Di Hickman

discover how to live your yoga, and love life

Agility Ladder Core workout – 4 exercises

//  by //  39 Comments

When you think of agility ladders the first thing that might come to mind is cardio training. And yes, they are great for cardio drills and HIIT. However, they are also great for abs. Not convinced? I’m going to share four exercises for an agility ladder core workout.

4 agility ladder exercises. Get a core workout using an agility ladder.

Disclosure: Links in this post may be affiliate links

For home workouts it’s easy to just think about dumbbells and resistance bands. But, I’d highly recommend looking at an agility ladder. There are so many reasons why you should be using and agility ladder. However, if you’re looking for something a little different, interesting and fun then a speed ladder checks all the boxes.

The video has all the information in this post. You can view the video on YouTube. Maybe add it to a workout playlist? Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel. I upload new videos every Tuesday and Friday. For exclusive longer format videos sign up for my Patreon community.

Agility Ladder Core Workout

Sometimes you have to think OUTSIDE the box when using an agility ladder. This one piece of equipment is great for a cardio workout, total body interval workout and this agility ladder core workout. Sometimes you just need to play with the equipment you have to spark new ways of using it.

personal trainer demonstrating agility ladder core workout

The agility ladder core workout has FOUR exercises. Each exercise is done for 45-60s. You can do these exercises as a quick four minute agility ladder core workout. Or, add the exercises to the other ladder exercises for a longer workout.

Walking Plank

Start in a plank position, Hands in the same ladder ‘hole’, feet outside the ladder. Move laterally along the ladder, walking the hands in and out of the spaces. The feet will step with the hands.

personal trainer demonstrating walking plank using agility ladder

Key points: It’s easy here to wobble and lose plank alignment. Stay strong in the core! Move one arm and leg at a time.

Plank Straddle

Begin in a plank position, with the hands and feet inside the agility ladder. Keep the upper body static and start to move the feet. Begin by stepping the right foot outside the ladder, then the left. Return the right foot, followed by the left.

personal trainer demonstrating plank straddle using agility ladder

Walking the feet in this way can sometimes cause what I call the “bouncy butt”. Your booty begins to jump up and down with the rhythm of your walk. Again, we’re looking for that strong stable plank.

Pat-a-cake Plank

This is exactly the same as the straddle plank above. Except you move your hands! Say what? Yes, that’s right. We go from lower body and core, to upper body and core.

personal trainer demonstrating pat-a-cake plank using agility ladder

This is killer for the shoulders, arms and chest. The lower body remains static. Try and keep the chest and hips parallel to the floor.

Plank Jacks:

Time to get a little cardio and some total body exercise! Begin in a plank, feet inside the ladder holes, hands shoulder width apart. Jump the feet outside the ladder and then back in. Similar to a jumping jack, but in a plank!

personal trainer demonstrating plank jacks

Key points: The torso stays static throughout. This is a total body exercise. Cardio, hips, legs, core, chest, arms and shoulders. Limit the booty bouncing. Save the twerking for the dance floor.

So, there you have it. Four exercises to work the core using an agility ladder. I’ve had a few agility ladders over the years but my favorite is the SKLZ agility ladder. Coincidentally it’s the first one I bought, back in 2011, and it’s the one I still use.

Questions

  • Have you used an agility ladder before?
  • What is your favorite plank variation?
  • Do you have a strong core?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  8. Scraps

    That’s a clever piece of equipment!

    As for editing software, I flip between Movie Maker and Adobe Premier Pro–PP has the unfortunate habit of screwing up the titling at any given time (bad if you love to add captions and such, which I do) but it has fabulous advanced editing tools. MM at least lets me add as many captions as I need to without flaking out (so far). I can see myself having to use both on some projects.

    Reply

    • Di Hickman

      Ugh movie maker just decides to randomly ‘lose’ my original files when saving. I had this video totally done (with captions etc) and it just wouldn’t save because it lost the files, even though they are right there and not moved… Sounds like similar issues with PP. *sigh*

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.