Team Fitness - Speed and Agility

Speed and Agility

No matter what kind of sport you play, this is a great class to help you improve your game. All things being equal, a bigger, faster, stronger, more conditioned athlete will rule supreme on the playing court or field. The goal of this class is to help you improve your performance so that you can excel and reach your full potential as an athlete. Speed and Agility Conditioning is free to members and $5 for guests. For ages 14+.

Active Stretching is also referred to as static-active stretching. An active stretch is where you assume a position and then hold it while using no assistance but muscle strength. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there without anything (other than your leg muscles themselves) to keep the leg in that extended position. Active stretching increases active flexibility and strengthens the agonistic muscles. .

The great thing about a comprehensive dynamic warm-up is that it doesn’t take any more time than the more traditional stretching method, but is much more focused, effective and productive. The specific advantages of a dynamic warm-up are:

Maintains warmth in your body and muscles.
Prepares the muscles and joints in a more sport specific manner than static stretching
Enhances coordination and motor ability as well as revving up the nervous system
Prepares the mind for the workout ahead, forcing athletes to focus and concentrate on the task at hand.

Footwork and agility drills are designed to improve quickness, speed, body control and awareness.

Coaches, trainers, and athletes have always sought methods to increase power, rate of force development and reactive ability. Power and Explosiveness techniques provide a link between strength in the weight room and speed on the field.

The application of speed to sports that require multi-dimensional movements demands an understanding of the concept of game speed. Game speed is not linear track speed. It is the ability to apply all elements of speed to the demands of the game. Very little movement in multi-directional sports is straight ahead for any significant distance. Most movement involves angles, curves, starts, stops and direction changes. Agility and game speed are closely related.

Core strength training may be a relatively new, buzz term in the fitness industry but coaches and athletes have understood its value for many years. The core region consists of far more than just the abdominal muscles. In fact core strength training aims to target all the muscles groups that stabilize the spine and pelvis. It's these muscle groups that are critical for the transfer of energy from large to small body parts during many sporting activities.

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