Train Like a Pro: 10 Agility Ladder Drills Used by Top Athletes

Agility ladders are a part of many athlete’s training. As their name suggests, they’re designed to improve agility, which is the ability to change direction rapidly. However, it’s not just competitive athletes that use agility ladders. Recreational exercisers can also use them to develop their functional fitness.

The benefits of agility ladder training for athletes and non-athletes include (1, 2):

• Improved agility
• Increased speed
• Decreased reaction time
• Improved balance
• Better coordination
• Increased cardiovascular fitness
• Improved cognition
• Increased workout enjoyment

As a personal trainer with over 30 years of experience, I’m especially interested in this last point. After all, it’s my job not only to write and deliver effective workouts but also to help my clients train consistently.

Agility ladder drills are a lot of fun and often don’t feel like much of a workout. Most people are so busy thinking about their feet that they forget how hard they’re working. Needless to say, the more enjoyable a workout is, the more likely you are to stick to it. After all, lack of enjoyment is a significant barrier to consistent exercise (3).

In this article, I share ten of my favorite agility ladder drills and explain how to incorporate them into your workouts.

Best Agility Ladder Drills

Do you want to start incorporating agility ladder training into your workouts? Good to hear! Here are ten agility ladder drills to try.

1. Agility Ladder High Knees

This exercise targets your foot speed and accuracy. It also develops the ability to lift your knees, which is critical for faster sprinting. Finally, done for high reps with short rests, agility ladder high knees are an excellent conditioning drill.

Instructions:

1. Jog up to your agility ladder.
2. On reaching the first rung, start pumping your arms and legs as fast as you can.
3. Run the length of the ladder, placing one foot in each space.
4. Make sure your thighs reach at least parallel to the floor.
5. Run off the end of the ladder, turn around, and repeat.

2. Agility Ladder Ins and Outs

Agility ladder ins and outs teach you how to move your feet in two directions – forward and laterally. This is an essential skill in many sports, and similar movements often precede dodges and zigzags. Ins and outs are also a fun and effective cardio exercise.

1. Stand at the end of your agility ladder.
2. Step forward into the first space on your ladder.
3. Next, step your feet out wide so they are outside your ladder.
4. Step forward and into the second box space of your ladder.
5. Then, forward and out so your feet are outside the ladder.
6. Continue down the length of your ladder.
7. You can do this exercise at a fast walk or run or with high knees.

3. Agility Ladder Cariocas

Cariocas teach you to move sideways down your agility ladder. As such, it’s good for developing coordination, balance, and accuracy. In addition, this exercise provides a great cardio and kilocalorie-burning workout.

Instructions:

1. Stand sideways to your agility ladder.
2. Bring your outermost foot behind you and step into the first space of the ladder.
3. Step over with your other foot so both feet are in the first space.
4. Next, bring your leading foot across and step into the second space of the ladder.
5. Step behind with your other foot so both feet are in the second space.
6. Continue alternating lead legs as you move up the ladder.
7. When you reach the end, reverse direction and come back down the ladder, maintaining the same sideways orientation.

4. Agility Ladder Two-Footed Jumps

This is a plyometric exercise that will improve lower body power and speed. The aim is not to jump as high as possible. Instead, you must keep your jumps low and fast. Imagine the ground is hot, so you spend as little time touching it as possible.

Instructions:

1. Stand at the start of your ladder. Bend your knees slightly.
2. Using your arms for momentum, jump forward into the first space.
3. Rebound as quickly as you can and jump to the next space.
4. Continue down your ladder to the end.
5. You can also do this exercise by jumping into alternate spaces.

5. Agility Ladder Forward Hops

Many of life’s strenuous activities happen one leg at a time. Despite this, most strength and conditioning workouts are bilateral or two-legged. Hopping is a very functional way to develop single-leg power, stability, and balance.

Instructions:

1. Stand one leg at the end of your agility ladder.
2. Using your arms for momentum, hop from one box to the next.
3. Land lightly and try to minimize ground contact time.
4. Travel the length of the ladder, doing one hop per square.
5. Turn around and hop back on the opposite leg.

6. Agility Ladder Hopscotch

This exercise combines hops and jumps to challenge your agility, coordination, and foot speed. Start slow and only increase your speed when you are confident you can do the movements without making mistakes.

Instructions:

• Stand at the end of your ladder.
• Jump forward and land on one keg in the first space.
• Next, hop forward and land with your feet outside the ladder.
• Jump forward again but, this time, land with your other foot in the next space.
• Continue this sequence along the length of your agility ladder.

7. Agility Ladder Lateral Hops

Lateral movement is one of the most overlooked aspects of strength and conditioning. However, the ability to move sideways is critical in most sports, i.e., dodging around opponents. Lateral hops develop your ability to move sideways while improving ankle, knee, and hip stability.

Instructions:

1. Stand sideways to the end of your agility ladder. Balance on one leg.
2. Using your arms for momentum and balance, hop sideways from one box to the next.
3. Land lightly while minimizing ground contact time.
4. Travel the length of the ladder, doing one hop per space.
5. Turn around and hop back on the opposite leg.

