To be fast, you have to train fast.
To be quick, you have to train quickly.
To become powerful, you have to train powerfully!
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If you’re looking toelevate your agilitygame.
I’ve worked with athletes and clients of all fitness levels, from weekend warriors to professional athletes.
These progressive exercises focus on building a strong movement base to increase the intensity and power of your workouts.
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Keep reading for my 10 best exercises to improve agility.
Pogo Jumps
The first of these exercises to improve agility is the pogo jump.
Pogos set the stage for developing plyometric power to improve agility.
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Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and engage your core.
Push off the balls of your feet, jumping vertically while swinging your arms upward for momentum.
Aim for minimal ground contact, maintaining a quick, continuous rhythm.
Land softly, absorbing impact with your legs, and immediately spring back up.
Leap upward and forward, switching legs mid-air and landing softly on the balls of your feet.
Perform three sets of three to six reps per side with 120 seconds of rest between sets.
I recommend warming up with a few lateral marches to hone your mechanics and refine your timing.
Start by standing tall with your feet hip-width apart and soft knees.
Next, explosively lift your left knee toward your chest while driving the right arm upward.
Focus on achieving maximum height and distance with each jump while maintaining proper form.
Complete three sets of 5 to 8 reps per side with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
Coach note: You’ll be explosively driving only one leg through the ground as you move laterally.
The opposite leg will be trained when heading in the other direction.
They harness the effects of your muscle’s stretch-shortening cycle to build elasticity and make you springy!
The key is aggressively pushing the ground away with your legs as you jump.
Note that you aim to land with your legs slightly bent.
Focus on the height of your jump, not the height of the box you are jumping on.
Stand about a foot away from a plyometric box (or bench) with your arms overhead.
Perform a quick quarter squat while swinging your arms down for momentum.
Step down, and repeat as needed.
Perform three sets of three to five jumps per set with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
Broad Jumps
Broad jumps train explosiveness in a horizontal direction, relying on powerful hip extension.
This begins to introduce building explosive power in other planes of motion compared to the traditional vertical emphasis.
Stand tall with your arms straight overhead.
Swing your arms down fast as you enter a quarter squat.
Explode out, driving your body forward.
Land softly and balanced with your feet under your hips in a high squat.
Start by standing upright with your feet hip-width apart.
Cross your right leg behind you as you balance on your left foot.
Next, explosively jump laterally to the right by pushing off your left foot.
Land softly on both feet, and repeat for the other side, alternating jumps.
Complete three sets of three to six jumps per foot with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
Hurdle Hops
Next up on this roundup of exercises to improve agility is the hurdle hop.
Aim to be explosive and quick off the ground, jumping into the next repliterally.
Start by standing with your feet hip-width apart, then explosively jump over each hurdle in a continuous motion.
Line five to 10 hurdles (low hurdles, not track hurdles) in a row.
Perform three sets of five to 10 jumps with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
Start by training your lateral shuffle in one direction.
Then, add one to two direction changes within your sequence to amplify the intensity.
Shift your weight to one foot and step laterally, then follow with the other foot.
Stay low with your hips back, your chest up, and your hands ready.
Shuffle laterally with quick, controlled steps.
Repeat for desired repetitions, time, or distance, focusing on agility and balance.
Complete three sets of three to six lateral shuffles per set.
Rest for 90 seconds between sets.
Shuffle to Sprint
Shuffle to sprint is one of the best exercises to improve your agility.
This movement combines the agility and balance of quick lateral steps with the speed and power of sprints.
Ensure you are properly warmed up, as this exercise can quickly intensify.
Start by setting up three cones.
The distance from cone 1 to cone 2 should be five yards.
The distance from cone 2 to cone 3 can be 10 to 15 yards apart.
Start in an athletic position, and quickly shuffle from cone 1 to cone 2.
Flip your hips, stay low, and accelerate into a sprint from cone 2 to cone 3.
Rest for 90 seconds between reps, and face the opposite direction to complete the next rep.
Perform three sets of one rep per side in total.
Shuttle Sprints
This list of the best exercises to improve agility wraps up with the shuttle sprint.
Shuttle sprints improve speed and power, change of direction, and agility.
Place your two cones at your desired distance.
I recommend five to 10 yards apart.
