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Workout Programs for Shooting


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I exercise a certain way for reasons mostly unrelated to shooting.  My energy level for the duration of a match does benefit, and my general well being benefits both from exercise and shooting.  Certainly one can exercise in ways that will more directly improve shooting performance.  And one can exercise little, if at all, and get better at shooting.

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On 5/31/2019 at 4:07 PM, Hiroshi said:

I’d already lost 30 lbs, now need to go gym and gain muscles, my goal is to be fit like JJ Racaza.

 

Similar plan here. I think being fit just makes us happier in general. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m just about to turn 60 and almost as fit today as I was in my 30’s. I work out 3 times a week. Alternating push days, pull days, legs, core and agility. I have only been shooting for 5 years and my goals are not to be just high senior! If you want to stay active for all your life, take care of your body now! Exercise, remove sugar from your diet and moderate or eliminate alcohol. Work with a trainer to get started and get you on track. You will not regret being in shape. You may regret getting in shape! lol

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I feel like my arms are not strong enough to shoot at a master/gm level. I mean, I could reach those levels without needing more muscles, but I feel like that would make a bigger difference than what people (with already good muscles) say. I can clearly see how the gun is not moving in the hands of a strong man compared to how much effort I have to put in.

Also, I can clearly tell I have some advantages when there are some bad positions, for my big feet and stronger legs compared to my body. 

I'm still trying to understand how much and what kind of workout I should go for, but I feel like improving the shoulder/arms will give a good advantage when double tapping. 

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On 5/21/2019 at 10:30 AM, Will_M said:

Carbs are not the enemy. They provide quick fuel to the body which is important during a 10 hour day at a major match.

Except it's extremely easy to consume more bad carbs than we burn, which many many shooters (and Americans everywhere) do day in and day out.  Yes we need 'em for sure, just not too much.

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I exercise to have good quality of life first, match stamina second (which is part of quality of life for me).  Strength is a non-issue since I spent my youth doing landscape, warehouse, military work.  My post-military career has been in offices but I've done resistance and cardio training throughout my life.  My arms/hands/shoulders are much stronger than they need to be to effectively handle firearms.

 

I see guys with obvious serious health issues at the range, and you know what?  A lot of them have amazing stamina.  They're out there and they're doing well.  They too find the energy and time to reload, clean and tweak their guns, get their butts to the matches and stand out in 115 degrees for five hours.  It's not my business how they want to eat and/or (not) exercise.  I don't talk down to people who I perceive as less fit or less capable.  You can't do a single pull-up or run half a mile without a heart attack, I don't care.  You never made that a priority.  You shoot that revolver like a boss, though.  That's what we'll talk about.

 

All you guys who are super proud of your fitness level and body fat percentage and patronize the rest of us -- guess what -- you're gonna die too.

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Been doing the keto diet for 2 years. Lost 100lbs. Started powerlifting at the beginning of that journey. Put on a lot of muscle and started pulling 500lb deadlift and squats. I loved doing this but knew it wouldn’t be great for my body long term and I have three kids that need me. I’ve since started working on doing moderate squats, deadlifts, bench press and overhead presses for more reps. Instead of sets of three I do sets of 8-10. I can tell you this, along with shooting I can do EVERYTHING better than I did two years ago. Confidence through the roof, quality of life is amazing and doing keto, I never have blood sugar crashes even if I’m going 12 hours with no food during fasting. It may not be for everyone but it’s definitely for me. I’ve also struggled bad with psoriasis all over my body for about 15yrs. When I lost all the weight it got better but not at all great. I’ve since started taking cbd oil and tanning a little and it’s ALMOST gone completely. Just thought i would share. If it helps anyone, I’m happy!


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On 5/23/2019 at 10:18 AM, motosapiens said:

 

if you're talking about grossly obese, yes, probably.

 

If you're talking about anywhere in the wide range of normal but not hugely obese shooters, I don't believe so. It has much more to do with the mental aspect of leaving aggressively as soon as possible (and shooting as soon as possible on entry) than it does with the raw physical ability to get from point a to point b quickly.

