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Exercises

Exercises for agility: footwork, lateral jumps and the strength to stop

Published October 29, 2026

Agility is starting, stopping and changing direction quickly. The best exercises for agility are agility ladder drills and fast feet for footwork; skater hops, lateral box jumps and 180 jump turns for sideways and turning power; lateral lunges, Cossack squats, lateral sled drags and band walks for side-to-side strength; and single-leg RDLs and skater squats for the one-leg control that lets you stop. Do drills right after the warm-up, two to four times a week, and stop each set before your feet get sloppy.

  1. Agility Ladder Drill Calves, Quads
  2. Skater Hop Glutes, Quads, Abductors
  3. Lateral Box Jump Quads, Glutes, Abductors
  4. Dumbbell Lateral Lunge Quads, Glutes, Adductors
  5. Cossack Squat Quads, Adductors
  6. Lateral Sled Drag Abductors, Glutes, Quads
  7. Single-Leg RDL Hamstrings, Glutes

Footwork drills

Ladder and quick-feet drills train coordination and fast, light steps. They do not replace sport-specific cutting, but they are the easiest way to practice quick feet in a small space. Learn each pattern slowly, then speed it up.

Footwork and coordination

Agility Ladder Drill

Calves, Quads

The in-in-out-out pattern makes your feet move in and out of a fixed space quickly and accurately, which is the coordination behind shuffles and quick stops. Once it is clean, change the pattern to keep it challenging.

How to do it

  1. Lay a ladder flat on the floor.
  2. Run an in-in-out-out pattern: both feet into a square, then both out to the sides of the next.
  3. Stay on the balls of your feet with your knees slightly bent, like in guard.
  4. Go the length of the ladder, walk back, and repeat.

Cues

  • Light feet
  • Stay low
  • Clean pattern before speed

Common mistakes

  • Looking at your feet the whole way: glance down, then look ahead.
  • Going so fast you miss squares: slow down until the pattern is clean.

Swap for: Fast Feet, Jump Rope, High Knees

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Quick ground contacts

Fast Feet

Calves, Quads

Staying in a low stance while tapping your feet as fast as you can trains the ready position you return to between every cut. Use short bursts as a drill or as the start signal for a reaction sprint.

How to do it

  1. Stand in a slight crouch with your weight on the balls of your feet.
  2. Tap your feet up and down as fast as you can, staying low.
  3. Go for 20 seconds, rest briefly, and repeat if you are about to sprint.

Cues

  • Stay low
  • Fast, small steps

Common mistakes

  • Standing up tall as you speed up: keep the crouch.

Swap for: Skipping in Place, High Knees

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Lateral and turning jumps

Changing direction means pushing sideways and absorbing a landing on one leg. These jumps train both: a push to the side, a turn in the air and a balanced landing you could explode out of.

Lateral push and landing

Skater Hop

Glutes, Quads, Abductors

Bounding side to side and sticking each landing on one leg is a change of direction in slow motion: push off one leg, land on the other, hold. It is the agility exercise with the most direct carryover to cutting.

How to do it

  1. Stand on your right leg with a slight bend in the knee.
  2. Push off sideways and land on your left foot, letting your right leg swing behind you.
  3. Stick the landing, then bound back to the right.

Cues

  • Stick each landing
  • Push sideways, not up

Common mistakes

  • Taking off before you are balanced: pause for a beat on each landing.

Swap for: Lateral Box Jump, Single-Leg Jump

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Sideways jump power

Lateral Box Jump

Quads, Glutes, Abductors

Jumping sideways onto a box trains the push of a lateral first step with a soft landing. A low box is plenty; the point is a fast, full push to the side.

How to do it

  1. Stand beside a low box with your feet at hip width.
  2. Dip quickly into a quarter squat and jump up and sideways onto the box.
  3. Land softly with both feet flat and knees bent, stand up, then step down and reset before the next rep.

Cues

  • Quick dip, big push
  • Land quiet

Common mistakes

  • Choosing a box so high that you land in a deep squat: the landing should look like your takeoff position.

Swap for: Box Jump, Single-Leg Box Jump, Jump Squat

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Turning and landing

180 Jump Turn

Quads, Glutes

Turning half a circle in the air and landing balanced trains the head, shoulders and hips to rotate together and the legs to absorb a landing facing a new direction, as in a pivot or a turn to chase.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet shoulder-width, then dip into a quarter squat.
  2. Jump and turn half a circle in the air, arms helping the rotation.
  3. Land facing the other way with soft knees, then turn back on the next jump.

Cues

  • Turn the head and shoulders first
  • Land balanced
  • Alternate directions

Common mistakes

  • Landing off balance and twisting the knee: start with smaller jumps.

Swap for: Jump Squat, Star Jump, Single-Leg Jump

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Side-to-side strength

A cut is a lateral lunge done fast. Training the inner and outer thighs and glutes in that sideways position under load gives you more force to push off and more control to plant.

