Gentlemen, i quote all those posts to increase the chances each of you will read the following - which is likely to solve your problem with Athletics skill.
Berserk + melee combat - gives massive amounts of Athletics XP. Each hit on an enemy while under Berserk effects - gives Athletics XP, and i have the impression the more the damage is done, the more Athletics XP is given per hit.
Something like 100k / hour of Athletics experience is doable with this method, i recon.
So, the best way to level Athletics i know of - is the following:
- in order to be able to do quick grind loops, play in 1.12 (in 1.2, they disabled quick mobs respawn). My favorite grind loop is to the south from Valentino Valley fast travel point, consists of 9 groups each being 3 valentinos (no 6th street gangs at all), and takes a bit under a minute to complete if played well, during which time all 9 groups respawn;
- in order to remain alive despite all the hasty melee combat, be sure to go for this at level 50, with 5k+ armor, health boosts and as many defensive perks (including Cold Blood tree) and cyberware as you can get;
- in order to get the most Athletics experience out of this, use some melee weapon which insta-kills your enemies with regular attack, use highest grade Berserk unit your Body stat allows to get, and depending on your situation also consider using berserk unit mods and/or cyberware which increase berserk duration and/or reduce Berserk cooldown.
P.S. CDPR nerfed mobs respawn in 1.2 to make fast "grind loops" impossible, i hear; but this would still work times better than any other method to grind Athletics even in 1.2, you just do it together with your melee-weapon-skill grinding by either just running around through neighbourhoods (no closed loops) and mopping up gangs, and/or you use berserk+melee during main and/or side jobs as well.
you don't need to hit enemies, just expend stamina.
So the fastest way is pop berserk, swing heavy punches as much as possible. For this purpose, the berserk with the highest uptime compared to downtime is key. This is the only way its feasible to level athletics.
also you get like 100 per Door forced open, but berserk is faster.