Conditioning Variation: How to Build an Antifragile Body

Antifragility is a fascinating concept. In brief, “antifragile” describes a system that gets stronger when exposed to stress, chaos, and disorder. If we’re talking about this system as a person, body and mind together, then we’re talking about someone who becomes more capable through exposure to varied challenges and stresses. This is, in short, the kind of adaptability you want to develop if you’re ever in a fight (whether self-defense or competition).

But can you improve this? Yes.

Humans are adaptation machines, we grow stronger through controlled exposure to stress. One of the things we strive for in training is precisely that variation as part of preparing you for the reality of combat. This is why we begin the process with foundational, fundamental technique, and break it up over time, introducing more variety and chaos as you get more comfortable.

You can do this as well. It doesn’t have to be (nor should it be) every time, but the next time you’re doing your own conditioning, introduce some of this variation. Change angles on your push-ups, throw a few jumps into your squats, pause in the middle of some crunches, or randomize the rest periods between your runs or sprints. There are endless ways to do this.