3 Ways to Improve Your Quickness and Agility

You have to train purposely to improve your quickness and agility.

In many instances, quickness is more important than straight ahead speed. In many sports, maximum speed is rarely reached or needed, but explosive reaction is often necessary. Athletes can improve reaction times by training to make the right choices (choice reaction).

Reaction time is the ability to respond quickly with proper posture and control to a stimulus such as sound or sight.

How many times have you seen a player with "not great speed" repeatedly make plays to help the team win. This is not an accident. You can improve your change-of-direction speed with proper training. Read my post that discusses change-of-direction speed in detail.

Improve your quickness and agility these 3 ways:

1. As with any athletic move, core strength is critical. Overall body strength is also important.

Before you begin to train for speed and power, the foundation should be laid with sufficient core and body strength. Failure to lay this strength foundation will lead to certain injuries for you.

2. Body positioning is critical if you want to improve your change-of-direction speed. You will need dynamic balance. In many sports, it is not that easy to change direction and accelerate because the athlete is often off balance.

Some sports, such as football and basketball require running with or bouncing a ball. And, other sports, such as soccer require moving a ball with the feet. The best running backs, tennis players, basketball players, shortstops, etc. all have great dynamic balance.

Having great dynamic balance means that you are able to maintain your center of gravity over a constantly changing base of support. Thus, quickness and agility drills help you to improve dynamic balance and change-of-direction acceleration while not wasting motion.

3. To improve change-of-direction acceleration, you should have a shin angle of approximately 45 degrees for the first few steps. Your shoulders should also be slightly leaned forward.

The body lean should be at the ankles and not the hips. Having the feet just wider than shoulder-width apart will give you the most stable base of support. This is not always possible during athletic competition.

Therefore, stability needs to be added by lowering the center of gravity. Change-of-direction acceleration could be laterally, at an angle or forward (when back pedaling) and will catapult you to near maximal speed quickly.

The first step in the change-of-direction is important. If this step is too long, you will over-stride and bring the shin to a vertical angle instead of 45 degrees. This will slow you down. So, the first step should be under your hips. Again, the body lean should be at ankles and not the hips.

Improving your coordination will help improve your multi-directional speed and linear speed (straight-ahead speed). A player rarely reaches maximum speed during game competition.

Having great change-of-direction speed (agility with quickness) allows you to beat your opponent "to the spot" or recover from mistakes in positioning.

Improve your quickness and agility with these drills and then apply them during your movements in a game:

1. jump rope (one foot, two feet, slalom, Ali shuffle, backpedal)

2. speed ladder drills

3. cariocas, tapiocas, back pedals, shuffles, toe taps

4. hip turn and hip flexibility drills (like leg swings)

Work hard and expect success!

Go here now and get your Free Sports Power Workout Book and Speed Training Tips!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

3 Ways To Improve Your Vertical Jump Height

Take steps to improve your vertical jump height. It won't just happen...you have to train correctly to improve your hops. It will also improve your speed. At the NFL Combine, those with the highest vertical jumps typically have the fastest 40 yard dash times.

So, here are 3 things you can do to improve your vertical:

1. Improve your total body strength, especially leg strength. Overall strength training (including core training) is needed to stabilize joints, build muscle, correct postural problems and improve flexibility.

How much lower body strength do you need to develop optimum power? A male should be able to squat his body weight 8-10 times and a female should be able to squat about 75% of her body weight 8-10 times. If you are not able to squat, then you should be able to leg press about 1.5 times your body weight 8-10 times.

Powerful athletic movements initiate with or transfer through your core area. Translation: a weak core will severely hurt your power output and vertical jump.

2. Explosive weight lifting will improve your power and set you apart from your athletic competitors. Make your total body more explosive.

Just as you can do medicine ball exercises, plyometric exercises and light dumbbell exercises explosively, you can also lift heavier weights explosively.

Lifting weights explosively is an advanced form of exercise and shouldn't be done by beginners or youngsters. Your body should have the needed stabilization and strength before beginning explosive lifts.

It doesn't help you improve as an athlete to continually get stronger if power development is not there also. Power, or speed strength (how fast your muscles can produce force) is one of the best physical predictors of success in sports.

