Agile Strength Training
Agile strength is apparent when you watch football players running in all directions while trying to get the ball across the scoreline. According to celebrity trainer Autumn Calabrese, the definition of agile strength is the ability of an athlete to move quickly and change direction suddenly with precision and power and to use controlled acceleration or deceleration in an attempt to avoid other players around you.
She says building agile strength is important as it protects you from injury by allowing your body to respond rapidly to your surrounding environment.
How to Do It
Calabrese recommends improving agile strength by doing exercises that require quick side-to-side or forward and backward movements like shuffles, shuttle runs, or skating.
Endurance Strength Training
Calabrese says muscular endurance is the ability to move lighter weights for longer time periods. One way to test endurance strength, according to Kim Schaper, CPT, is by finding out how many pushups or squats you can do in a period of one minute. The more reps you can complete in one minute, the better your muscular endurance.
The goal of endurance strength training is to increase the amount of time you are able to exercise before fatigue starts to set in. The ability to perform for long periods of time without needing to break form is a key factor in progressing to the next level of fitness. In order to achieve this, you should hire a personal trainer by considering the personal trainer personality and reviews from previous work.
How to Do It
The best way to work on endurance strength is to focus on high-rep/low-weight workouts that require lighter weights or just using your own body weight. Calabrese says “when you incorporate endurance training exercises into a regular routine they increase your strength and stamina simultaneously which enables you to work out for longer periods of time with less fatigue”. She adds that another great attribute of this type of exercise style is that you can do these exercises anywhere.
Explosive Strength Training
Explosive strength training is basically the ability of your muscles to exert maximum force for the shortest period of time possible. For this type of training, you should think about the velocity and force used by a sprinter that explodes from a starting block or an Olympic heavy-weight lifter using force and velocity to dynamically lift a heavy barbell in order to get under it for a snatch.
How to Do It
Jump training also known as plyometric training (like a box-jump workout) is the best way to build explosive strength. Calabrese also suggests tackling moves like burpees and tuck jumps to work on your explosive strength. Performing ‘all-out’ moves like these, she says, will not only increase your explosive strength but also help to improve your agile strength.
Maximum Strength Training
Maximum strength training involves the maximum amount of weight you can lift in a single rep during an exercise, for example in a bench press exercise to measure upper-body strength or a deadlift exercise to measure maximum lower-body strength.
How to Do It
Calabrese says this type of strength building is usually not protocol for the average fitness enthusiast who is after overall fitness or improving their health. However, for those who wish to increase their maximum strength, the key is to use as much weight as you can safely handle while completing a minimum number of reps, ideally between 1 and 4 reps.
Speed Strength Training
Speed strength comes in handy when you are participating in team sports or to give you an upper hand when competing in a race. It basically means training to become as fast as you can and how quickly you are able to react to something like a ball being thrown at you.
