

By using short, intense, exercise, an individual can target phosphagen energy systems and improve their recovery. Phophasgen systems are used in virtually all athletic movements as they are vital to explosive actions and movements. These types of short, intense efforts should be completed early on in a workout before other fatiguing exercises.

Medium-Term Planning

Proper planning and design needs to be implemented into medium-term exercise program design. Research has shown that recovery efforts or growth from one form of exercise can inhibit or hinder the recovery of another form of exercise.

Long-Term Planning

As an athlete progresses through their training program, the speed or effectiveness of their progression may alter the direction of their future training.

-Tyler Robbins
B.Sc. PTS