Programming to Hedge Against Reactive Strength Injuries
A Programming Hedging Strategy That Amplifies Athlete Safety + Performance in Conjugation.
Hedging for Reactive Strength Injuries
In our programming business of managing athletes, we have long used internal training as a hedge against the volatility encountered at the Level of Competition. While getting the athlete to Point B is the meta strategy, we’ve developed micro-strategies—one of which has been so effective that we formally integrated it as a biological heuristic within our conjugate strategy.
Working with high-level athletes, we repeatedly saw a pattern: bottom-up reactive strength injuries, where connective tissues failed due to the extreme force transmission demands of sport at the level of competition (see the NBA’s Reactive Strength Problem). Once we successfully rehabilitated these athletes back to Point B (Conjugate in the Clinic), a new problem emerged:
How do we hedge against reinjury of these tissues in a way that allows for continued high performance?
To answer this question, we turned to the principles of hedging in financial markets—specifically the work of Edward Thorp.
How Edward Thorp Hedged Risk While Maximizing Gains
Edward Thorp mastered risk management while maintaining exposure to upside potential, first in gambling and later in the stock market.1
In (gambling) Blackjack, Thorp used card counting to determine when the odds were in his favor, increasing bets only when he had an advantage and minimizing losses by betting small when conditions were unfavorable. This limited downside risk while maintaining upside exposure—a principle known as the Kelly Criterion.
In investing, Thorp applied a similar logic using market-neutral strategies, like convertible bond arbitrage, where he would buy a convertible bond while shorting the underlying stock. This created a low-risk position that profited regardless of market direction.
See the common strategy? The hedging against downside risk while keeping exposure to potential gains.
Applying the Same Hedging Philosophy to Reactive Strength Programming
