The time for New Year's Resolutions is upon us and many people will be thinking about getting fit or losing weight (especially after the Christmas indulgence and seemingly never ending parade of nibbles, chocolates and turkey based meals). Joining the gym is one way of doing this, starting a diet or going running are also popular ways of keeping fit, but did you realise you can use a ladder to improve your fitness and agility? OK, so it's not a ladder you could use to climb to any height, but it's a ladder nonetheless. The fitness and agility ladder is flat, painted on a floor or made from rope and laid flat. It looks just like a ladder, with side rails and series of rungs and you do go from top to bottom on it, but not straight up and down like you would on a normal ladder. The idea is to improve speed and agility when moving, so this exercise is popular with the military, athletes and footballers. Starting from one end, a series of different footwork is performed on the ladder, all designed to improve foot placement (so in actual fact, this would help with ladder climbing skills). An easy first exercise is to run up and down the ladder, forwards and backwards, aiming to place one foot in each space. You can then progress to getting both feet in each space, and then on to harder moves, where you side step across the side lines and back into the ladder, or even from one side of the ladder to another. Facing the ladder side-on, rather than as if you were climbing it, presents another level for agility and footwork. You can use one or two of the spaces and hop between them, outside the spaces and back in, until you no longer need to look at the ladder to get your feet in the right place. Once the footwork aspect has been mastered, the idea is that you go faster and faster each time, making this an exercise not just for agility, but for speed and cardiac workout as well. This might seem like an exercise just for the lower body and heart, but if you are serious about getting in shape then you can use the ladder on all fours, trying to make the same movements with your hands as you have been doing with your feet. Of course, you do get a full body workout because your feet are still moving, but by supporting some of your weight on your arms, you are working out a different set of muscles. The hand ladder exercises are good for sportspeople who use their hands a lot, as it trains the hands and arms to move quickly and bear weight. It is similar to push ups, in that your arms and shoulders are supporting your body weight, but provides a heavier workout because you are not keeping your hands in contact with the floor at all times. The hand ladder workout is like a more strenuous version of push-ups with hand claps. The next stage would be to do the ladder exercises in a handstand position, but few people are strong and fast enough upside down to be able to pull this one off! Hopefully this hasn't put you off making a fitness resolution this year; start with the basics and work your way up the ladder.