Most people don’t lose because they lack skill... 

They lose because their body can’t keep up when it counts.

The Survival Fitness Plan trains both technical skill and physical capacity. This post focuses on one part of that system: conditioning. 

In the Survival Fitness Plan, skills teach you what to do. 

But it’s conditioning that determines whether you can still do it when you’re tired, stressed, or forced to repeat the effort.

Without conditioning, skill is fragile.

Conditioning is what allows you to put the skills into practice long after your initial adrenaline has faded.

SFP conditioning is intentionally minimal.

Every element must be relevant to real movement, safe to repeat, and able to scale over time.

There’s minimal separation between “fitness” and “use.” Conditioning is trained in ways that directly support sprinting, balance, striking, climbing, and sustained effort.

If it doesn’t increase usable ability, it doesn’t belong.

Strength work stays simple and transferable.

• Pull-ups and chin-ups build climbing strength and core control. 

• Push-ups support striking mechanics and full-body tension. 

• Squat-like exercises train balance, jumping ability, and lower-body resilience without locking you into rigid patterns.
  
  

Everything can be done with bodyweight only. This is a great starting point and also allows you to train anytime, anywhere.

When you’re ready, scale using the exact same exercises but with a weight vest and wrist and ankle weights.

VO₂ work in SFP exists to expand usable output.

Sprinting teaches speed and recovery. Over time, you don’t just run faster, you recover faster. 

Longer, harder efforts increase the amount of work you can sustain without panic or breakdown.

Using blitz-style combinations is like sprinting for fighting.

SFP is not all conditioning.

Skills matter. Technique matters.

But conditioning is what lets those skills survive stress, fatigue, and repetition. It’s the quiet multiplier that turns knowledge into something usable.

And more importantly, when it comes down to the crunch, conditioning is what will allow you to out-run or out-fight your opponent.

Skills tell you what to do. Conditioning decides how long you can do it for.