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Zig zags are agility exercises that work on your body's cardiovascular system. This exercise increases your heart rate, works on coordination, enhances balance, builds athletic performance, and improves your speed. It trains the muscles of your lower body, including the shins, calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps.
Many variations of this exercise include zig zags drill and jumping zig zags, but here we will discuss the zig zags run. You can also modify the intensity by increasing or reducing the speed. But the main drill of this agility exercise is that you have to proceed very quickly on a diagonal path. This exercise is beneficial for the people involved in sports such as soccer or basketball.
These exercises usually do not require any equipment, but you can use cones for drawing diagonal pathways.
We know that there is not much information about this agility exercise on the internet. This article will help you gain a better understanding of this exercise.
How to Do Zig Zags?
The method of doing any exercise is a crucial part. This is because a proper method will help in training your body appropriately, while an improper method can cause serious damage to your muscles. Here are the stages that you must follow to do this agility exercise.
- Start by setting around 10 cones in a zig zag pattern approximately three feet away from each other. For instance, keep one cone in front of your body and the next one approximately three feet towards the right in a diagonal formation. Do this with all the cones.
- Stand at the start of this diagonal formation.
- Start by quickly running around the first cone and then diagonally around the next cone.
- Repeat these movements till you are at the end of the formation. Make sure to go all the way around the cones.
- Perform this set again.
Tips and Techniques for Zig Zags
These exercises tend to be advanced and moderate impact exercises that work effectively on your legs. Here are some tips and techniques that you must follow to do this agility exercise to reap all the advantages.
- Consult fitness professional – Do not start with this exercise if you are pregnant, suffering from chronic pain, or suffering from illness. This challenging exercise can damage your muscles if not done correctly. Consult a fitness professional beforehand to get a proper idea of this exercise.
- Warm-up before doing this exercise – Make sure to warm up your body before starting. This will ensure that your muscles are properly stretched and prepared.
- Practice - This is considered an advanced exercise. If you are a beginner at this exercise, start by doing a few plyometric exercises first. These include jumping, push-ups, kicking, running, throwing, and so on. These exercises will help you strengthen your leg muscles and will prepare you.
Benefits of Zig Zags
The zig zags provide various advantages to health. They are:
Better coordination and movement
Doing these exercises will help you build better coordination and movement of the body. The diagonal movement of this exercise prepares your body to move in a winding direction. It helps in building greater body control as well as increasing the speed and quickness of your body.
Strengthening Leg Muscles
This dynamic exercise will help in working your leg muscles as well as developing the agility of your joints.
Others
Including this exercise in your regular workout regime also has other benefits such as building endurance, improving aerobic movements, enhancing sports performance, and improving functional movement.
Common Mistakes While Doing Zig Zags
Precautions are always necessary for doing any workout, especially one as advanced as this one. Here are some of the common mistakes that you should avoid when doing this exercise to prevent any unwanted injury.
Keeping the cones too far apart or too close – You should keep the cones at a distance that keeps you challenged but does not make the process too difficult.
Running speed – You should focus on maintaining the speed as only you will be able to reap all the advantages of this exercise, such as better agility and coordination. In the beginning, you may start slow but eventually, challenge yourself to do better.
Takeaway
Zig zags can be considered as both agility and cardio exercise. Considering the challenges and benefits of this exercise, you should try to incorporate it into your routine. Once you are good at this exercise, you can work on its different variations, such as jumps.
However, caution is essential for zig zags due to their advanced movements. Also, follow the tips and techniques mentioned above to do this agility exercise properly, along with consulting the fitness professionals.
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