Agility, Speed, and Plyometric Training

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

On my "cardio" days I want to do more of an agility, speed, plyo workout. HIIT is pretty good for speed but I'm getting back on the sport-specific track for fencing and really need to up my agility & coordination.

What are some good resources for agility training and plyometrics routines?

I know plyos can be pretty tough on tendons and stuff, should I not be doing that the day after or before a strength/lifting day?

What are your experiences with agility drills or plyometrics? Things you liked or hated. Things that worked or did not work.

Thanks!

[Lizifer]

Oooh! I want to know this too. Thanks for the question!

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Yeah it's sad. I haven't been able to find any agility training stuff online. Or plyometric stuff....

[Corbab]

What do you mean by "agility?" I don't know much about fencing, but I imagine the physical requirements are somewhat different from a sport that traditionally requires agility training (e.g. football or soccer). What exactly are you trying to improve?

[SirEarl]

I like to split my training up in 4 sections. Strength/Endurance(Lifting/cardio), Explosiveness/Power(Plyo), Skills(sport specific), and Rest(light run/swim). Often, I'll do Explosiveness/Power, skills, strength/endurance, rest, and then repeat. Although I do switch it up quite often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hm6h9rmVAE <---great exercises to assist in the finer points of footwork that most plyo things don't do

As far as plyo goes, I like it all. Medicine ball tosses, plyo bodyweight exercises, plyo barbell stuff, and agility stuff like shuttle runs. Just remember to keep form.

There's a bajillion plyo exercises. What are you looking to improve on specifically?

[shadowkat]

Practise footwork! Back, forward, lunge, fleche etc on both legs. Fast and slow, with explosive bursts and extended static positions. Shuttle runs for speed. I think there are some agility exercises in the adventurers' minichallenge thread too.

[cianalas]

Getting an agility ladder (or marking up a floor with 12 or so square foot squares in a row) is good for general agility.

Suicides (or lines, or whatever you call them) are good as well.

Same with side hurdles (just use a stack of books or similar 8-12 inches high)

[SpiralGalaxy]

Let me just say YAY FENCING! Anything that helps your explosive leg power is going to be helpful. You might want to also try the forums at fencing.net for some sport-specific advice (if you haven't already).

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Wow, lots of responses!

What do you mean by "agility?" I don't know much about fencing, but I imagine the physical requirements are somewhat different from a sport that traditionally requires agility training (e.g. football or soccer). What exactly are you trying to improve?

By agility I mean changing direction quickly while moving. I know for practice, we do a lot of drills that are also used in soccer. I remember most of the drills we did but would like a list of a bunch to work from and keep things fresh. I want to improve my coordination and work on staying light on my feet.

I like to split my training up in 4 sections. Strength/Endurance(Lifting/cardio), Explosiveness/Power(Plyo), Skills(sport specific), and Rest(light run/swim). Often, I'll do Explosiveness/Power, skills, strength/endurance, rest, and then repeat. Although I do switch it up quite often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hm6h9rmVAE <---great exercises to assist in the finer points of footwork that most plyo things don't do

As far as plyo goes, I like it all. Medicine ball tosses, plyo bodyweight exercises, plyo barbell stuff, and agility stuff like shuttle runs. Just remember to keep form.

There's a bajillion plyo exercises. What are you looking to improve on specifically?

I've been doing things like squat jumps and split jumps (like a walking lunge but you're jumping up and switching your feet and landing in the lunge position). Definitely want to focus on explosive leg strength, but a few upper body exercises would be nice so to round out a total body workout. Thanks for the video link - somehow I always forget about using youtube as a resource. Will be looking for more links so I can make sure my form is good.

Practise footwork! Back, forward, lunge, fleche etc on both legs. Fast and slow, with explosive bursts and extended static positions. Shuttle runs for speed. I think there are some agility exercises in the adventurers' minichallenge thread too.

Cool, I'll take a look at the adventurers' minichallenge for ideas. I have a few footwork exercises but get bored doing them by myself. Guess I'll just have to suck it up and set a timer or something to work on my speed once I get my form back in order.

Getting an agility ladder (or marking up a floor with 12 or so square foot squares in a row) is good for general agility.

Suicides (or lines, or whatever you call them) are good as well.

Same with side hurdles (just use a stack of books or similar 8-12 inches high)

Didn't think of stacking books up. I have enough of those laying around (boo textbooks).

Let me just say YAY FENCING! Anything that helps your explosive leg power is going to be helpful. You might want to also try the forums at fencing.net for some sport-specific advice (if you haven't already).

What weapon do you fence? I do epee but I'm working with a teammate (sabre) to get some of the drills her private coach has her do for speed and stuff. Just takes a while to get the info since it's summer break.

[shadowkat]

If you're an epeeist, also practise quickly dropping into a full squat and springing back up. Nothing like an epee to the toe to surprise your opponent!

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

If you're an epeeist, also practise quickly dropping into a full squat and springing back up. Nothing like an epee to the toe to surprise your opponent!

Good point! I do need to work on my toe touches. Can't depend on wrist touches forever

[SirEarl]

jump burpees and one thing very commonly looked over...

sprints.

[lyranedara]

Here's a few links to give you some more ideas:

Wild Geese: This is an animal workout. He has lots more workouts on his channel, as well as exercise demos. His blog is also a great source of info.

My Mad Methods: This is a great page full of articles, workouts, and demos of unconventional training. This is a recent demo of solo BJJ agility drills. There are tons of workouts available here!

Global Bodyweight Training: Mike Fitch is always coming up with unique combos, including plyos, to challenge our bodies in new ways. His blog is definitely one of my favorites.

Zuzana Light: She also creates a lot of novel combos. Most of her workouts are bodyweight-only, and I've been doing several a week recently. You can search her workouts (and those from Bodyrock.tv) here. Just click on "no equipment," "update" to find the bodyweight-only routines.

I hope this helps. Have fun!

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Here's a few links to give you some more ideas

Great links, thanks so much!! I added a few to my favorites and definitely plan to try the animal workout from the first link this week.