At the gym, a person would often ask a fellow gym-rat, “Hey man, how much do you bench?”
It is so very typical that men would often measure their manliness against other men by displaying and comparing strength. How many times, as a youth, have you seen or done some arm wrestling just to prove a point that one is “manlier” than the other?
Size and strength do have their advantages. However, it is not the only way to measure one’s ability to function athletically. There are so many aspects in an individual’s functional capacity to consider and perhaps, one of the most overlooked physical attribute is the person’s agility.
Agility is the ability to increase or decrease speed, and change direction or position while maintaining good body control and without losing time in the transition. To put it briefly, agility is the ability to move effortlessly.
We have yet to hear someone say, “Hey man, how fast can you pivot and sidestep?” but in reality, agility is an essential skill in many athletic sports. In basketball, the iconic Michael Jordan is known for his ability to contort his body to avoid defenders in mid-flight when trying to dunk or lay the basketball inside the rim. For average fans, they call it amazing; for basketball aficionados, they call it “hangtime”; for me, it is an excellent display of agility.
Recently, in the sport of boxing, a phenomenon has emerged. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao has proven that even a naturally small guy like himself can win against naturally larger and physically stronger opponents. Many call him an anomaly because conventional wisdom has taught us to accept that the larger, stronger athlete usually wins especially in a highly physical sport of boxing. But this small speedy Asian has proven many people wrong by doing the seemingly improbable, winning against physically stronger opponents.
It’s because of Pacquiao’s excellent agility. The skill to move in and out with footwork and the ability to throw many punches in succession is brought about by the boxer’s amazing agility.
To become a complete athlete, you must improve in all aspects of physical fitness and the specific athletic attribute of agility is probably the most important of all. Developing agility provides better neuromuscular control; therefore, an agile person is someone with excellent motor skills. Athletic sports are all about mastery of movements.
In many sports, the mastery of particular movements may become the deciding factor of either winning or losing.
Developing agility will also decrease the risks of injury since the most common cause of injury in sports is the sudden change of direction in movement. A person with great agility will have no problem doing movements with directional changes or speed changes. Agile persons have great muscular coordination and balance and their body can easily adapt to any movement.
Being fit is not only about having strength and power in movements but rather, it is about the efficiency of the body to do functional movements. Agility should never be ignored!
Try these:
Vertical Agility
Agility in Ball-handling
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