training for quickness/agility

[prophet]

well, as you guys may know (you caught the ass end of my major weight loss), i used to be a pretty heavy kid. at my worst i weighed JUST under 200, but that was back in late high school. many years ago i used to play soccer and play it VERY well. i was well on my way to playing a D1 school and everyone knew it. back then i weighed about 155-160, was quick as hell, unbelievable reflexes, and flexible. as you can imagine, when i put on weight all this went away. i became very flat on my feet, slow as a pig, flexibility went out the window. not to mention... when all this happened and i became a shitty keeper... my ability to anticipate everything somehow vanished. so now... i am getting thin again but am left with slow reflexes, no quickness, no flexibility, and no more ability to anticipate what's going to happen (further bringing out how slow my reflexes are). what can i do to change this?

obviously this training will further help me lose weight, which is a plus. I need specific training exercises for quickness, agility, flexibility, and improving reflex time. what does epoc have?

[The League Champ]

Here is what I have-

In my back yard (which is about an acre and a half) I have a small track worn in the grass. About 40m on the straights, 10m on the sides. I put on a 20# vest and sprint 40m, jog 60m. So basically I sprint 1 straight away and go at a jog fr the rest of it.

I do 10 laps, walk 2 laps, jog 2 laps and start again and do 3 of these.

It's really helped my quickness and my overall running.

Certain lifting exercises (cleans) help you with explosiveness, as do bx jumps, jumping rope and dots.

What kind of things do you have available to you? I will try to help you the best I can.

[prophet]

Originally Posted by The League Champ

Here is what I have-

In my back yard (which is about an acre and a half) I have a small track worn in the grass. About 40m on the straights, 10m on the sides. I put on a 20# vest and sprint 40m, jog 60m. So basically I sprint 1 straight away and go at a jog fr the rest of it.

I do 10 laps, walk 2 laps, jog 2 laps and start again and do 3 of these.

It\'s really helped my quickness and my overall running.

Certain lifting exercises (cleans) help you with explosiveness, as do bx jumps, jumping rope and dots.

What kind of things do you have available to you? I will try to help you the best I can.

at the moment... i have 5 acres, a 15' trampoline if that can help at all, dots i can make with an old mat and some spray paint, boxes i can make. i have an olympic weight set in the basement, but the basement is in pretty bad condition because our house is basically still a construction site. i can go buy anything else if need be or i can improvise fairly well. not too far away i have a forest preserve with a nice big hill. that vest.... i think my buddy has one but he's in alabama. i don't know if he brought it with him or not but we'll see. are there any specific cone exercises i can do other than the basic sprint forward backpedal to start type of thing? should i go pick up a ladder for quicker feet?

[The League Champ]

Great, you have a good place to work with.

You could set up 2 cones and do lunges down and back to build up the leg muscles. You could do duck walks and suicides as well.

Since you mention cones, I have never tried this personally, but I think it might work. Instead of just doing a straight sprint you could do zig zags to work on stop and go and explosion.

I think umping jacks could help.

Just jumps could help. I forget what we call them (maybe just jumps), but just go like a squat position, touch the ground, and leap into the air as hrd as you can.

Also, since you played soccer you could just kick a ball around the back yard for a while.

If you're interested in cleans I WOULD NOT recommend doing them in the basement, unless you have a ton of room. When I do them I carry everthing outside and do them in the yard and just leave everything in ashed and tak it back inside later.

[Sportsmedjosh]

I would look into a BOSU, and plyometrics. Another thing you can do is turn a skate board into a balance board. Take the trucks off the board and then take a 2 liter bottle and fill it with water, make sure it's distilled water in a cleaned out bottle so you don't grow some nasty stuff it in. But throw some super glue into the car and screw it on. You now have yourself a nice little balance beam.

[cabezon]

go old school man, start running through the woods. nothing will build agility like jumping logs, ducking branches and dodging trees. especially downhill.

[prophet]

Originally Posted by The League Champ

Great, you have a good place to work with.