Lateral leg strength

Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

The side lunge loads the plant leg in the same wide, sideways position as a cut. Holding dumbbells makes it heavier as you progress, so the push back to center gets stronger over time.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet together and a dumbbell hanging at each side.
  2. Take a wide step to the right and sit your hips back over the right foot, left leg straight.
  3. Lower until the right thigh is near level with the floor, dumbbells on either side of the bent knee.
  4. Push hard off the right foot to step back to the start, then step out to the left.

Cues

  • Step wide, sit back
  • Trailing leg stays long
  • Both feet point forward

Common mistakes

  • Stepping too short, which turns the lunge into a squat with no stretch on the trailing leg.
  • Letting the bent knee drift inward past your big toe: keep it in line with the foot.

Swap for: Kettlebell Lateral Lunge, Cossack Squat, Goblet Squat

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Deep lateral strength and range

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

Sitting deep over one leg while the other stays straight builds strength deeper in the lateral position than most cuts reach, so the range a game asks for is range you have already loaded. No equipment needed.

How to do it

  1. Take a very wide stance, about twice the width of your shoulders, with the toes turned out a little.
  2. Bend your right knee and sit your hips down toward your right heel, letting the left leg straighten with the toes pointing up.
  3. Sink as deep as you can with the right foot flat and your chest lifted.
  4. Press the floor away with the right foot to return to the middle, then sit to the left.

Cues

  • Sit down, not forward
  • Flat foot on the bent side
  • Long leg stays straight

Common mistakes

  • Folding the chest down to the knee to get lower: hold a light weight out in front as a counterbalance instead.
  • Rushing from side to side: stop in the middle for a breath between reps.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Kettlebell Lateral Lunge, Balance Board Lateral Squat

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Loaded side steps

Lateral Sled Drag

Abductors, Glutes, Quads

Dragging a sled with quick side steps in a low stance trains the shuffle and the push of the trailing leg against real resistance. Do it facing both directions.

How to do it

  1. Stand facing the sled and hold its handles in both hands at hip height, arms long.
  2. Sink into a low athletic stance with your chest up.
  3. Step sideways in small, quick steps, pushing hard with the trailing leg so the sled keeps moving.
  4. Cover the planned distance, then lead with the other side.

Cues

  • Low athletic stance
  • Push with the trailing leg
  • Arms long, handles steady

Common mistakes

  • Standing up tall: stay low like you are on the ice.
  • Pulling with the arms: let the legs move the sled.

Swap for: Lateral Band Walk, Sled Push, Cossack Squat

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Hip abductors

Lateral Band Walk

Abductors

Walking sideways against a mini band trains the outer hip muscles that keep the knee from caving in on a plant. It is a light warm-up before jumps or a finisher at the end of a session.

How to do it

  1. Place a mini band around your legs just above the knees or at the ankles.
  2. Sink into a quarter squat with your feet hip-distance apart.
  3. Step sideways with the lead foot, follow with the other without letting the feet touch, and keep tension in the band.

Cues

  • Stay low
  • Toes point forward

Common mistakes

  • Swaying the torso side to side: keep your shoulders level and take shorter steps.

Swap for: Clamshell, Band Standing Hip Abduction

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One-leg control for stopping

Every change of direction starts with a stop on one leg. A hinge and a squat on one leg build the strength to put the brakes on with the hip and knee lined up over the foot.

One-leg hinge and balance

Single-Leg RDL

Hamstrings, Glutes

Hinging on one leg trains the hamstrings and glutes of the standing leg while it keeps the hips level, the same work it does when you brake on one foot. Hold a dumbbell once you can balance through 10 reps.

How to do it

  1. Stand on your left leg with a dumbbell in your left hand and the standing knee softly bent.
  2. Hinge forward at the left hip while your right leg extends straight behind you, keeping your hips level.
  3. Lower until your torso and back leg are close to parallel to the floor or the standing hamstring stops you.
  4. Drive the left hip forward to come back up, then finish the set before switching sides.

Cues

  • Back leg and torso move as one
  • Hips level, back toes down
  • Slow on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Opening the hip so the back leg rotates out: point the back toes at the floor the whole time.
  • Touching the free foot down between reps to rebalance: slow down and hold a wall with your free hand if needed.

Swap for: Dumbbell B-Stance RDL, Skater Squat

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One-leg squat strength

Skater Squat

Quads, Glutes

The skater squat loads one leg through a deep knee bend with the other leg off the floor, building the one-leg strength to absorb a hard stop. Reach the arms forward to balance.

How to do it

  1. Stand on one foot and bend the other knee so that foot is behind you, arms straight out in front as a counterweight.
  2. Push your hips back and lean your chest forward as you bend the standing knee.
  3. Lower until the back knee is just above the floor.
  4. Drive through your standing foot to stand tall; sets are per leg.

Cues

  • Arms forward as the counterweight
  • Chest leans, back stays flat
  • Back knee to a folded towel

Common mistakes

  • Only going down a few inches: put a folded towel or cushion where your knee should land and touch it every rep.
  • Letting the standing knee collapse inward: track it over your toes, and slow the lowering if it wobbles.

