How many people out there are weak, lack athleticism, and are unable to move around freely with ease?

Too damn many!

Yeah it’s a good thing when you can push or pull around a ton of weight on a barbell but it’s A PROBLEM when you can’t move just your own bodyweight.

People and athletes especially need to improve their overall athlicism, mobility and general bodyweight strength.

Young athletes that come through my gym doors on a regular basis lack tons of basic strength that they should have without question before they even think about jumping under a bar or even working with external weight through dumbbells and kettlebells.

The first few weeks or even first month is focused strictly on bodyweight training.

Some of the biggest things I’m seeing are:

  • weak core muscles
  • tight hips and lower back
  • no general conditioning

I was having an awesome discussion the other day on one of of the BEST forums I belong to chatting about how some athletes have “too much strength” meaning, they may be strong under a bar but when it comes to being able to move around with ease and with some sort of general conditioning, they fall on their face.

This is bad because being strong in the weight room doesn’t necessarily cross over to being strong on the field of play.  You’ve got to have some sort of balance with your strengths which means, you need to be generally conditioned and have athleticism through being able to move around with ease.

You should be able to sprint, jump, crawl, push, pull, roll, go side to side, stop and go, and most importantly, CONTROL your own bodyweight.

For this Hardcore Hundred, I did a few movements that may point out a few different weaknesses.  The two movements I did require a little bit more mobility and general strength with the hips.  Their odd movements but when you do odd stuff, you’ll build up some odd strength which usually crosses over into your overall athleticism.

Plus, when you do these types of movements for higher reps (50 each) in a short period of time, you’ll get a good conditioning response out of it as well.   I was getting a little winded towards the end.

Check it out:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-OB4Wj6y3Y[/youtube]

Hit 10 rounds of:

1A) Pop Up Squats x 5

1B) Butt Drop Push Ups x 5

Now, after you hit a quick circuit like this and other types of intense workouts, a few important things to always make sure to do are to FOAM ROLL and STRETCH.  Not too many people doing these things on a daily basis.  These two things will help a TON with improving mobility and flexibility.

Now, my question for you, what are some of your favorite modalities to use to improve general mobility, strength, and conditioning to make for a better overall athlete?

Hit up the comments with your thoughts!

ALSO, make sure you hit this Hardcore Hundred!