Physical fitness has always been a cornerstone of Special Operations Forces (SOF)—and for good reason. There are several key factors that drive this: the need to remain mission-capable under any condition, the mental toughness that increases resilience, and the ability to adapt to sudden physical demands such as shooting under stress.

But the one aspect that resonates with me the most is the ability to perform under extreme fatigue or stress. I’ve seen this play out time and time again in real-world environments with myself, my teammates and others. Not everyone reacts to stress the same way, and the outcomes vary widely. A common question that often comes up is: how does physicality influence someone’s ability to manage stress?

Stress activates the body’s fight-or-flight response, flooding the system with adrenaline and cortisol. While this can temporarily heighten awareness and reaction time, it also comes with significant downsides—especially when prolonged or triggered in high-stakes situations. One of the most notable effects is cognitive decline.

This is where things start to unravel:

  • Slower problem-solving
  • Impaired decision-making
  • Reduced memory recall
  • Difficulty prioritizing tasks critical to survival

Under stress, even simple decisions can become clouded, and high-pressure environments can lead to poor choices. Prioritization—recognizing what truly matters in that moment—becomes harder to manage, which is dangerous when lives are on the line.

From a physical standpoint, the degradation in control is just as real. Simple tasks become more complex, and complex tasks can become impossible. Fine motor skills begin to fail, making anything that requires precision—reloading, gear manipulation, accurate shooting—unreliable. I’ve personally witnessed both ends of the spectrum, from overreaction to complete indecision, all under stress.

Two of the most immediate and noticeable physiological responses to stress are an elevated heart rate and respiratory rate. These changes have a profound impact on performance, particularly in tactical or life-threatening situations. When these systems spike, they can create a feedback loop that amplifies anxiety, reduces mental clarity, and compromises control.

The 2025 Rangemaster Conference – A Social Experiment

During the 2025 Rangemaster Conference in Dallas, I had the opportunity to run a small social experiment. I approached it with no assumptions, no theories—just curiosity. I wanted to observe how people performed under physical stress, without prompting, and how their perceived skill level aligned with performance. It also gave me a chance to collect some informal data, especially around self-assessment versus actual performance.

We used our Cold Test—a shooting assessment ideally taken after 7–10 days off the gun. In this case, many participants hadn’t taken that break due attending the conference, so we were already slightly outside the intended parameters.

The test was simple:

  • Step 1: Shoot the Cold Test with no warm-up (establish baseline performance)
  • Step 2: Elevate the participant’s heart rate to 70–80% of their max
  • Step 3: Re-shoot the Cold Test under this elevated physiological state

What We Saw Shooting Under Stress

The results weren’t shocking, but they were telling. Most participants saw a clear performance drop under stress. The question isn’t if performance suffers—it’s how much. Could we eventually quantify this? For instance, could we determine that marksmanship consistently drops by 15–20% once a shooter hits a certain heart rate threshold? That’s a question that will require more data and refinement to answer properly.

Even with this informal approach, some interesting trends started to emerge. For now, here are a few preliminary stats worth noting. Keep in mind—this was the most unscientific, scientific experiment I could throw together.

We had 8 students: 4 male and 4 female. The “cold test” is something we’ve been running for over a decade, and we’ve collected a ton of data along the way.

  • That data shows us something important:
    If a shooter can complete the first cold test with zero misses (or “Mikes”), they likely have good fundamental skills (basic to intermediate level).
  • If they can complete the second cold test under stress with zero misses, they likely possess excellent skills (advanced to expert level).

No shooters in this group cleaned both tests, but two shooters did show a decrease in their times—around 3% faster, which is good, though not as significant as you might think.

What stood out more was the percentage of Mikes on the second cold test. You might expect performance to decline under stress, but interestingly, the majority of shooters performed better, with fewer Mikes on the second run. One shooter even had no change at all.

  • Now, I like to play with the data to see what insights I can uncover. One interesting comparison:
    When I took each shooter’s individual average and then averaged the group, we saw a 23% increase in time from cold test #1 to cold test #2.
  • When I simply averaged cold test #1 vs. cold test #2 as a group, the increase came out to 21%.

Key Takeaway:

There was an average increase of about 20% in time from the first cold test to the second. So the real question is—what does that tell us?

Maybe nothing. Or maybe it tells us we need to train 20% harder to account for the elevated stress of combat.

The Upside of Stress

It’s not all bad. There is an upside to stress, especially when it’s managed well. Stress, in measured doses, can sharpen focus, increase motivation, and reveal who’s truly capable of functioning under pressure. The key is understanding the threshold—where stress enhances performance, and where it starts to degrade it.

For many individuals, especially those in high-performance environments like special operations or emergency response, stress can act as a catalyst. It brings a heightened sense of clarity and urgency, helping to cut through distractions and focus entirely on the task at hand. This is often where people enter a “flow state,” performing at their peak with heightened awareness and decision-making. However, the benefits of stress only exist within a certain range—too little stress can lead to complacency, while too much can overwhelm the system. The real challenge, and the mark of true professionals, is learning to operate just below that tipping point—where stress fuels performance without tipping into panic or cognitive overload.

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