 

 

If two shooters are equally skilled at shooting, one is a moderately fit guy, the other is extremely fit/fast/flexible...... the fit guys wins all day long.  It's points per second.  If the fit guy get there and starts shooting faster......you know the rest of the story.

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29 minutes ago, RangerTrace said:

If two shooters are equally skilled at shooting, one is a moderately fit guy, the other is extremely fit/fast/flexible...... the fit guys wins all day long.  It's points per second.  If the fit guy get there and starts shooting faster......you know the rest of the story.

that's more or less true, but a very contrived situation. The extremely fit/fast/flexible guy generally has to put time and effort into those qualities, and will only get a fairly small benefit in the shooting sports. The moderately fit guy is training shooting instead, where he can much larger gains. The guy who trains more on shooting will be a better shooter, so the 'equally skilled' thing is out the window.

 

If you want to be fit, get fit. I highly recommend it. I've been a fit competitive athlete for 45 years now, and I'm not likely to change. If you want to win pistol matches, focus more on the shooting part, unless your fitness is really holding you back.

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that's more or less true, but a very contrived situation. The extremely fit/fast/flexible guy generally has to put time and effort into those qualities, and will only get a fairly small benefit in the shooting sports. The moderately fit guy is training shooting instead, where he can much larger gains. The guy who trains more on shooting will be a better shooter, so the 'equally skilled' thing is out the window.
 
If you want to be fit, get fit. I highly recommend it. I've been a fit competitive athlete for 45 years now, and I'm not likely to change. If you want to win pistol matches, focus more on the shooting part, unless your fitness is really holding you back.

I feel like lack of fitness holds you back from every aspect of life a little. From quality of life to confidence to ultimately length of life.


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Just now, mattmann said:


I feel like lack of fitness holds you back from every aspect of life a little. From quality of life to confidence to ultimately length of life.
 

depends on what you mean by 'lack of fitness'. I am definitely lacking fitness. I can no longer run sub 5-minute miles, or gain 3000' of altitude/hr on a bicycle for example but it's not holding me back from anything except competing in those sports. I can still run 6 minute miles if I need to, and I can gain 3000' eventually.

 

But yeah, if your're grossly obese or entirely sedentary, do something about it, for lots of reasons that are more important than shooting.

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35 minutes ago, motosapiens said:

that's more or less true, but a very contrived situation. The extremely fit/fast/flexible guy generally has to put time and effort into those qualities, and will only get a fairly small benefit in the shooting sports. The moderately fit guy is training shooting instead, where he can much larger gains. The guy who trains more on shooting will be a better shooter, so the 'equally skilled' thing is out the window.

 

If you want to be fit, get fit. I highly recommend it. I've been a fit competitive athlete for 45 years now, and I'm not likely to change. If you want to win pistol matches, focus more on the shooting part, unless your fitness is really holding you back.

read the first sentence and stop.  Actually read the first 8 words and stop.

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depends on what you mean by 'lack of fitness'. I am definitely lacking fitness. I can no longer run sub 5-minute miles, or gain 3000' of altitude/hr on a bicycle for example but it's not holding me back from anything except competing in those sports. I can still run 6 minute miles if I need to, and I can gain 3000' eventually.
 
But yeah, if your're grossly obese or entirely sedentary, do something about it, for lots of reasons that are more important than shooting.

Correct. I don’t mean lack of fitness in the sense of an elite athlete level but in the sense of the typical (I would assume 90% +) American adult.


