Agility can be defined as the ability of a person to produce the right amount of force at the appropriate time to produce and control movement gracefully. Musculoskeletal injuries can temporarily reduce a person's agility, making the implementation of agility skill exercises a critical part of the rehabilitation process. Proper exercise selection and progression is of utmost importance to safe rehabilitation, which can be attained by following a few key guidelines.
Slow to Fast
Agility exercises for a healthy athlete performed as complex movements at near top speeds are inappropriate in the early stages of rehabilitation according to Dr. Peter Brukner, author of Clinical Sports Medicine. Choose first exercises that require slower movement speeds that can be better controlled for the injured person's safety. Initially this may be as simple as basic strength training movements like the squat, which can be progressed to a speed squat, to a jump to a box, then to a jump.
Simple to Complex
Increased complexity of an exercise demands greater cognitive focus on proper execution of the drill, taking away focus on proper movement quality. Brief periods of cognitive distraction can result in loss of coordination and increase risk of injury, according to Dr. Charles Swanik of the University of Delaware. Begin with simple exercises like shuffling in a straight line before requiring athletes to make cuts or respond to external cues.
Low Volume to High Volume
In early rehabilitation, the ability of the injured tissue to accept load is reduced, as it is still weakened. This requires the use of less overall exercise volume--repetitions done and distance covered--than would be used when healthy, which can be progressed to pre-injury levels over the rehabilitation program, says Brukner.
Pain Free
The feeling of pain results in reduced capacity of the stabilizers of joints and the core of the body, which are critically important in both upper and lower extremity movement safety. As such, Gray Cook, author and physical therapist of Functional Movement Systems, insists that all exercise must be performed without pain to ensure safety. Cook notes that pain may be present some days and not on others, which requires spontaneous change in treatment plan for the day to produce the most ideal results.
References
- "Clinical Sports Medicine"; Peter Brukner, MD and Karim Khan, MD; 2005
- "Training for Speed, Agility, Quickness"; Lee Brown and Vance Ferrigno
- "Head Games: Neurocognitive Contributors to Noncontact Injury"; Charles Swanik, PhD, ATC; February 2011
- "Movement"; Gray Cook, PT, Lee Burton PhD, Kyle Kiesel DPT, PhD; 2010
Member Comments