You could set up 2 cones and do lunges down and back to build up the leg muscles. You could do duck walks and suicides as well.

Since you mention cones, I have never tried this personally, but I think it might work. Instead of just doing a straight sprint you could do zig zags to work on stop and go and explosion.

I think umping jacks could help.

Just jumps could help. I forget what we call them (maybe just jumps), but just go like a squat position, touch the ground, and leap into the air as hrd as you can.

Also, since you played soccer you could just kick a ball around the back yard for a while.

If you\'re interested in cleans I WOULD NOT recommend doing them in the basement, unless you have a ton of room. When I do them I carry everthing outside and do them in the yard and just leave everything in ashed and tak it back inside later.

all good stuff, i completely forgot about duck walks and shit.

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

I would look into a BOSU, and plyometrics. Another thing you can do is turn a skate board into a balance board. Take the trucks off the board and then take a 2 liter bottle and fill it with water, make sure it\'s distilled water in a cleaned out bottle so you don\'t grow some nasty stuff it in. But throw some super glue into the car and screw it on. You now have yourself a nice little balance beam.

what's bosu? skateboard thing is a great idea man, thanks!

Originally Posted by cabezon

go old school man, start running through the woods. nothing will build agility like jumping logs, ducking branches and dodging trees. especially downhill.

also a hell of an idea. i just have to find a forest to run through

[Sportsmedjosh]

Do a search for Bosu I have a couple threads about them here is a thread that shows a bosu

The only problem I see with running through the forest is joint stability. The risk tor spraining a ligament is pretty high.

[cabezon]

Originally Posted by prophet

also a hell of an idea. i just have to find a forest to run through

whats that state preserve you were talking about?

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

Do a search for Bosu I have a couple threads about them here is a thread that shows a bosu

The only problem I see with running through the forest is joint stability. The risk tor spraining a ligament is pretty high.

I think we were made to run through forests. how do you run on a bosu?

[Sportsmedjosh]

I think we were made to do a lot of things, but we do a lot of things we're not suppose to either. I feel for those who don't do a lot of agility training joints or training to build up muscles around a joint that this sort of running would be harmful. I also see beach running the way way. I use to see a lot of ligament issues with new members of the crew team when their coach use to have them run in the sand.

I think if you want to run and jump and what not, work on building up strength.

[prophet]

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

Do a search for Bosu I have a couple threads about them here is a thread that shows a bosu

The only problem I see with running through the forest is joint stability. The risk tor spraining a ligament is pretty high.

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

I think we were made to do a lot of things, but we do a lot of things we\'re not suppose to either. I feel for those who don\'t do a lot of agility training joints or training to build up muscles around a joint that this sort of running would be harmful. I also see beach running the way way. I use to see a lot of ligament issues with new members of the crew team when their coach use to have them run in the sand.

I think if you want to run and jump and what not, work on building up strength.

spraining a ligament, rolling things, etc. aren't erally a concern for me. i got fat but kept playing so all my joint/ligament strength is still there, and playing for 13 years helps to build that up pretty well.

Originally Posted by cabezon

whats that state preserve you were talking about?



I think we were made to run through forests. how do you run on a bosu?

it's called a forest preserve but it's mainly all open. it's where we used to play soccer. i probably should take a drive over there and search to find if there is any good area to do that though. i don't think it's big enough.

[cabezon]

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

Do a search for Bosu I have a couple threads about them here is a thread that shows a bosu

The only problem I see with running through the forest is joint stability. The risk tor spraining a ligament is pretty high.

I think you jinxed me. on the way to my run this morning, I stepped on something and rolled my ankle over hard. It's swelling and hurts like hell.

I can see it swelling through the ace bandage.

[Sportsmedjosh]

Milk massage works great. Then after you're done with that wrap some ice around the foot with some cling wrap for about 20 mins.

Milk massage would be to lay on your stomach with your leg in the air. Have someone cover your foot with lotion and start from the toes. Grasp with two hands and almost try to squeeze all that fluid pass the ankle. About 10-12 mins each day will work wonders.