If you want to be the best football, basketball or soccer player on the field, you’re going to need the best speed and agility training equipment to beat the competition.
In order to be a champion, you must train like a champion.
For so many years in college you trained with traditional athletic equipment (dumbbells and weight machines) and you were only able to reach a certain fitness peak.
As an athlete in football or soccer, you must utilize the best speed and agility training equipment to elevate your game to the next level.
At 6’3” I could barely dunk a basketball in my early 20’s.
After I started training smarter, by age 25, I could easily dunk a basketball with a 36” vertical.
I was fast to begin with, but after training with the best speed and agility equipment, I was consistently able to clock my 40-yard dash at 4.61 seconds.
10 plates on each side of the leg press was no problem for a set of 8.
All of this wouldn’t have been possible if I was not committed to learning my craft.
You will never get to the top of your game if you don’t train with the best speed and agility equipment.
You must be selective and smart about what you choose to workout with.
Every sport is different, and every athlete is different. Tailor your equipment to meet your training needs.
Add these 10 Pieces of:
Speed and Agility Training Equipment
1. Barbell with Bumper Plates
As an athlete in football or soccer, you should be training your body for explosive movements with the best speed and agility training equipment.
The power clean, clean and jerk, deadlift, snatch, and front squat are just a few of the many exercises/Olympic lifts you can do with a barbell and bumper plates.
You don’t want to try these lifts with the typical barbell and plates at the gym. They are not made to be thrown around. Also, some of the weights are not circular, which makes the setting of the weights on the floor challenging and awkward.
Ideal form will be necessary to complete a proper Olympic lift with the barbell and bumper plates. Safety should always be your main concern for any exercise requiring an explosive movement.
I have seen several people try to do these lifts on their, only to blow a shoulder or drop the weight backwards because they are using incorrect form or trying to overdo it.
Seek a professional to help perfect your form. If you take the right steps, these lifts will take you to the next level.
Need a set of your own?
Try the OneFitWonder 160 Lbs Bumper Plates Set to get a great set of bumper plates. This essential piece of athletic training equipment is durable, long lasting plates won’t let you down.
2. Sled
Almost every athlete requires powerful leg strength to generate speed.
Load the sled up with some weights and get to pushing.
Drive your knees up and make an explosive ground strike, pumping your legs as fast as you can.
Even though you seem to be running as fast as possible, the weight of the sled should be adequately resisting you.
Increase the weight over time and you’ll sufficiently accelerate your sprint and drive power.
One sled that I recommend to people is the CFF Gen 3 High/Low Push Pull Sled. It’s easy to use and great for all levels.
3. Exercise Bands
Elastic Bands can benefit an athlete in an abundance of ways.
You can use them straight up as a dumbbell replacement, or you can add them to the dumbbells to create a more explosive movement.
The bands create more tension the longer they are stretched. Therefore, the end of the lift gets more difficult rather than easier with a dumbbell alone. Try adding bands to any traditional dumbbell or barbell lift for best results.
Bands can also be used to train the smaller auxiliary muscles throughout the body.
For example, the musculature surrounding the rotator cuff requires precise exercise programming at a much lower resistance than typical lifts.
Pitchers or baseball players in general should especially be using resistance bands to stabilize the rotator cuff and strengthen their arms.
Elastic bands can provide various lines of resistance allowing you to easily train your muscles at different angles and resistances.
Pitchers would be smart to use the Odoland 16 pcs Resistance Bands Set. Your rotator cuffs will need to be protected with the extreme levels of force you will be placing on them with your curve balls, cut fast balls, and sliders.
4. Plyo Boxes
Some of the best speed and agility training equipment are the plyo boxes. Remember when you were in middle school and you couldn’t wait for the moment when you could finally dunk a basketball? That was me.
I thought all you had to do was train your calf muscles as much as possible to get there. I was always close and could finally dunk in high school.
But it wasn’t until I was older that I found out you needed to also train the rest of your leg muscles to get the extra inches that makes dunking quite easy.
If you can jump higher than everyone else on the court or field, you have a major advantage on the competition.
Whether you’re grabbing a rebound or slamming a spike, the higher you can jump, the better.
Being able to outjump everyone in the gym was one reason I was able to excel in most of the sports I played.
Part of your athletic training should include the plyo boxes.
Slowly work your way up to the highest level possible.
Create a safe environment for yourself by stepping off the box rather than jumping off may save your knees over the long term.
