Long-distance running and agility

S

subdude

0
I am not a competitive athlete, but I play ultimate frisbee with friends during the summer, and it's personally important to me to be as good as I can be. Therefore, it's important to me that I have strong endurance, speed, and agility.

On other threads, I've heard people say that distance running hurts one's agility. If that's true, why is it? I can understand how distance training won't help agility, but how does it hurt it? And what can I do to maintain or even improve my agility even if I intend to run long-distances to lose/not gain weight and preserve my endurance? (I also plan on running at least one half-marathon during the summer. I ran one last summer and hope to do much better this summer.)
 
subdude said:
And what can I do to maintain or even improve my agility even if I intend to run long-distances to lose/not gain weight and preserve my endurance?

(I also plan on running at least one half-marathon during the summer. I ran one last summer and hope to do much better this summer.)
Click to expand...

My background is in coaching hockey, and when we train players we actually focus on the ' trio ' of " quickness, speed, and agility ".

There is a very reputable trainer based here in Toronto named Craig Ballantyne. I've included an article of his on " quickness, speed, and agility " for your information as we've used many of the exercises and routines mentioned in the article with our kids - with great success.

Hope it helps.
 
the main reason why agility and speed training hurt endurance performance is because most agilty/speed drills do not use the same energy system as endurance. Most agility drills are short bursts mostly at a higher intensity, so you will end up training your body to perform better on those short bursts.
 
Do fast-twitch (agility and speed) and slow-twitch (endurance) muscle development then compete with each other? And is it fair to say that developing speed/power/agility and endurance at the same time is easier for someone like me who is nowhere near the limits of how in shape I could be than it is for a guy who is already much leaner and conditioned? I'm in pretty good shape compared to the average guy on the street, but that's not saying much.
 
I am not a fitness expert but I have actually heard that many sprinters (fast twitch) outperform the distance runners (slow twitch) in moderate running events. Is what I heard offbase?
 
HA!

define endurance?

define Speed?

and define Agility?

you will find one thing in common..... FITNESS!

I truly believe you can have it all. Check out multidisciplined athletes.

personally, I can run 25 miles with any decent runner, not necessarily a "runner specialist" and I can go thru an obstacle course with any decent agility trained, or I can go lift weights with a lifter, etc.

NOW- am I the best at anything- not hardly. But you can be "good" at all of it.

FF
 
Last edited:
Based on the type of sport you do, your muscle fibers are made up accordingly. If you are a distance runner you will develop more of the slow twitch fibers. Sprinters, power lifters etc. have a higher concentration of fast twitch fibers to store more ATP and CP needed for the explosive energy. If you mostly train in one energy system your muscle fibers will favor one over the other (the reason marathoners are sucky sprinters and vice versa) and without strategically training both fast and slow you cannot have both. You CAN have both by keeping agility drills while increasing endurance. Only training endurance without the agility drills WILL hurt the performance you're looking for. So in a sense, yes they do compete with one another, yet they can work together too. In any sport you are using a bit of both, no matter what you're doing. As far as your other question, I believe that the conditioned, lean dude would still have the advantage over you. Once you are strong and conditioned in one energy system its not hard to develop another in much less time.
 
Last edited:
Soccer players need that combination as well. So, play soccer. Also, decathletes have to have that combination of endurance and agility. Look into some of their workouts and you'll see what you need to do. Here's one link, featuring U.S. decathlete, Tom Pappas:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top