Research has proven that only lifting heavy weights at a moderate or slow pace will not improve your explosive power.

3. Plyometrics, upper and lower body. Plyometric exercises help you to increase leg power and arm power.

Work hard, expect success!

My friends at JumpUSA have been around for 20 years and their products will help you improve your jumping ability and overall game.

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

3 Ways to Improve Running Speed

You can improve your straight-line running speed no matter what your genetics may be.

Here are 3 ways to improve your running speed:

1. You must have great running mechanics to reach your speed potential. The running mechanics are important to improve straight-ahead speed. Practice these mechanics every day!

2. Strengthening your body (core included) and improving your power will help make you faster. I have never seen a fast athlete who was physically weak. Improve your power by doing exercises at full speed (such as squat jumps, medicine ball exercises and full speed strength exercises). Power is how fast your muscles can produce force.

A big part of running speed is how fast you can accelerate to full speed. Power will help you accelerate explosively.

3. Apply more force to the ground with your feet. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The more force you apply to the ground, the more the ground will "give you power."

When you run, don't lift your knee past your "thigh being parallel" to the ground. This way, you will use your "power center" (glutes and hamstrings) to apply force to the ground instead of the less powerful hip flexors.

In other words, running "with high knees" is not the best way to run. Also, step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground to create maximum force.

Work hard and expect success!

Go here now and get your Free Sports Power Workout Book and Speed Training Tips!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

3 Ways To Improve Your Athleticism

As an athlete, you must continually improve your athletic skills--no matter how great you are. If you're not progressing, you are going backward.

Everyone wants more strength, power and speed. Some of you are doing too much strength training and not enough power training.

To continually get stronger without an increase in speed, power and athleticism will not help you reach your athletic potential.

Here are 3 ways to make you a better athlete:

1. Train your body in all 3 planes of motion. Many athletic movements happen in the transverse plane (rotations, turning, twisting, etc.) and frontal plane (side-to-side, lateral).

Machine-based training concentrates on the sagittal plane (up- down, forward-backward movements). Do miminal athletic training on machines because they limit your natural movement patterns.

2. Train on your feet because most athletic movements in games are done standing and running. Here are some examples:

--Jump rope every day to improve your balance and coordination.

--Do one-legged and one-armed exercises like step ups, lunges and alternating one-armed rows and presses.

--Do agility and power drills like shuttles, hops, shuffles, squat jumps, pogo sticks, bounding, speed ladders, medicine ball exercises and depth jumps.

--Do sprints on grass or other natural surface. You must do sprint drills full speed in order to get faster. Also, practice correct running mechanics.

3. Stabilize and strengthen the core first and limbs (arms and legs) later. If your core is weak, you can't effectively transfer power from your lower body to your upper body.

This can be done using exercises like bridges, planks, bird dogs, cobras, supermans and back extensions. You would later progress to full speed core exercises on your feet like medicine ball chops, medicine ball slams, 2-arm and 1-arm medicine ball throws and medicine ball rotational throws.

Train harder, smarter and safely!

Go here now and get your Free Sports Power Workout Book and Speed Training Tips!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Athletes, Eat Smoothies To Build Muscle

Athletes, you need to eat more smoothies to help you build muscle. The biggest problem I have when training young athletes is getting them to eat enough (and consistently) to build muscle!

It is not uncommon for a growing young athlete to need 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day to build muscle. Their metabolisms run so high and they are so active that they burn calories quickly. Those were the days :)

If you want to add protein powder to your smoothie, that's even better. You need as many healthy calories as you can get.

I also recommend eating a pre- and post-workout smoothie to help your body recover and rebuild muscle tissues after strength training. While you're at it, you can eat a smoothie for your morning and afternoon snacks. You can eat an extra 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day just by eating smoothies.

Smoothies are easy to make and inexpensive. So, what are you waiting for?! Don't you want to be bigger, stronger and faster next season?

Or, if you are currently playing your season, eat smoothies to help you maintain your weight during the long season. Many athletes lose too much weight during the season and their game performance suffers.