8. Agility Ladder Cross Country Skier

This dynamic agility ladder exercise develops balance, coordination, foot speed, and lower body explosive power. It’s excellent for athletes of all sports and a fun addition to any cardio or fat-burning workout. Think of this exercise as a moving Ali Shuffle, and you’ll soon master it!

Instructions:

1. Stand sideways onto the end of your ladder so the rest of the rungs are laid out to your side.
2. Jump and place one foot in the square in front of you.
3. Jump again and move sideways, placing your opposite foot in the next space.
4. Continue down the length of your ladder and then rest.

9. Agility Ladder Twist Hops

This challenging agility ladder drill will develop your coordination, balance, and reflexes. The rotational element means that your core will also get a good workout, and your ankle, knee, and hip stability will improve. This is an excellent movement for athletes from all sports.

Instructions:

1. Stand parallel to the ladder with one foot inside the first square and the other foot outside.
2. Jump and twist your body so that the foot that was outside the ladder lands inside the next square. Your other foot should now be outside the ladder.
3. Continue this twisting hop movement down the ladder.

10. Agility Ladder Push-Ups

Most agility ladders target your lower body. However, you can also use an agility ladder to shake up your upper-body workouts. Pump up your pecs, shoulders, and arms with these agility ladder push-ups.

Instructions:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your hands in the first two spaces of your ladder.
2. Bend your arms, lower your chest to the floor, and push yourself back up.
3. Step your hands and feet to the side, moving one space down your ladder.
4. Do another push-up.
5. Continue down your ladder, doing push-ups all the way.

How to Program Agility Ladder Drills

There are no hard and fast rules for when and how to use an agility ladder. That said, this is how I incorporate agility ladder drills into my client’s workouts.  

During the Warm-Up

A good workout starts with a thorough warm-up. Most conventional warm-ups comprise three main components:

1. Pulse raise – 5-10 minutes of light cardio
2. Dynamic mobility and flexibility – to prepare the joints and muscles
3. Rehearsal sets – to reinforce correct exercise technique

I’ve also found that agility ladder drills can be helpful during warm-ups, especially before sprint, functional, or athletic workouts. 3-5 minutes of agility drills help shake off any remaining cobwebs and improve coordination.

Part of the Main Session

If speed and agility are your priorities, the main part of your workout should include agility ladder drills. Like a strength workout, these drills should be high-intensity efforts alternated with lengthy rests to ensure you recover fully between sets. For example, for every 20-30 seconds of work, you should rest for 2-3 minutes.  

Start with a couple of relatively easy drills to optimize your mind-muscle connection, and then progress to drills that really challenge your speed, agility, and coordination. Bring your workout to an end or move on to more straightforward drills if you start making mistakes or slowing down. This type of training works best when you emphasize quality over quantity.

As Part of a Circuit

Circuit training is one of the most time-efficient workouts around. It can be adapted to meet almost any training goal, from weight loss to muscle building to improving fitness. Agility ladder drills make great circuit training stations, and adding a couple of drills to your circuit workout will make it more functional, athletic, and fun.

However, as circuit training can be pretty fatiguing, make sure you mostly choose straightforward drills so you can do each one correctly. This is not the time to challenge your coordination with complex agility ladder drills.

As a Finisher

High-rep agility ladder drills are a great cardio workout. As such, they make for an effective finisher after your main workout. This type of training will increase your kilocalorie expenditure and enhance your fitness.

However, for this to work, you need to pick relatively simple drills that you can do without making mistakes. Also, you should do multiple reps at a rapid pace, interspersed with short rests.

Tabata agility ladder high-knees work really well. This involves doing the high-knee drill (#1) for 20 seconds, resting for 10 seconds, and repeating 8-10 times.

Conclusion

Agility ladder training is an enjoyable way to improve your speed, coordination, balance, and fitness. You can incorporate agility ladder drills into your warm-up, put them in your main session or circuits, or use them as a finisher.

However, some agility ladder drills are more challenging than they look, so don’t worry if you find them tricky at first. They’ll get easier with practice, and you’ll soon be running up and down your ladder like a pro!

References:

1. Afonso J, da Costa IT, Camões M, Silva A, Lima RF, Milheiro A, Martins A, Laporta L, Nakamura FY, Clemente FM. The Effects of Agility Ladders on Performance: A Systematic Review. Int J Sports Med. 2020 Oct;41(11):720-728. doi: 10.1055/a-1157-9078. Epub 2020 May 12. Erratum in: Int J Sports Med. 2020 Jun 23;: PMID: 32396965.
2. Castillo de Lima V, Castaño LAA, Sampaio RAC, Sampaio PYS, Teixeira CVL, Uchida MC. Effect of agility ladder training with a cognitive task (dual task) on physical and cognitive functions: a randomized study. Front Public Health. 2023 Jun 21;11:1159343. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1159343. PMID: 37415705; PMCID: PMC10321527.
3. Gjestvang C, Abrahamsen F, Stensrud T, Haakstad LAH. Motives and barriers to initiation and sustained exercise adherence in a fitness club setting-A one-year follow-up study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2020 Sep;30(9):1796-1805. doi: 10.1111/sms.13736. Epub 2020 Jun 15. PMID: 32488898; PMCID: PMC7497044.

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