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As a martial artist the exercise that made me the most athletic was Nordics. I worked towards getting 10+ fully controlling the eccentric and exploding up. Never had a hamstring injury again and my kicks became fast AF. Most underrated in my opinion

Upper body: get as strong as possible at pull-ups and dips and you’re 90% of the way there.

S-Tier (Highest Transfer to All Sports)
Front Squat: 2× BW goal; huge carryover to vertical/broad jump, cleans, back squat; upright torso, easier on knees than back squat.
Snatch / Clean (full or power): High coordination, speed, and technique demand; builds explosive strength, teaches technical mastery; universal use across elite sports. 1.25BW goal for snatch and 1.5x goal for power clean


A-Tier (Excellent, but Slightly Less Universal)
Single-Leg Squat (Bulgarian split squat variant): Builds stability, hamstring/glute strength, cutting ability; 1.5× BW goal correlates with high verticals.
Hurdle Hops/Plyometrics: Improves acceleration, deceleration, reactive ability; great for field and court sports. Do 100-150 per eek
Pull-Up: (Originally mentioned at S but really A) High bodyweight-to-strength ratio indicator; carries over to upper-back, grip, and shoulder health; especially good for combat sports.

B-Tier (Very Good, but Not the "Top Few")
Back Squat (High-Bar, Full ROM): Strong carryover to many lifts and jumps, but less "universal" than front squat; 2×–2.3× BW goal.
Bench Press: Builds triceps, chest, shoulder strength; useful in contact sports and throws; 1.6–1.7× BW goal.

C-Tier (Good, But Lower Transfer)
Deadlift: Strong lift, but benefits don’t transfer as well to other athletic movements compared to squats or Olympic lifts.

D-Tier (Low Transfer Outside Specific Cases)
Leg Press: Good for bodybuilding and sprint cycling; limited carryover to general sports performance.
Trap Bar Jump: Can be useful, but doesn’t match the power, speed, and transfer of Olympic lifts; often used as a "lazy" substitute.

not talking about overhead press because there is no tier above S tier

Wait, where were bicep curls?

Atg back squats with a pause are my absolute fave out of all exercises. However, I do agree that the front squats deserve the S Tier!

Learning how to snatch and clean did so much for me when I started doing them about a decade ago. Hurt my wrist so I don’t clean anymore, but getting back into doing snatches. I feel like if you’re gonna lift weights as a boxer, that exercise is a must.

I think Louie Simmons had talked about how WESTSIDE Lifters would only train the Deadlift directly maybe once per month, but they did all sorts of Assistance Exercises to build up the 'Weak Links' that would affect the Deadlift - and then they went Competitions and Broke all sorts of Deadlift Records.
Plus, the Deadlift is really hard on the Nervous System  - training heavy Deadlifts once per week is too hard on the body.

Personally, I got more out of modifies Olympic Lift/High Pulls - both an increase in speed/power and muscle mass in my mid-upper back,  My traps blew up!

Also - I'd put a standing Military Press or even a Clean & Press ahead of the Bench Press in terms of Athletic Carryover and improved Pushing Power.    
There's also the core stability factor that Overhead Presses improve - similar to a Front Squat.
A lifter with a good Overhead Press will usually also have a good Bench Press, while a lifter with a good Bench Press might not have a good Overhead Press - the Stabilizer muscles and Balancing Factor is not as well developed in the Bench Specialist.

I love this ,seeing what lifts help and where, i hope he is gonna continue with many other lifts,common and uncommon, like Pullover,Dips,Hip Thrust,Seal Row.
I have read how the Barbell Curl is used in Bowling and Sumo.

"Justin Gatlin (If he's not on drugs)" Absolutely love it.
I've been having my athletes (swimmers and runners) learn and do Olympic lifts thanks to this channel and it's been making a big difference.

💯 Brilliant list and explanations

A good video. Thank you for sharing

Shocked at the placement of the deadlift

I agree with everything but would just like to add as a former athlete, the exercise you should be the most careful with is squats, over loading your knees can be a life time injury that never fully heals right. To this day my right knee is still not 100 percent from my stupidity ego lifting and that was 5 years ago.

So while I would say squats is a bloody amazing exercise, its definitely a exercise where you should not go heavy until you are one hundred percent ready for it.

But at the same time you have trained olympic level athletes, while I was just a local state level athlete, so that's a huge world difference in tiers. So i naturally assume you are being careful to your clients needs. but to those who dont have a olympic level coach, be careful take it slow.

I can tell some real thought went into this one.  Thanks for taking the time.

26:30 If you hold all else equal, the person who is better at the one athletic trait not held equal will always win.

Examples:
1. All else equal, the person with better technique wins.
2. All else equal, the more powerful person wins.
3. All else equal, the stronger person wins.
3. All else equal, the faster person wins.
4. All else equal, the more intelligent person wins.
5. All else equal, the person with more endurance wins.
Etc
Etc
Etc

I'm surprised kettlebell swing snatches didn't make it here because they've been shown to approve both squat and dead left and pull up and even a little bit of overhead press strength as well as the obvious conditioning and coordination component

Really enjoyed the video. Worth mentioning with the split squats (single legs) don’t get discouraged if on small weights and still losing balance. I asked one of the chaps at our gym to check my form and my hip position was all wrong. Once I corrected that everything became so much easier. It’s such a worthy exercise to persevere with

24:47 - It's so weird to see photos/videos from nationals and remember competing there. I think back on it sometimes