Here are two great smoothie recipes for you:

PURPLE PASSION SMOOTHIE

--1 banana
--1 cup non-fat yogurt
--1/3 cups blueberries (can be frozen)
--1/3 cups strawberries (can be frozen)
--2/3 cups ice
--1 or 2 scoops of your favorite whey protein powder

Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.

RAINBOW SMOOTHIE

--10 ounces apple-cranberry juice
--4 ounces strawberries
--2 ounces pineapple chunks
--2 scoops rainbow sherbet
--1/2 banana
--1/2 cups ice
--1 or 2 scoops of your favorite whey protein powder

Place ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Pound the calories muscle-builders!

If you want more delicious smoothie recipes to help build muscle, download your free Smoothies Book now!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sports Power Workout Improves Strength, Power and Speed

Improve your strength, power and speed with my Sports Power Workout Book. It won't cost you anything, except hard, smart work. Need proof?

I was watching a middle school client play his football game last year. This kid never came off the field---he played offense (running back), defense (linebacker) and special teams!

When I trained him last summer, I told him that he would be stronger and faster for the entire game than his opponents. I saw it in person that night!

After talking to him, he feels the difference too. I still train him so he will maintain his strength and power during the season.

Because of the positions he plays, he has to run fast most of the game. Putting on the extra 10 pounds of muscle and decreasing his 40 yard dash time by 2 tenths of a second last summer has elevated his performance to a higher level.

Everyone sees it. Sports fitness power training done right always works for the athlete!

Read a similar post about another one of my clients whose sports fitness training made a huge difference in his play on the baseball field.

Go here now and get your Free Sports Power Workout Book and Speed Training Tips!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

100 Meter Training To Make You A Champion

If you want to be a champion in the 100 meter race, you have to train the right way. Champions are made and not born that way. It takes hard work.

You may have been blessed with great genetics. But, you have to work to improve your running techniques and conditioning.

Coach Marc Mangiacotti at Brown University has the perfect program for coaches and sprinters, “How to Build the Perfect 100m Runner From Start to Finish.” If you want a more successful sprints program, you need faster 100m runners.

But, as a coach, you can’t wait to win the genetic lottery. And copying the workouts and progressions of Olympic level coaches/sprinters doesn’t transfer over to the high school level.

If you look hard enough, you can piece together how different people
coach the 100m. But nothing puts it together, from start to finish,
like this new program from Coach Mangiacotti:

Get the 100 Meter Training Program Here!

In “How to Build the Perfect 100m Runner From Start to Finish”, he
covers everything from block settings, acceleration and max velocity
to workout planning and progressions....both on the track and in the
weight room.

Plus he shows you the drills he uses and shows you where, how and why he uses different types of training over the course of the season.

In fact, in addition to the 2.5 hours of programming, he’s giving
you every workout (on and off the track) he used for the entire
season.

The same progressions that led his 4x100m relay team to a Division III National Championship last spring. (His 4x400 relay also won the National Championship).

And, for the first 150 people who order, he’s doing a Live Q&A where he’ll answer all of your training questions once you get a chance to go through the program.

And, did I mention you’re getting 2.5 hours of instruction, his entire annual plan and a Live Q&A all for only $47?

Get the 100 Meter Training Program Here!

This could be the best deal you’ll ever come across. I know I
can’t think of a better offer. You can write your own workouts.
Steal his. Ask him questions. All, none or some of the above.

To me, just one good idea is worth more than $47. After seeing the
program, I know you’ll get as much as you can handle and more.

Get the 100 Meter Training Program Here!

Work hard and smart to be successful.

Mark Dilworth at Sports Fitness Hut

Get Explosive Power Like Blake Griffin

Explosive power helps Blake Griffin dunk over his opponent, explosive power propels Usain Bolt to wins in the 100 meter dash, explosive power helps Josh Hamilton hit homeruns and explosive power makes Adrian Peterson the most feared running back in football.

Power, or speed strength (how fast your muscles can produce force) is one of the best physical predictors of success in sports. For instance, accelerating quicker than your opponent helps you make the winning plays.

And, jumping higher (quicker) will help you catch the ball or get that rebound. It doesn't help you to continually get stronger if power development is not there also.

Explosive weight lifting will improve your power and set you apart from your athletic competitors.

