Need a helping hand climbing to the top of your weight division? Resident S&C columnist provides some hardcore mobility ladder drills.

We love agility ladders at Burn with Kearns. My fighters enjoy the benefits of them as well. These advantages range from increased explosive ankle-reaction time to more agility and better timing.

Yet when most athletes consider agility work, they only think of working their lower body and not their upper body. 

The upper body can respond just as well to agility work with ladders as the lower body does. I therefore started employing agility ladder drills for the top half of your body as well.

Here are the extreme benefits we’ve found using mobility ladder drills for the upper body:

• Increased stability and mobility in the shoulder complex.
• Increased wrist strength.
• Increased coordination in the hands.
• A mean core work out.
• Lateral and rotational mobility in the upper body.
• Increased endurance and core connection with the upper and lower body.

The drills are fairly simple and you can literally run multiple fighters or students at once through them. They can also be done outside on the grass or sand to add a new stability challenge.

Anytime we are on the road performing seminars, people always ask for agility ladder drills. Why? They are fun and break up the boredom.

I may be known as ‘Dr Evil’ but I’m not always pain and drain.

Check them out and you’ll have fun and get some great work done too. 

Dr Evil’s stability ladder drills 

1: Lateral Step-overs 

Start with shoulders over your wrists and hands inside the ladder. Make sure your core is pulled in tight. Spread your feet apart. Now the fun begins! Step your hands laterally through the ladder and bring your feet with you.

This exercise is not for the faint of heart at all. If you have wrist issues make sure the floor has some cushioning to it. Walk laterally with your hands and feet taking care not to cross your hands or feet over. I can bet you will definitely feel your upper and gut on this one.

Try the drill in 30 seconds to one-minute bouts. There are many instances in a fight that you may end up in the ‘planked’ position and if you don’t have a strong core or a weak shoulders then you’re finished. The other benefit is it works your core and shoulders in a lateral plane of motion. This is where most injuries happen; laterally and rotationally.

2: Hand Cross-overs 

Start with the shoulders over the wrists and hands inside the ladder. Make sure your core is pulled in tight and spread your feet apart. Again the fun begins... This time, cross one hand over the other reaching for the next box in the ladder.

In this exercise you will be activating the rotational plane of motion since you’re crossing the midline of the body. Bring your feet with you but do not cross them over.

Try this exercise for 30 seconds to one-minute bouts. Again, most injuries happen here, so the best way to prevent is to activate that plane of motion where the action happens.