What is the ability to quickly and accurately change direction and still keep control of the whole body?

Material to exercise the balance agility for children

Agility or nimbleness is an ability to change the body's position quickly and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance. More specifically, it is dependent on:

• Balance – The ability to maintain equilibrium when stationary or moving (i.e. not to fall over) through the coordinated actions of our sensory functions (eyes, ears and the proprioceptive organs in our joints);
• Static balance – The ability to retain the center of mass above the base of support in a stationary position;
• Dynamic balance – The ability to maintain balance with body movement;
• Speed - The ability to move all or part of the body quickly;
• Strength - The ability of a muscle or muscle group to overcome a resistance; and lastly,
• Coordination – The ability to control the movement of the body in co-operation with the body's sensory functions (e.g., in catching a ball [ball, hand, and eye coordination]).

In sports, agility is often defined in terms of an individual sport, due to it being an integration of many components each used differently (specific to all of sorts of different sports). Sheppard and Young (2006) defined agility as a "rapid whole body movement with change of direction or velocity in response to a stimulus".[1]

Agility is also an important attribute in many role playing games, both video games such as Pokémon, and tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Agility may affect the character's ability to evade an enemy's attack or land their own, or pickpocket and pick locks.

In modern-day psychology, author, psychologist, and executive coach Susan David introduces a concept that she terms “emotional agility,” defined as: “being flexible with your thoughts and feelings so that you can respond optimally to everyday situations.”[2][3]

The concept has also been applied to higher education management and leadership, where it was used to accelerate slower traditional and deliberative processes and to replace them with corporate decision-making.[4]

History[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2022)

Reference: Leonard Beane’s 10/10 pencil drive through the sun roof of a Nissan Altima

See also[edit]

• Illinois agility test
• Agility drill

References[edit]

Look up agility in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

1. ^ J. M. Sheppard; W.B. Young (September 2006), "Agility literature review: classifications, training and testing", Journal of Sports Sciences, 24 (9): 919–932, doi:10.1080/02640410500457109, PMID 16882626, S2CID 25145679
2. ^ Dell’Antonia, K. J. (2016-10-04). "Teaching Your Child Emotional Agility". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
3. ^ Orlov, Francoise (2017-05-01). "Book Review. Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David". Philosophy of Coaching. 2 (1): 52–54. doi:10.22316/poc/02.1.06.
4. ^ Richard Utz, "Against Adminspeak," Chronicle of Higher Education, June 24, 2020.

Home > Fitness Training > Components

Índice

• Fitness Components List
• 1. Cardiovascular Endurance
• 2. Local Muscle Endurance
• 3. Strength
• 4. Strength – Endurance
• 6. Flexibility

Fitness defines the ability to perform physical activity, and encompasses a wide range of abilities. Each sport and activity requires a specific set of skills, and so being fit for a sport requires a specific skill set. Being fit for one sport does not necessarily make you fit for another.

Although it is not all clear cut, fitness is generally divided into specific fitness categories or components (listed below), and each can be tested and trained individually.

Fitness Components List

• Body Composition — refers primarily to the distribution of muscle and fat in the body. Body size such as height, lengths and girths are also grouped under this component.
• Muscular Strength — the ability to carry out work against a resistance.
• Muscular Endurance — the ability to repeat a series of muscle contractions without fatiguing.
• Power — the ability to exert a maximal force in as short a time as possible, as in accelerating, jumping and throwing implements.

• Speed / Quickness — the ability to move quickly across the ground or move limbs rapidly to grab or throw.
• Agility — the ability to quickly change body position or direction of the body.
• Flexibility — the capacity of a joint to move through its full range of motion, which is important for execution of the techniques of sports.
• Balance and Coordination — the ability to stay upright or stay in control of body movement, an important component of many sports skills.
• Cardiovascular Endurance — or aerobic fitness, stamina, is the ability to exercise continuously for extended periods without tiring.
• Motor Skill — gross motor skills are the basic skills developed when young, which can be developed upon with specific sports skills training.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2022)

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Michael Grogan is a Personal Trainer/Movement Coach in Melbourne CBD.  He uses a combination of Gymnastic Strength, Advanced Mobility and Barbell Strength & Power exercises to achieve increased levels of performance and body composition with his clients. For more information follow him on Instagram and for enquiries contact [email protected] 

Fitness is a broad term. You may look at an Olympic marathon runner and think ‘wow that guy is super fit’ however as much as this athlete has the ability to deliver blood to his/her working muscles (cardiovascular endurance) at the same time he likely may lack the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movements (Power). Therefore can we really deem an athlete proficient in only 1 component of Fitness, ‘Fit’?