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14 hours ago, mattmann said:

Been doing the keto diet for 2 years. Lost 100lbs. Started powerlifting at the beginning of that journey. Put on a lot of muscle and started pulling 500lb deadlift and squats. I loved doing this but knew it wouldn’t be great for my body long term and I have three kids that need me. I’ve since started working on doing moderate squats, deadlifts, bench press and overhead presses for more reps. Instead of sets of three I do sets of 8-10. I can tell you this, along with shooting I can do EVERYTHING better than I did two years ago. Confidence through the roof, quality of life is amazing and doing keto, I never have blood sugar crashes even if I’m going 12 hours with no food during fasting. It may not be for everyone but it’s definitely for me. I’ve also struggled bad with psoriasis all over my body for about 15yrs. When I lost all the weight it got better but not at all great. I’ve since started taking cbd oil and tanning a little and it’s ALMOST gone completely. Just thought i would share. If it helps anyone, I’m happy!

That's AWESOME and I'm super happy for you!

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  • 1 month later...
On 5/23/2019 at 8:17 AM, motosapiens said:

Doubtful, because if that were a thing, you would see extremely fit guys being quicker between positions than less fit guys, but that doesn't actually happen. You don't have to be lean and have a high vo2 max to push off aggressively, take 2 steps and be shooting early.

 

Ben is kind of a pudgy soft guy, but he moves plenty fast for short distances. I'm pretty confident I could beat him at most any contest of endurance, yet he is considerably quicker than me between positions.

I'm inclined to agree with this. In basically every sport they discuss the principle of specificity, where 90% of the progress in your sport comes from practicing the sport. SPP or specific physical preparedness.

 

The other 10% comes from GPP or general physical preparedness. I think for shooters this means things like improving strength, explosiveness, core strength, etc. It will help you, if you're already approaching the maximum progress you'll get from just practicing. The lower your level of GPP is, the more it will help. The higher it is, the more incremental the progress will be. GPP makes you slightly better at things you are already good at. And it is fantastic for injury prevention.

 

Think about this, it doesn't matter what your max squat is, or your v02 max--if you suck at dribbling, you'll never be any good at basketball. And squatting doesn't help you become a better dribbler. But if you get more "in shape" you could dribble better, for longer, without getting tired.

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On 7/2/2019 at 5:48 PM, mattmann said:

Been doing the keto diet for 2 years. Lost 100lbs. Started powerlifting at the beginning of that journey. Put on a lot of muscle and started pulling 500lb deadlift and squats. I loved doing this but knew it wouldn’t be great for my body long term and I have three kids that need me. I’ve since started working on doing moderate squats, deadlifts, bench press and overhead presses for more reps. Instead of sets of three I do sets of 8-10. I can tell you this, along with shooting I can do EVERYTHING better than I did two years ago. Confidence through the roof, quality of life is amazing and doing keto, I never have blood sugar crashes even if I’m going 12 hours with no food during fasting. It may not be for everyone but it’s definitely for me. I’ve also struggled bad with psoriasis all over my body for about 15yrs. When I lost all the weight it got better but not at all great. I’ve since started taking cbd oil and tanning a little and it’s ALMOST gone completely. Just thought i would share. If it helps anyone, I’m happy!


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Bodies aren't machines that wear out from use (yes, they do from age).  

 

Powerlifting has the lowest incidence of injury out of any sport involving weights.

 

Lifting heavy isn't necessarily going to be bad for your body in the long term.

 

Your body isn't a car that gets worn out from use.

 

Actually, resistance training improves quality of life and is one of the best things you can do to ensure it in old age (basically, diet, sleep, and exercise).

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2 hours ago, SV650Squid said:

Bodies aren't machines that wear out from use (yes, they do from age).  

 

Powerlifting has the lowest incidence of injury out of any sport involving weights.

 

Lifting heavy isn't necessarily going to be bad for your body in the long term.

 

Your body isn't a car that gets worn out from use.

 

Actually, resistance training improves quality of life and is one of the best things you can do to ensure it in old age (basically, diet, sleep, and exercise).

Having competed in powerlifting ... I'll say this: I agree with you, if you program correctly. People get themselves into trouble powerlifting all the time, especially if they are maxing out too often or ignoring their accessory or GPP work which keeps them injury-free. The current trend in lifting is towards super-minimalism in strength training. Which is fine (and effective), but you also have to be able to make adjustments when a joint starts telling you to "knock it off." This requires a lot of self discipline and a bit of know-how.