Try the Titan Fitness 3 plyo boxes. These plyo boxes allow you to miss a jump and avoid scraping your shins. Their soft, slip free, and durable foam surface make these plyo boxes the best thing to help you increase your vertical. They are an essential piece of gym equipment for your athletic training facility
5. Battle Ropes
Battle ropes can be some of the most exhausting pieces of speed and agility training equipment on the market.
They are good for scorching your shoulders with waves, slams, and whips.
But don’t stop there, try some lunges and jump squats while you are driving wave after wave of the battle ropes.
An athlete can get a great cardio and upper body workout with excellent battle rope programming.
Some great battle ropes to check out are the Pro Battle Ropes with Anchor Strap Kit. They come with a durable protective sleeve to keep you ropes lasting for days to come.
6. Chains
How do chains help an athlete’s ability to get an edge?
They ensure that every part of the lift has adequate resistance.
During a bench press, the lift is the easiest at the top.
Add some chains to the end of the barbell and now the top of the lift is the hardest.
As you lift the weight, you are lifting more and more chain links off the ground, allowing the lift to get more difficult near the end of the rep.
With anything athletic, you are looking for a way to get an edge over the competition. This may very well help you get that edge.
Maximize your efforts with these RopeFit Steel Chains. The chains vary in weight from 28 to 60 pounds.
7. Wall Ball
The wall ball allows you to generate a large amount of power and thrust in an upward fashion.
The transference of your power through the ball upward will come right back to you as you must decelerate the ball and your body mass on its way downward, giving you a powerful concentric and eccentric lift.
What’s great about a wall ball is the ball is soft, so if you do happen to drop it, you’re probably going to be alright. If you throw a solid piece of metal into the air, you may lose a couple of front teeth on the way down if you don’t have the best of hands.
Since the wall ball works best as a full body movement, you are also going to challenge your cardio capacity in a short amount of time.
I like the j/fit Soft Wall Ball for all your plyometric and strength training needs. This essential piece of athletic training equipment is heavy duty, triple stitched, and may be just what you are looking for.
8. Jump Rope
The jump rope is a perfect piece of speed and agility training equipment.
Quick feet is the name of the game.
Ask James Harden. He can dance his way to 3 points in the blink of an eye.
Muhammad Ali “floated like a butterfly” and destroyed opponents.
An athlete with faster feet than his adversary is going to beat him almost every time.
It’s imperative that you find a speed rope and get to work. It’s an essential piece of athletic training equipment. Jump forward and backward, side to side, single foot and double foot, and do it as fast as you can.
One way you can know if you are improving is by using a metronome. It’s hard to know exactly how fast your feet are without one. Can you jump at 120 beats per minute? 150 beats per minute? Test and re-test and challenge yourself to get faster every session.
Get the WOD Nation Speed Jump Rope and allow your speed and quickness to jump to the next level. How many double-unders can you get in a row?
9. Tractor Tire
If you have seen someone flipping a giant tire, you may not have realized it was for an exercise routine.
The full body exercise of a tire flip will have you sore and exhausted in no time.
The tire flip forces you to squat and flip with great form. You would have an extremely hard time flipping the tire without it.
A tractor tire can be used for so many other exercises besides flipping. Try decline pushups, step ups, and triceps dips.
The explosive nature of the tire flip is a great way to get an athlete’s blood pumping and muscles working.
If you are really interested in getting a tire, visit your nearest tire recycling center
and get to flipping!
10. Foam Roller
Don’t forget to rest and recover. It may be one of the most important things you do to develop your muscles.
Grab a foam roller and roll that soreness away.
Use a foam roller to lengthen tight muscles help them perform at optimal levels.
This poor man’s massage technique has quickly caught fire in helping bodies recover quickly.
Try the TriggerPoint GRID Foam Roller for optimal muscle recovery. I use this quite often to lengthen my muscles and reduce soreness.
If you liked this article, check out my Top 20 of the Best Pieces of Functional Fitness Equipment article for more examples of my favorite pieces of equipment.
Summary: Speed and Agility Training Equipment
As an athlete, you need to use the best speed and agility training equipment to beat the best. You won’t get anywhere this day and age using dumbbells and weight machines to get you where you want to go. It’s imperative that you go above and beyond the norm and figure out ways to get your body better than your competitors. You may be a naturally great athlete, and you may be smarter than most, but the one who works harder and smarter in the gym will be tough to beat.
Are you working out with cutting edge gym equipment? What has your experience been with athletic training equipment? Let me know below!