To classify someone’s fitness and give them an accurate tag to determine how fit they are; we really need to assess the components of fitness and how proficient the person is in each area to rate their level of fitness.

There are 8 key components of fitness, all with different criteria and training methods attached to improve the particular area. Once you know these areas you will be able to assess yourself according to their definitions and you will be able to answer this question more accurately: HOW FIT AM I?

1. Cardiovascular Endurance

Commonly referred to as ‘Cardio’, this is still the most commonly perceived determination of someone’s overall fitness although as we can see this component, although very important, only represents 11% (1/9) of our overall fitness. It is defined as the body’s ability to deliver blood to its working muscles.

A key example of this kind of fitness is running long distances such as Marathons or they Olympic 10,000m event.

To improve this area of fitness regular conditioning of running long distances would need to occur.

Example of testing in the gym: 3km timed treadmill run

2. Local Muscle Endurance

Muscle endurance is commonly mistaken for cardio fitness however it is very different by definition: A single muscles ability to perform sustained work. This along with cardio would be a common perception for overall fitness.

Key examples include: Rowing, cycling or kettle bell swings.

To improve this area of fitness conditioning would include extended periods of time working muscle groups at a sub maximal level of exertion.

Example of testing method in the gym: 1000m Row

3. Strength

L-Sit Test – A good test for strength with flexibility playing a factor on leg positioning

Strength would be the traditional area of fitness that people associate with being strong. It is defined as the extent to which muscles can exert force by contracting against resistance.

Key examples include holding or restraining an object or person.

To improve this area of fitness conditioning would include training at a steady tempo and performing multiple reps of an exercise.

You may have a strong strength base but not power or strength endurance and therefore have the inability to perform in most sports requiring these components such as soccer, basketball or most games sports.

Example of testing method in the Gym: Maximum amount of time held in a L-Sit (pictured below)

4. Strength – Endurance

Strength’s sister is Strength-Endurance; it is very similar to strength except it is a muscle’s ability to perform maximum contraction time after time.

Key examples include a rugby player continuously tackling during a rugby game or most kettlebell based activity in the gym

To improve this area of fitness you can group exercises together and work for longer periods of time; for example supersets or Met-Con workouts.

Example of testing method in the gym: maximal reps of Kettle bell swings in a 1 minute period of time.

5. Power

Power is strength with a little more speed and is defined as: The ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movements.

Key examples include jumping or Olympic lifting.

To improve this area of fitness you must develop your fast twitch muscle fibres in a way that makes the muscles contract maximally with force such as a barbell clean and jerk.

Example of a testing method in the gym: Measuring the distance attained in a standing horizontal broad jump.

Insert Pictures: Standing long jump

6. Flexibility

Weighted Lateral Split Drills cross multiple planes of fitness categories including: Strength, Flexibility and Balance

In my opinion one of the biggest keys to unlocking maximal performance is flexibility which is defined as the ability to achieve an extended range of motion without being impeded by excess tissue.

Key examples include performing a leg split or being able to perform a full depth squat.

To improve this area you must perform your exercises correctly using full range of motion and also actively find opportunities to lengthen your muscles through myofacial release and dynamic/passive stretching.

Example of a testing method in the gym: Sit and Reach test.

7. Balance

The ability to control the body’s positioning either a stationary or moving position.

A key example of this is a Handstand (stationary) or a Pistol Squat (moving)

To improve this area you must constantly challenge your stabilizing muscles in exercises like the single leg squat variation or single leg deadlift.

Example of a testing method in the gym: using a bosu ball attempt different levels of squat and assessing ability to balance.

8. Agility

Agility is the ability to perform a series of explosive power movements in rapid succession in opposing directions.

Key examples of this are turning in soccer or side stepping in rugby.

To improve this area you must perform exercises involving a change of direction such as ‘the suicide drill’. It also helps to strengthen the muscles surrounding your knee and hip joints to keep them strong by performing x-band walks.

Example of a testing method in the gym: T-Test

What is ability to rapidly and accurately change the direction of the whole body?

What do you call the ability to rapidly and accurately change direction of the whole body in space * 1 point?

What is the ability to rapidly and accurately change the direction of the entire body speed agility power?

What is the ability to move quickly and changes direction?