Burn with Kearns: Agility for total mobility – Kevin Kearns

By Kevin Kearns, contributing writer

There is no doubt in my mind after working in the field of strength and conditioning for over 30 years, that everyone needs agility. Whether you are a UFC fighter, weekend warrior, or child on the soccer field, you need to be able to move.  Those movements need to be reactive and lightning fast. Some people are born with it. Some people can obtain it, if trained correctly. Unfortunately, all training is not equal, and the form has to fit the function. There are many ways to train agility from many different martial arts to many different Sports.  A lot of these methods have been handed down for centuries; others are newly formed with various pieces of equipment.

Before we dive head-first into the various techniques and philosophies, we must find out why it is so important and define it a little clearer. If you look at the work of Gary Grey, one of the fathers of functional strength training, he speaks about “chain reaction explosion theory.” This translates into the following, when a movement or change of direction is initiated, the brain sends signals to the core muscles to stabilize, activate various other parts of the body muscular system, and then in the end the lowly ankle (if we are speaking about lower body agility) takes over. The ability of the ankle to react quickly in a moving environment and multiple planes of motion is crucial for any sport. For MMA, it is a necessity. Whether you are striking or grappling the “ agility of the feet” can either help you win the fight or lose by a single fraction of reaction time.  What this really boils down to, footwork.  Footwork and training footwork is the key to many fights. Many a talented boxer has been able to beat their opponent through the use of footwork. Ali was one of the most famous was being able to hit and not get hit back. This is the new missing link in MMA training. We have seen the superior footwork of the current UFC lightweight champion.  Machida is able to hit and avoid the attack. It has been stated that he had the best reaction times in the Game.

Now that we know what it is, how do we acquire this explosive, agile lightning feet. One of our best pieces of, and most inexpensive pieces of, training gear is the agility ladder. It’s portal and flexible and can be used not only to challenge world-class athletes, but for weekend warriors and children as well. Recently we have used this tool to help one of my good friends and mentors, Master Chris Rappold, of Personal Best Karate, in Boston. The ladder footwork drills we performed were an essential component to his taking the gold medal in largest full contact karate tournament in the world. In a sport where the sprint attacks are critical to winning a match. The same is true for the MMA athletes. The other great carry over benefit is the development of specific muscle endurance and cardiovascular benefit. Although this benefit is more anaerobic in nature, so is the sport of MMA. Muscles and muscle systems have memories, and it is better to get the body used to an activity and rehearse it, than to not.

Some of our favorite drills will be in this article and on the website in video format. The ladder can be used in conjunction with a warmup, cool down, or as an interval component. The best part is you can be creative, as you want.  Before I go further, it is not necessary to buy an agility ladder. You can use tape on your mats or if you are outside, chalk or cones work great. The second best part is what you do to the lower body you can also do to the upper body to enhance its agility and core strength as well.

            Here’s a quick list of some of our drills.

1. 2 feet in on the forward
2. Hopscotch (yes what you used to play when you were a kid)
3. Lateral crossovers
4. High knees
5. 2 feet in and out on the forward
6. Icky shuffle
7. Upper body lateral shuffle
8. Upper body cross over’s

The length of time of the drills is completely up to the needs and the goals of your sport. At burn with kearns.com our team generally works with either a 35 on 15 seconds off protocol or continuous 10 minute of ladder work. So, whether you are looking to up your Game in the cage or increase your endurance agility work is a good step in the right direction. 

Be Relentless!  Coach Kevin Kearns

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Coach Kevin Kearns, BS FMS  CPT 

BurnWithKearns.com – Direct: 508 404 8503

Both of Coach Kearns’ books may be purchased on www.Amazon.com. For more information about Coach Kevin Kearns, including scheduling speaking engagements and classes (both online and in person), please contact him at 508-404-8503 or [email protected].

Author of “There’s Light In The Tunnel” How to Survive and Thrive with Depression  – “Always Picked Last“ A guide to navigating bullies on Amazon and Audible 

youtube.com/user/burnwithkearns 

https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/burnwithkearns

Coach Kevin Kearns has been coaching in the world of fitness, nutrition, and tactical self defense for over 3 decades. As the former conditioning coach to 15 UFC Pro Fighters, and ranked in the Top 5 in the UFC , he is no stranger to the the importance of proper nutrition and proper mindset programming. He has long advocated to all his clients – athletes or the general population – about the importance of programming mind, body and spirit. 

Coach Kevin Kearns BS FMS CPT – Former conditioning coach to 15 UFC Pros Ranked in Top 5 by the UFC Personal Fitness Coach, Author, Columnist, Motivational Speaker, Corporate Wellness Consultant, Youth Wellness Program Provider, Certification Specialist, Personal Self Defense, and Law Enforcement Defensive Tactics Specialist Www.BurnWithKearns.com.