Adrenaline Junkie

Imagine walking onto a gym to play a championship match, serenaded by inspiring music. That's "natural adrenaline."

Adrenaline (epinephrine) is a hormone and neurotransmitter produced by the adrenal glands. It is a catecholamine stimulating the body’s fight-or-flight response to stress.

Key actions of adrenaline: 

Cardiovascular

• elevated heart rate
• elevated blood pressure
• peripheral constriction of blood vessels, promoting increased core blood flow

Repiratory

• increased airway diameter
• Increased ventilation (breathing capacity)

Muscular, Metabolic, Neurologic

• increased muscle contraction strength 
• increased velocity of muscle contraction
• energy mobilization
• hyperalertness 

Unfortunately it also causes tremor, unreliable grip, and energy depletion at an accelerated rate. 

Learn how to use and control adrenaline surges. Competitive experience and maturity can help athletes regulate this stimulation. Mindfulness reduces the stress response, partially by reducing circulating stress hormones.  

The type of music listened to before a game helps regulate arousal, and this process is mediated by catecholamines and the autonomic nervous system.

Music as an Arousal Regulator (Via Chat GPT)

Performance
^
|
|                           Peak Zone
|                              *
|                            *   *
|                          *       *
|                        *           *
|                      *               *
|                    *                   *
|                 *                        \
|              *                            \
|           *                                \
|        *                                    \
|     *                                        \
|  *                                            \
+----------------------------------------------------> Arousal

   ↓ Calm Music      ↓ Moderate Tempo      ↓ High Energy Music
   (60-80 BPM)       (90-120 BPM)          (130-180 BPM)

Examples

Situation	Desired Arousal	Music Type
Recovery day	Low	Acoustic, classical, ambient
Skill practice	Moderate	Light pop, soft rock, instrumental
Pre-game warmup	Moderate-high	Upbeat pop, hip-hop, dance
Need more energy	High	Fast-tempo rock, EDM, rap
Overexcited athlete	Lower arousal	Slow instrumental, controlled breathing music

Lagniappe. The music Tuesday got the crowd and players going Find your "pump up" vibe.