Welcome to my videos section on strength and conditioning. Here you will find two video – one on agility within strength and conditioning and one on plyometrics within strength and conditioning. Both videos include three different exercises which have been progressed from the initial exercise. I hope you find these videos useful, please find the coaching points underneath each video for further information.
Agility video:
This video is based on simple agility exercises which have been progressed in order to increase agility and speed. Agility is a response to a certain stimulus with quick whole body movement with an aspect of changing direction or velocity (Young et al., 2015). Agility and speed is essential for many sports such as football, cricket and tennis for example.
The initial exercise is just a simple sprint through the ladder – the coaching points for this exercise include; ensuring one foot only is placed into a square at any time, the exercise is completed quickly, the participants arms are used for drive and momentum and the movements is controlled but explosive.
The progression from this exercise is a lateral glide with the ladder – the coaching points include; the front foot on the ground is never moved into the sqaures, the back foot is placed behind the front foot moving in laterally. This movement is more complex compared to the first exercise as lateral movements are involved. This exercise will increase the firing of the gluteus muscles.
The next progression was put in placed with resistance with the use of a theraband. With the use of resistance the exercises are therefore more difficult and the muscles will have to work harder in order to control this movement. The coaching points include; feet at least shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent with the theraband placed around the knees, ensure participants are jumping with two feet and ensure only one foot is placed in the squares at any one time. Again this exercise has lateral movements involved and resistance to increase strength in the quadriceps and the gluteus muscles. Again this will aid the firing of the gluteus muscles.
Note: Progressions should only be put in place when the participant can complete the initial exercise correctly and quickly.
Plyometrics video:
This is a video based on plyometric training within strength and conditioning training with progressions throughout the exercises. Plymometrics is described as the explosive short bursts of muscle contraction from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction (Atanasković et al., 2015). Plyometric training is essential for many sports as it works on power and speed – netball for example. This plyometric video was based on different jumps and the progression of these.
The initial exercise is a squat jump – the coaching points for this exercise include; feet shoulder width apart with feet facing forwards, ensuring weight is shifted into the heels of the feet instead of forwards as this may cause a valgus or varus stress of the knees, slight curve in the back but not a noticeable curve, arms bent and then extend arms and body when jumping upwards. This is a bilateral jump.
The second jump is a split lunge jump which is a progression to a unilateral jump from the initial bilateral jump. The coaching points for this jump include; ensure the back foot’s heel is off the ground and body weight is shifted onto the front foot, keep the hips forwards when low to the ground and power through the quadriceps in order to jump up and switch feet around.
The final progression is a mixture of both squat jumps and split lunge jumps. The coaching points for this is the same as before but ensuring feet come back together before going down for a squat jump. This video is unclear as myself and the participant were unable to fully complete the required progression. This stage should be balanced and it is important to be able to complete the prior two jumps well before progressing to this stage.
Note: Progressions should only be put in place when the participant can complete the initial exercise correctly and quickly.
References
Atanasković, A., Georgiev, M., Mutavdzić, V., (2015), The impact of plyometrics and aqua plyometrics on the lower extremities explosive strength in children aged 11-15, Research in Kinesiology, Vol. 10, No. 1:159-170.
Young, W., B., (2015), Agility and change of direction speed and independent skills: Implications for training for agility in invasion sports, Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, Vol. 10, No. 1:159-170.