One of my followers on twitter asked me: "Which exercises should I concentrate on at the gym to improve my overall game on the softball field?"

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So, I thought this was a great question and that I should answer to the benefit of everybody.

When it comes to choosing exercises for your workouts, here are a couple key points to consider:

• Always choose exercises that combine more than one muscle or one muscle group; they will give you more bang for your buck.
• Stay away from machines, they aren't very helpful for athletes. Instead, choose exercises that use your body weight, free weights, stability ball or medicine bal.
• Think in terms of training movements (pushing, pulling, twisting, bending, lunging, etc.) instead of training specific muscles.
• Select exercises that are appropriate to the goals you are pursuing at that point (strength, explosiveness, etc.).
• Each exercise selected should be appropriate for your fitness level and overall condition.

Here are 6 excellent softball conditioning exercises that can really help you improve your overall game.

Exercise #1 - Lunge with Side Raises and Trunk Twists - Try 2 sets of 8 repetitions (each leg). Use light dumbbells.

Exercise #2 -  T-Push-ups - Try 2 sets of 10-20 repetitions (total). Alternate side for each repetition.

Exercise #3 - Single Leg Squat and One-Arm DB Shoulder Press - Try 2 sets of 12 repetitions on each side.  Dumbbell should be in right hand when standing on left leg and vice-versa. Can be done explosively

Exercise #4 - Swiss Ball Knee Tucks - Try 2 sets of 12-20 repetitions.

Exercise #5 - Dumbbell Pull-Ins - Try 2 sets of 8 repetitions (each side).  Keep back straight and pull abs in.

Exercise #6 - Medicine Ball Russian Twists - Try 2 sets of 20-30 repetitions (going 10-15 times on each side). Can be done slowly and explosively.

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