Just as you can do medicine ball exercises, plyometric exercises and light dumbbell exercises explosively, you can also lift heavier weights explosively.

Lifting weights explosively is an advanced form of exercise and shouldn't be done by beginners or youngsters. Your body should have the needed stabilization and strength before beginning explosive lifts.

Research has proven that only lifting heavy weights at a moderate or slow pace will not improve your explosive power.

Especially at the start of the lift, explosive lifting can be done for exercises like (5-6 repetitions):

--Bench press
--Shoulder press
--Squats
--Leg press
--Hamstring curls
--Calf raises

....and also for bodyweight exercises, like (6-8 repetitions):

--Power step ups
--Bodyweight squats
--Pullups
--Pushups
--Inverted rows

......and medicine ball exercises, like (8-10 repetitions):

--Throws
--Chops
--Slams
--Rotational exercises

Lift explosively, safely and improve your power!

Go here now and get your Free Sports Power Workout Book!

Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sports Power Workout Book

Download my free Sports Power Workout Book and improve your play on the field or court. Explosive power is many times more important than running speed when you are trying to "make the play."

You will also receive my free report, "10 Must Know Speed Training Tips" with your power book download.

To get your muscles to improve power (how fast your muscles can produce force), do some or all of the exercises full speed. Getting stronger and stronger won't help you much if your power doesn't improve.

Another way to build power and explosiveness is with high-speed medicine ball exercises after having laid the foundation with traditional barbell, dumbbell and core exercises. Medicine ball exercises also allow you to exercise using your natural motions....this is important because every person moves different.

Go here now and get your Free Sports Power Workout Book!

Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Run Faster--Apply More Force To The Ground

All of you want to run faster and become better players. One way to run faster is to learn how to apply more force to the ground when you run.

You can't just wish you could run faster. You have to train correctly to improve your running speed. Its not magic tricks, its hard work done the right way--again and again and again.

You can improve your running speed no matter who you are! Fact is, you won't be your best until you can run as fast as you can.

First, you should practice the running mechanics every day to improve your running efficiency and straight-ahead speed.

Second, continually strengthen your body (core included). You can't reach your running speed potential with a weak body.

There is one running technique that is unknown by many. One way to run faster is to apply more force to the ground with your feet. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

The more force you apply to the ground, the more the ground will "give you power."

When you run, don't lift your knee past your "thigh being parallel" to the ground. This way, you will use your "power center" (glutes and hamstrings) to apply force to the ground instead of the less powerful hip flexors.

In other words, running "with high knees" is not the best way to run. Also, step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground to create maximum force.

Practice the "little things" to help you run faster!

Need more sports training tips? Subscribe to my Sports Performance Tips eNewsletter and get my:

--Free Report, "10 'Must Know' Speed Training Tips" and
--Free Power Workout Book!

Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Spring Football Practices Around The Corner

It's March and you should be ramping up for spring football practice! In about 6 weeks, every high school football team will start knocking heads and shaping up for next season. Are you getting ready? Positions are won and lost during spring practices.

If you don't think you need speed and power to play football, watch a college or NFL game on television. Each play ends in a train wreck! You won't be a very good football player without speed and power.

You can improve your speed and power (how fast your muscles can produce force) for football and become a more dynamic player on the field.

Speed strength is a combination of starting speed, explosive speed (maximum velocity in the shortest time) and reactive speed. Proper training methods will produce the strength, power and speed you will need to succeed in football.

The best football players have great amounts of strength, speed, power, agility and quickness. Straight-ahead speed is not enough. This is the main reason that many world-class track athletes don't make a successful transition to the sport of football.

Core strength is important to help you remain strong and upright when you are running, especially in the late stages of a football game. Adequate core strength helps your speed endurance, which is the ability to maintain maximum velocity or a percentage of maximum velocity for a prolonged period of time or in a fatigued state.

The best players and teams have excellent overall body strength, core strength and speed endurance (and they win the most games).

I hope you have trained this offseason to improve your speed and power this season!

Workout hard and smart to get better!

Get "Sports Fitness Hut's Hips and Glutes Training Guide for Athletes" It is a must training guide for any serious athlete!

Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!