Swap for: Pistol Squat, Reverse Lunge, Cossack Squat

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Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

Court or field sport, two days a week

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets32 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentPlyo Box, Dumbbells, Sled

You play basketball, soccer, tennis, pickleball or another sport full of cuts, and you want to change direction faster and more under control.

Each day starts with drills and jumps while you are fresh, then strength in the lateral and one-leg positions a cut demands. That is 32 working sets a week with about 60 to 70 jumps and hops, short enough to fit beside practice.

Day 1: Lateral
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Agility Ladder DrillSeconds per pass. 4 × 10–20 3 45 s
Skater HopPer side. Stick each landing. 3 × 4–6 3 75 s
Lateral Box JumpPer side. 3 × 3–4 3 75 s
Dumbbell Lateral Lunge1 warm-up set firstPer side. 3 × 6–8 2 90 s
Single-Leg RDLPer leg. 3 × 8–10 2 75 s

Open Day 1: Lateral in the session builder

Day 2: Stop and turn
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Fast FeetSeconds per round. 3 × 10–15 3 45 s
180 Jump Turn 3 × 4–6 3 75 s
Lateral Sled DragSeconds per drag. Alternate the lead side. 4 × 15–20 2 90 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 3 × 5–8 2 75 s
Skater SquatPer leg. 3 × 5–8 2 75 s

Open Day 2: Stop and turn in the session builder

How to run it
Train on two non-consecutive days that are not the day before a game. After the ladder drills, add a few rounds of a cone drill such as the 5-10-5 shuttle if you have space.
How to progress
Drills progress by new patterns and speed once the current one is clean. Jumps progress by distance or box height. Add 5 pounds to the lateral lunge and single-leg RDL when every set reaches the top of the range at 2 reps in reserve.
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Session 2

Beginner, at home or in a park

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets28 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Dumbbells

You are new to agility work and train at home or outside with an agility ladder (or chalk lines) and a mini band.

Footwork, one lateral jump and two strength exercises in 14 sets, about 25 minutes. Twice a week is enough to learn the patterns and build the lateral strength before adding faster jumps.

Home agility
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Agility Ladder DrillSeconds per pass. Clean before fast. 4 × 15–25 3 45 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps per direction. 2 × 10–15 2 45 s
Skater HopPer side. Small hops, stick each landing. 3 × 4–6 3 1 min
Cossack SquatPer side. 3 × 5–8 2 1 min
Single-Leg RDLPer leg. Touch a wall if needed. 2 × 8–10 2 1 min
How to run it
Twice a week on non-consecutive days, after a five-minute warm-up. If you have no ladder, chalk or tape a row of squares about 18 inches apart.
How to progress
Speed up the ladder only when you go a full pass without touching a rung. Make skater hops longer before you make them faster. Add reps to the Cossack squat as you sink deeper, then hold a light weight.
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Session 3

Over 50 and want to stay quick on your feet

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Dumbbells

You are in your fifties, sixties or beyond, you want to keep moving quickly and confidently in every direction, and jumping is not on your list.

No jumps: the ladder trains quick, accurate steps, and three strength exercises load the side-to-side and one-leg positions you use when you step off a curb, turn quickly or catch yourself. Eleven sets, twice a week, about 25 minutes.

Quick feet
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Agility Ladder DrillSeconds per pass. Walk it first. 3 × 20–30 3 1 min
Lateral Band WalkSteps per direction. 2 × 10–12 3 1 min
Dumbbell Lateral LungePer side. Shallow at first. 3 × 6–10 3 90 s
Single-Leg RDLPer leg. Hand on a chair. 3 × 6–10 3 75 s
How to run it
Twice a week on non-consecutive days. Put the ladder next to a wall or counter so you can touch it, and do the single-leg RDL with a hand on a chair.
How to progress
Walk the ladder pattern slowly until it is automatic, then speed it up a little each week. Add a light dumbbell to the lateral lunge, then go a bit lower. Let go of the chair on the single-leg RDL once you can hold the bottom for two seconds.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are agility drills good for?

They train you to start, stop and change direction quickly and in control. Combined with lateral strength and one-leg control, they help you move better in any sport with cuts, shuffles and quick turns.

What is the 5-10-5 agility test?

Also called the pro agility shuttle: start straddling a line, sprint 5 yards to one side and touch the line, sprint 10 yards the other way and touch, then sprint 5 yards back through the start. Time the whole run.

What are ladder drills good for?

Coordination, foot speed and rhythm. They train fast, accurate steps in a small space. They work best as a warm-up and footwork practice next to lateral jumps and strength work, not as your whole agility program.

How often should you do agility exercises?

Two to four times a week, right after the warm-up and before heavy lifting. Keep the sets short and stop while your feet are still sharp.

Can you train agility at home?

Yes. A ladder or chalk squares, skater hops, Cossack squats, band walks and single-leg RDLs need almost no space or equipment. The beginner plan above is built for that.