If you’re looking for an entry-level form of functional training to incorporate into your workout routine, SAQ training is the perfect place to start.
What is SAQ training?
SAQ is an acronym for speed, agility, and quickness. So, SAQ training is a type of training that incorporates these three qualities into a functional workout.
Speed, agility, and quickness are necessary real-world skills. Think reflexes. When we suddenly slip on a step, for example, we want our bodies to have the ability to quickly and gracefully redirect ourselves to prevent falling and potentially injuring ourselves.
This is why SAQ training is considered a functional training workout–it helps you build up and maintain healthy physical fitness with the goal of allowing you to fully utilize your body throughout everyday tasks. These workouts are great for people who want to use their gym time to have a positive impact on their everyday life and their overall fitness, rather than someone who is working towards a specific niche exercise goal.
SAQ Training Beginning Exercises
Here are a handful of easy-to-follow SAQ training exercises for beginners.
Ladder Drills
Ladder drills are speed exercises that work your speed, agility, and quickness abilities. This drill was built around an exercise ladder; however, you can also mark the ground using tape, sticks, or other marker tools that mimic a ladder.
Start on one end of the ladder. Run through high knees, lifting your knees up towards your chest, but step each of your feet once in each box of the ladder, making your way through it as quickly as possible.
This is the most basic ladder drill, but there are so many ways to customize it and build more complex versions. This video takes ladder drills up a notch and walks you through 25 variations.
Sprint On an Incline
Incline training is an effective way to increase speed and power. To have the most control, we recommend using a treadmill. However, running up a steep hill is also effective.
Set your treadmill to a high incline, and run a set of eight repetitions of ten-second sprints. Between each rep, make sure you’re taking time to rest and recover for at least fifty seconds. As you progress, you can increase your sprint time or the number of sets you do in one workout session.
Cone Sprints
Using cones, or two markers of some sort, create a line of about fifteen feet. Placing one cone on one end, and the second cone fifteen feet away, sprint from cone to cone back and forth, tapping the cone with your hand right as you switch directions.
This exercise focuses on speed, acceleration, and the ability to switch directions in a quick and controlled manner. As with most beginner-level exercises, there are variations and add-ons that you can take to increase the challenge. For different variations, check out this article.
Take A Class
Oh, and wanna know our super, top-secret, best way to SAQ train for a beginner? It’s hopping into a class, of course. The best thing about taking a class in-person or online is that you are being taught exactly what to do and how from a professional. Let’s say you hop onto a treadmill alone for a SAQ training session. Perhaps, in the middle, something will start to feel off or funky. That very thing might be your body telling itself to slow down and take a break. By listening in on a virtual class somewhere like iChuze Fitness or taking one in-person, you can ask your coach how to modify the workout to fit your unique needs.
Further, your Coach will explain ways to correct your form and focus on breathing that will make your movements more effective overall. Proper form prevents injury and helps us work at our most optimal level of performance.
For this, we recommend stopping into a live Team Training session or giving one of our virtual treadmill workouts a try. Here is one we love!
Looking for a fitness-oriented space to work out in? Stop by your local Chuze Fitness! We offer clean, professional, state-of-the-art fitness equipment and exercise rooms to help you accomplish your fitness goals.