Lateral Agility Exercises

Your body does not move in only one direction. There are three planes of in which your body moves: transverse, sagittal and frontal. Lateral, or side to side, movements happen in the frontal plane and are important not only for daily life, but sports as well. Lateral agility exercises help you move more quickly in order to perform at a higher level.

Lateral Agility Exercises

Agility is defined as the skills and abilities needed to explosively change movement velocities or modes, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Proper from is critical to improving your lateral agility, so start slow, practice foot placement and then gradually increase your speed. Practice the drills two to three times each week. Always start with a five- to 10-minute warm-up that includes dynamic flexibility to prepare your body for the drills.

Lateral Shuffle

Place two cones approximately 10 yards apart. Stand by one cone in an athletic stance with your knees bent, hips back and toes pointed slightly out. Stay on the balls of your feet throughout the drill. Slowly shuffle sideways, or laterally, to the other cone. Stop and shuffle back. Repeat eight times. Rest and repeat the drill again but this time increase your speed. Repeat up to four times with the last drill going as fast as you can back and forth with good form.

Lateral Hurdle Run

Set up hurdles or an agility ladder. The goal of this exercise is to get your knees high and run sideways through the ladder or over the hurdles. The hurdles make it more challenging because you need to get your feet up and over, so advance carefully. Stand with your right side towards the obstacles. Push off with your left and hop over the hurdle/ladder. Continue to alternate your feet going sideways at a steady pace. When you reach the end, reverse direction. Start slowly and gradually build speed with good form.

Sprint Lateral Shuffle

Set up six cones. One will be your starting position, and place number two 10 yards straight ahead. Place the third cone to the right of the second 10 yards. Then place the fourth 10 yards straight ahead of the third. The fifth goes 10 yards to the right of four and number six goes 10 yards straight ahead of five. Start at cone one and sprint straight to cone two, shuffle laterally to cone three, sprint to four, shuffle to five and sprint to six to finish. Reset the cones and go to the left as well.