 

Powerlifting + caloric deficit (aka keto, aka losing weight) tends to be a bad idea. Or a setup for frustration. It's a sport of pure strength, not physical fitness.

 

I agree that it's a super "safe" sport, mostly because nothing that unexpected happens. The training and the sport are virtually the same thing.

 

But doing 8's and 10's using the powerlifts is fine too. Especially if you are dieting, where maintaining muscle through the deficit is more of a concern than trying to increase strength. Forces you to use lighter weights and tap into different energy systems and use different mental tricks.

 

But I do agree, I feel like using compound barbell (or dumbell) movements is almost always a good thing.

Edited by BigJerm
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  • 2 months later...

Fitness has helped my game.  I am mentally stronger in the afternoon of a 2 day match or that dreaded stage after eating lunch.  This means I look harder plan my stages better.  Another     way I think of fitness  it should means I can shoot more later into life more effectively.  Movement etc.  I was shooting match after working on my agility and I got to the position much faster but my reload which is decent wasn't keeping up with my movement, so I might as well came in a little slower and smoother.   Shoulder/Back/Chest/Arm work has improved my bullseye shooting so likely helping me with steel and mini targets.   I started deadlifts  a few weeks ago an I think/hope the heavier weight gives me a death grip with my support hand. 

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I have been exercising consistently most of my life and lifting for the last 23 years. I am consistently lazy about cardio.

 

Lifting helps me with Heavy Metal 3gun and for recoil control with heavier caliber handguns such as 45acp and 10mm. Not for speed apparently, I am slow as s...

Edited by chauncey
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4 hours ago, chauncey said:

I have been exercising consistently most of my life and lifting for the last 23 years. I am consistently lazy about cardio.

 

Lifting helps me with Heavy Metal 3gun and for recoil control with heavier caliber handguns such as 45acp and 10mm. Not for speed apparently, I am slow as s...

Same here, I just eat healthy and reduce the time between sets.  Cardio - who's got time for that?

 

I ain't slow though but I did make the choice years back to stay lean all year so I have been getting lighter on the scale every year. I use 3-5 rep ranges mostly now since I got into shooting, strangely I'm not getting the same aches and pains like I did 15yrs back when I went the low rep route.  Getting close to the weights I used in my 20's is neat.

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Due to injuries and risk of re-injury I don't go more than 75%, but I try (and usually) lift 7 days a week. I intentionally skip on the days I shoot 3gun but not IDPA.

 

Not recommending lifting every.day, just saying what works for me - to be in motion daily.

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I started lifting 2 years ago with a 5x5. I now do more of a push pull split. I alternate between 3x5 and 4x8 rep ranges depending on the season. I no longer lift to "get Big" but just to feel like I am keeping in shape. The last month has been rough for me as I have only been lifting 1x a week and subbing in some cardio as my time is soo busy lately. My goal is to get back to my 3x a week and keep some cardio in there .

One thing I recommend that I always forget is Mobility work. It MAKES a huge difference.

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  • 5 weeks later...

So I used to be in phenomenal shape (19min 5k, deadlift 3x body weight, 22-24pull ups, yay Marine Corps, etc)

 

I tore off a bunch of important core muscles from my pelvis.. gained weight, and can’t work out like I used to...

 

Does anyone have any low impact mobility exercises for hips, groin, leg extension they can send me? Physical therapy really let me down, and everything I seem to do just aggravates it. 
 

weird positions give me trouble, if I have a 3gun stage that require me to run bay to bay will put me in a limp. Put me in a reverse kneel rifle position and I’ll cramp up. I NEED to fix this. 
 

dropping the weight off is just the grind of meal plans and dieting...  we’d something physical to help tho!

 

thanks! 
 

edit; I do a bunch of yoga poses and different bridge exercises daily.. I’m needing something a bit more dynamic

Edited by dkamps
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