Incorporating physical stress into drills/practice?

[secondstoryguy]

How many of you guys incorporate physical activity or stress into their firearms training program? I've seen Pat McNamara, Kyle Defoor and a few others use PT to add spice to drills/standards and it looks like it could be of some benefit. Thoughts or ideas?

[FailureDrill]

I try to run these types of drills and I think they should be part of a training regimen.

Doing pushups, running a sprint, dragging a tire prior to shooting doesn't cause the same physiological stress that occurs in a shooting, but it does show you how your physical skills will be affected. Understanding the size of your wobble zone at 25 yds after running 75 yds will let you know your capabilities at that distance and possibly emphasize the need to push closer to get the hit you need. In my job, I may have to chase a subject on foot for a couple blocks, turn a corner and get to work on them under low light conditions.

I see benefits of having shot under this physical exertion prior to trying it during a real shooting.

[Joseph B.]

I use a lot of physical activity in many of my drills and qualification CoF.

[dustyvarmint]

I've always treated the two separately, but have just come up with my first drill incorporating the two, so I'm looking forward to giving it a bang.

Happy shooting, dv

[BillP]

It is invaluable (as is fitness) if you are training for a gunfight. Stress simulation, as well as tangible penalties (burpees rock for this) for misses are great value-adds to your training day.

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[ToddG]

I've yet to meet anyone who equates the stress he felt in a gun battle (from private citizens to LE and .mil) to physical stress of a workout.

I've met a lot of really fit guys who like to incorporate physical stress into their shooting programs. Saying, "you might have to ruck ten miles to reach your AO" or "you might have to shoot after chasing someone 300yd" is a lot different than "twenty burpees is like being shot at." There's a difference between causing impairment and simulating life-threatening danger.

This was one of the things that Jack Leuba (Failure2Stop) specifically touched on when we did our CUSS stress class a few years ago.

[JJN]

The SIRT is great for this. I have a belt with a holster and some mag pouches in my garage gym. In between sets, I can get 10 reps of dry fire something or other. I imagine it wouldn't go over well in a commercial/public gym, though.

[GardoneVT]

I've yet to meet anyone who equates the stress he felt in a gun battle (from private citizens to LE and .mil) to physical stress of a workout.

I've met a lot of really fit guys who like to incorporate physical stress into their shooting programs. Saying, "you might have to ruck ten miles to reach your AO" or "you might have to shoot after chasing someone 300yd" is a lot different than "twenty burpees is like being shot at." There's a difference between causing impairment and simulating life-threatening danger.

This was one of the things that Jack Leuba (Failure2Stop) specifically touched on when we did our CUSS stress class a few years ago.

Agreed.

The only thing fitness did was acclimate me to what its like when my heart rate spiked under adrenaline-and that was a factor only in the aftermath.The stress from my close call was more mental in charachter.

[Joseph B.]

My personal opinions and why I like physical activities such as running, bounding, pushups, etc, are not to induce the mental stressors of life and death. But more so to develop skillset refinement during physical activity. It has more to do with maintaining critical thinking and basic skillset performance, while having some format of a physical activity that acts as a distraction to the individual (I.e. even though my heart rate is up and my muscles are fatigued, I still have to apply the appropriate fundamentals to make a precision shot). In a nutshell its about distraction from the skillset and training the individual to ignore the distraction and focus on the skill/task at hand.

[cclaxton]

What about introducing bright lights, stobing lights, loud sounds, peripheral movement, etc? I am not suggesting it could in any way simulate a real gunfight, but does it help develop the focus and mindset?
CC

[BN]

Back in the early days of Second Chance, they had the Banzai Charge Bang and Clang. Richard Davis had a vivid imagination. :)

You were being attacked by Soviet tanks and had to shoot them with a shotgun with slugs. Tanks were knockdown steel shillouettes. Before you shot them, you had two minutes to run out to 100 yards or so and set them all up. :) Your actual shooting time started after the two minutes whether you were back or not.

[Joseph B.]

What about introducing bright lights, stobing lights, loud sounds, peripheral movement, etc? I am not suggesting it could in any way simulate a real gunfight, but does it help develop the focus and mindset?
CC

Yes. I've been in training environments that had all of that type stuff. Strobes, smoke, flashbangs and a stereo blasting people screaming, unarmed people running around screaming waving their arms and acting crazy, lol it makes for some interesting FoF in a shoothouse.

I think any distraction is a good thing, just as long as it doesn't develop into a safety concern. Having someone run, jump, crawl and then shoot is just a fast easy way to stimulate a distraction. $.02