Crisis exercises are widely recognised as a promising way to enhance resilience at the individual, organisational, and socio-technical levels. However, the literature reports limitations of exercises such as a lack of realism, repetitive scenario writing, and normalisation of crises. These limitations are typical of what we label “normal exercises” and they raise concerns about the effectiveness of exercises in truly preparing participants and organisations for crises. Through direct observation, video analysis and self-confrontations, we analysed participants’ experiences during unforeseen situations that deviated from typical exercises and were not anticipated by scenario writers. This enabled us to describe and analyse (i) how participants in crisis management exercises engaged with unforeseen situations that break away from the typical repetitive and restrictive format and (ii) how these experiences contribute to enhancing resilience at different levels. Building on these insights, we propose a simulation design-based reflection on how crisis management simulations can be adapted to overcome the limitations identified in the literature. By shifting from ‘normal exercises’ to ‘resilience training exercises’, we highlight the potential for exercises to contribute to resilience development by moving beyond routine practice and fostering learning and adaptive capacity in crisis management.