Before you get all worked up about this article’s title—don’t worry. I fully understand that some may not be able to do all of these movements due to injuries or other reasons.

The bottom line is that the following five movements have produced great results for countless athletes, but too many don’t use them enough! These movements consistently give high returns regarding performance improvement. While I doubt any of them will be new to you, too often we “know” what we should be doing but for some reason don’t do them enough or at all. Hopefully, this article will remind you to get busy with the basics and get you back on track to kicking ass more than ever before!

Let’s take a look at the movements you should be doing and why you should be doing them.

Bent knee deadlift
This exercise is one of the best lower body movements, even though deadlifts strengthen the entire body. Use a trap bar for the younger athlete or beginner and progress to using a straight bar. Keep the reps low. Do no more than five reps per set unless you’re doing some RE work on deadlifts. This can be great for improving strength and hypertrophy in the legs and entire posterior chain and grip.

Don’t deadlift every week if you’re feeling beat up from them. Heavy deadlifts can kick your ass, so listen to your body. On average, I’ll perform heavy deadlifts two times per month, and every 4–6 weeks, I’ll perform some high rep deadlifts doing 3–4 sets in the 15–25 range. Remember that you need some RE work to add muscle. More muscle is like having a bigger car engine. It has the potential to be more powerful and stronger if trained properly.

If you have a fat bar, then use that for variations as well. Thick bar work should be a part of every athlete’s workout. If you don’t have one, grab a small towel in each hand and wrap it around the bar to increase grip demands.

Kettlebell swings
All variations of the swing are great. You can try one-handed, two-handed, two-handed with bands, walking swings, multidirectional swings, swings with a towel or rope attached to the kettlebell, and many more variations.
Swings develop hip power and hamstring strength. They also improve hamstring flexibility, especially when you do them elevated on two boxes. Swings with a band attached are awesome for developing reversal strength and working the dynamic method.

Walking swings will develop posterior strength and obliques as well as improve cardio all at the same time. If you’re not doing swings, start doing them as soon as possible with a dumbbell or make your own kettlebell.

Sled training
This is an excellent way to strengthen the legs, hips, and back (or any other area you wish to work). Specifically, you should be dragging forwards, laterally, and backwards. The other key moves are the rowing variations (two arm, one arm, and high pull). See my article on endless sled training for more variations. We do some chest pressing with the sled to develop pushing power in this position, but I prefer med ball throws more for this motion.

Hit the sled regularly if you want to improve speed and strength. I love sled rows because of how explosive you can be without having to slow down the movement. This makes it a pure power movement. Long distance dragging not only strengthens the lower body but also improves lactate tolerance. Our grapplers do these often to ensure they don’t get into bad positioning or lessen their offensive because their legs feel like rubber.

For our football guys, the sled seems to be a rude awakening to see if their lower bodies are in shape. They can squat and deadlift as heavy as they want, but if their legs go to jello halfway through the game, guess who’s going to get beat to the ball, run over, and knocked down regularly?

Sled dragging is also a great tool to use for active recovery with lighter loads. I used the sled extensively (and still do) after my ACL surgery to help with rehab. It sped up my progress big time.

Pull-ups
Pull-ups and chin-ups, using every angle and grip possible, should be worked. Start with recline rows using rings, blast straps, or a barbell. Work up to doing regular pull-ups and chin-ups, and don’t be afraid to work heavy sets of 2–3 reps with extra weight strapped to a belt or between the ankles.
If you’re having trouble with pull-ups, then find a way to do them more often. I suggest including a few sets of low reps in your warm up. Then, on your off days, get in a few sets and reps during the day. This is how many guys in prison train. They use challenging body weight movements, and it gets them strong as heck. You’ll quickly understand why strength is a skill that must be practiced. The more you work on low rep sets of pull-ups, the better you’ll get at them.

Grapplers (or any athlete) can add ropes or towels to the pull-ups to increase the challenge or specificity of the movement. For example, Martin Rooney has many of his combat athletes use the Gi during pull-ups, which is another great option.

Unilateral leg training
Call me crazy (I won’t be offended), but we perform unilateral leg training more than we perform squats, especially with young athletes. All of the variations of unilateral leg training allow you to improve flexibility as well as strength. You can perform the following movement variations using either body weight or extra loads:

• forward lunge
• forward lunge with reach
• reverse lunge
• reverse lunge with rotation
• pistol squat
• skater squat (foot elevated on bench or in air)
• split squat
• walking lunges

Vary all of these movements by changing the tool that you use for loading. You can use barbells, the safety squat bar (with chains), dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags, kegs, or medicine balls.

Don’t skip out on unilateral leg training! This is the key for developing balance, glutes, hamstrings, and quads.
Part II coming soon!

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