Clean Run Magazine - November 2009 - 37

Lori Hansen To prepare your body for agility remember the four Bes. 1. Be Efficient Learn and practice good running form and mechanics. Activate your core (trunk) by gently drawing in your abdominals; maintain good posture with “eyes up, chest up.” Keep your arms bent at 90° and don’t swing them across the midline of your body as you run. Drive your knees up high in front and draw your heels up to your buns in back while staying up on the balls of your feet. This can help you cover more ground per stride, speed up a slow dog as he chases you, and keep up with a fast one. 2. Be Specific Agility is often hours of waiting around followed by 30 seconds of sheer terror. Interval training, or bouts of short intense exercise alternating with slightly longer active rest periods, is best. For example, after warming up, sprint for 30 seconds, then walk or jog for 2 minutes, then do some type of frontcross drill (figure eights around cones or zigzag for 30 seconds while alternating front-cross rotation directions, without your dog) then walk or jog for 2 minutes. Continue this work/rest pattern for up to 30 minutes total. Incor- Lori, a certified, degreed personal trainer with over 25 years experience, competes in agility at the national level. She teaches Human Agility classes in Denver, Colorado, and is available for camps and seminars. Contact her via www.humanagilitytraining.com. porate specific agility or running form skills into the 30-second bouts (frontcross footwork, acceleration/deceleration, U-turns/pulls, high knees in front, heels to buns in back, and so on). You can see a more detailed example of this exercise pattern on my DVD Human Agility Training, Volume 1 available through the Clean Run store or my website. 3. Be Ready We diligently warm up our dogs, but what about the handlers? A dynamic (with movement) warm-up and stretch will properly prepare your muscles, lubricate your joints, and wake up your mind, avoiding any unfortunate “Can’t Remember Stuff” (CRS) episodes on course. A good warm-up takes about 10 minutes and lasts for about 10 minutes. It should include activities specific to agility (sprinting, change of direction, acceleration, and deceleration) and stretches done while moving. Static, or held, stretches make the muscles lengthen like chewing gum; muscles extend but don’t spring back. And that lack of return to elasticity can actually hinder your performance. Dynamic, moving stretches interspersed with agility-specific movements create an elastic or rubber-band type of muscular response. Save your static stretches for cooling down at the end of the day, not right before you go into the ring. To change a static stretch into a dynamic one, just add motion. For example, stretch the front of your thigh (quadriceps muscles) by standing tall and bringing your heel up behind your same-side bun cheek and then wave, slap, or grab your foot, depending on your flexibility, with the same-side hand. Now, don’t just stand there like a giant pink flamingo lawn ornament. Instead, release your held foot and take a step forward and wave/slap/grab the foot on the other side. Continue walking in a straight line in this alternating manner for 30 seconds to one minute. A complete dynamic warm-up (as well as proper running mechanics and a home interval training workout) is also included in Human Agility Training, Volume 1. 4. Be Your Best If your dog needs an NFL running back and all you’ve got is an aching back, then haul your behind out of that comfy reclining lawn chair and warm up using intervals and good running mechanics. Your dog, your wallet, and your waistline will thank you! Take your training where it’s never gone before The Ready Jump is a portable, competition-quality, 4' wide jump that you can take anywhere. It opens or closes in under 15 seconds and stores easily with no loose pieces. The Ready Jump features Clip and Go jump cup strips so it has cups every 2", from 4" up to 26". It’s so easy to use, there’s no excuse not to take the show on the road. ® Available exclusively from www.cleanrun.com and www.ClipAndGoAgility.com November 09 | Clean Run

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Clean Run Magazine - November 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - November 2009