Sports Science: MMA fighter Houston Alexander's Adrenaline shot Part 1

just like The Incredible Hulk boxers and

mixed martial artists can transform into

real beasts when the fight starts but

how does adrenaline-fueled rage

really affect power and can that rage be

created in a test-tube this is a medical

experiment unlike any test we've ever

done because what we want to know is

what creates more punching power natural

adrenaline or an adrenaline shock to

answer this question we hit the sport

science sport court and brought in a

fighter who feeds on rage houston the

assassin Alexander

this light-heavyweight burst unto the

MMA scene with legendary knockout power

go right before the fight a change does

happen it this rage starts building up

there's the DISA Dremel entrusted that I

can't control I start getting into this

pitbull mentality what we're looking at

is the effects of adrenaline on punching

power what we're gonna do is we're gonna

have you do a baseline punch then we're

gonna see what natural adrenaline does

to your punching power in the final

stage we're gonna inject you with pure

adrenaline Wow there are numerous

well-documented cases of athletes using

illegal stimulants like speed or cocaine

in an attempt to improve performance

injecting someone with epinephrine or

synthetic adrenaline will replicate the

effects of those drugs and will also

allow us to compare how artificial

stimulants stack up against the power of

the body's natural adrenaline this is an

incredibly dangerous experiment because

injecting someone with adrenaline is

extremely risky Houston could go into

cardiac arrest or worse

so we start the test slowly to get a

baseline when he's cool and calm I'm

ready to go we've wired the hybrid three

crash-test dummy with an array of

special force sensors that will measure

the power of Houston's punch you see

you're getting ready

Houston generates 600 pounds of force

that's like literally getting hit in the

face with a hammer the next stage is for

us to allow your body to produce its own

adrenaline now do you have some sort of

pre fight routine or anything to psyche

you up so there's a 30-second drill that

we do that's when everything is just

goes berserk so we want you to go

berserk we're gonna have you do your

30-second routine we're gonna build up

as much natural adrenaline as you have

all right then we're gonna have you

punch the dummy again you ready to do it

no problem let's do it

let's do a bro don't make me angry

you wouldn't like me when I'm angry

so how are we going to get him angry

well we sure don't want to make him mad

but this guy will Houston's trainer

McDowell well when you're around a

fighter as many hours a day as a coach

is you you get to know what makes them

tick you experience the highs and you

experience the lows with them

Mick's job is to get Houston's

adrenaline flowing to get him as angry

as possible for the second punch

hey I'm a feeling in your gut when you

lost our fight I want all that raised

that you experienced when you lost on

all the disappointment I want to build

an up inside you right now yes I want

that rage man you know the feeling I'm

talking about in that dressing room the

disappointment I need it I need it come

on man get fly it up let me see it let

me see it you got me hit that thing

let's go all that rage I want it right

now I want you unleashed upbeat come on

man are you ready to go good unleash the

beast Houston come on hit that thing

is obviously emotional for you I mean

what is the button that got pressed to

the fear of failure I don't like losing

I hate losing hables how much punching

force did an amped-up adrenaline-fueled

Houston generate a hammering 1,000

pounds that's 400 pounds more force than

he produced in his baseline test you

relax it's just a test manage his

science that's all just nuts and bolts

free small

relax relax so how does adrenaline amp

us up our motion-capture technology

gives us an inside look at how

adrenaline punches the gas and puts us

in overdrive

when we're in danger our adrenal glands

flood the body with natural adrenaline

this adrenaline causes the heart to beat

faster and redistributes blood to the

brain and muscles the muscles can then

receive more than five times the normal

amount of oxygenated blood which allows

bursts of amplified strength and speed

Houston was able to get his heart rate

to 150 by emotion and self generated

emotion the sport science chief medical

adviser dr. basil Aish is supervising

this experiment and he's astonished at

Houston's performance that kind of rage

that kind of fear is the kind of emotion

that generates epinephrine in the body

and allows someone to channel for some

power so whipping Houston into a fury

unleashed a flood of natural adrenaline

resulting in an additional 400 pounds of

pure punching force

but we've got one more stage of the test

how will Houston's punching power be

affected when we actually inject him

with a double shot of pure adrenaline

dark silic right my veins our most

dangerous experiment ever when sports

science continues