[GlockStar]

A post about the affects of adrenaline in another thread led me to create this topic. Bare with me, as it might not be as put together as I would have liked.

Basically, anytime your life is in danger, be it a fist fight or a gun fight, adrenaline takes over. Now for our LEO's and Soldiers, this isn't much of a problem. Considering that they have spent a large portion of their adult lives training for just this reason. They fall back on good training and solid repetitions which usually serves them well in chaos.

Where does that leave the rest of us? My girlfriend for example, she has no problems at the range when it comes to clearing malfunctions, changing mags, or any of the other simple tasks that go along with operating a firearm. Kick her door in and she would most likely be frazzled to the point where she is nowhere near as effective with that firearm as she really is. Forgetting one simple step could be the difference between life and death.

I guess what I hope to achieve by this is as follows: Does anyone know of any legit ways to trigger adrenaline or at least simulate it? I do not feel comfortable yelling at her like a Drill Sargent and I do not believe she is going to handle her firearm nearly enough to make it an extension of her hand.

That being said, do you feel a once a week shooter is going to have the skill set to fall back on when adrenaline takes over and you are no longer "conscious" of every action you make so to speak?

[rockhouse]

I'm not sure of stimulating adrenalin but I believe the effects that you are looking for are increased heart rate and speed. To add a since of adrenalin I would make it a competition with her. Bet dinner, chores or something like that between the two of you to create a since of urgency. Create a routine where you perform a number of jumping jacks or some sort of exercise then sprit 10-20 yards to the firing line, load the magazine and fire. Increase difficulty to shoot at multiple targets from left to right or however you want. If someone were looking to do you harm they aren't going to stay stationary so this is a good way to practice a "moving target".

[GlockStar]

I really like the jumpingjack and sprinting concept!! We would have to find a secluded place to shoot as I feel that wouldn't fly with my local range.

[trip286]

Originally Posted by GlockStar

That being said, do you feel a once a week shooter is going to have the skill set to fall back on when adrenaline takes over and you are no longer "conscious" of every action you make so to speak?

How often do you think the military and police train? Yeah every day can be a training experience, but I didn't make it to the range once a week when I was active duty. I only made it for marksmanship qualifications once in bootcamp, and twice while I was active duty on camp lejeune. and I was infantry. I made it to the machine gun range about once a month. Go ahead and keep what you're doing, and throw some competition into. Some formal competition wouldn't be out of line either, like IDPA.

[hiwall]

Doing things over and over is the best training. The thought is that your body does these things automatically with out willful thought in stress situations. So basically just what you are doing now. Doesn't hurt to mix it up a little to.

[BigByrd47119]

Originally Posted by GlockStar

I really like the jumpingjack and sprinting concept!! We would have to find a secluded place to shoot as I feel that wouldn't fly with my local range.

LEO Academy Cadets in my area typically will run for a mile and a half, one minute of sit-ups, then one minute of push-ups, then sprint to the firing line and shoot. Apparently, it can be very insightful. (This routine usually ends with the run)

[JonM]

unfortunately there isnt a real way to induce the fight or flight boost of your survival system coming online in a non-threat training situation.

the best way to prepaire is by shooting a lot. training on stoppages etc. what your trained to do tends to carry over under stress. the best you can do is train hard and hope it carries over.

failure drills with dummy rounds helps. load mags for your partner slip in a few duds now and then. then let them do it for you. its a good drill.

doing the cardio stuff is nothing like the stress of fight or flight time. all the cardio stuff helps with is training while your tired

probably the closest you can get is competition. the stresses can be similar.

[CourtJester]

I have a long time friend that is in the special forces. He's said that he shoots on his own at least once or twice a week at a local range for his own personal training. Says he can double tap, do 50 push ups, break down the gun, put it back together, and double tap on target again in as he put it "well under 3 minutes." Never seen it and not sure how far he breaks it down but knowing him, I wouldn't doubt it.
The only adrenalin that I get personally comes from sport bikes and keeping calm with UAW employees at work.

[PerpetualStudent]

JonM is spot on with his post. The adrenaline you get from working out and the adrenaline you get from fight-or-flight are very, very different.

I have actually been searching for ways to bring this sense of realism to unarmed self defense training. I would think that getting a duplicate of her weapon that only fires blanks and then intentionally scaring the life out of her will instill that mentality.

The good thing is that the human brain learns things extremely quickly. Once you have that fear response in place, it will stay. But, I've only ever tested it with my students in unarmed.

The Mind is like a Parachute. It only works when it's open.

[PerpetualStudent]

Oops, sorry, I meant armed. Not unarmed. I've done this unarmed. Was pretty happy with the results. I was just curious how to apply the concept in armed SD.

The Mind is like a Parachute. It only works when it's open.