Weight Lifting To Help With Pistol Control?

[686+]

I have started working my upper torso with some 5 lb weights at the office. I do lifts with the arms straight and bring up the weights from the waist to above my head, like BE shooting lift except go way over head. Same set up for arms to the side. Also go back as far as I can with the same weights. Then I do curls, triceps and military press. I know these weights are wimpy, but none of my handguns weigh more then 5 pounds, and I prefere speed and range to strength when I train. 20 reps a set, as many sets as the day allows. I will switch to 30 lbs for the curls, triceps and press as soon as I can get of my * and go to the store.

I noticed I shot way better the other match, so I think this is helping me to controll my upper torso.

Question is, should I be doing some other excersise for strenghtening up? My main intent here is to get more control. Since I can do this almost daily, but can't get out to the range.....

Any sugestions? What do you do?

[lim10gm]

Forearms are important. Tie a 5lb weight to a 18" wooden stick. Wind and unwind the weight using only your wrists.

[spook]

+1 on the forearms. The only muscles that cannot be strong enough. Just don't train them 3 days or less before a big match. They have to be relaxed to be fast

[Jake Di Vita]

I would honestly train everything because you use every muscle in your body in some aspect of shooting. Do a lot of shuttle runs (maybe even play in a soccer league at night for foot speed). Forearm strength is a must, I usually work a pair of grippers while I'm driving in the car.

[Rikarin]

Wow. If you MEN work on your forarms, geesh, boy, don't I have to do or what?!! That's women's weakest muscle, I think.

I do push up with making square with index fingers and thumbs. I was told it's work for forarms. I can feel it but never knew of winding up the weight thing.

[JD45]

http://www.shapefit.com/forearm-workouts.html

[shred]

Take up rock climbing. Every town has an indoor rock gym. A couple hours of that and you won't be able to work a manual transmission on the way home. A couple months of it and you'll be able to crush pool balls one handed.

[Flexmoney]

Wal-mart has a weighted "medicine ball" that looks like a small basket ball. Pretty cheap.

lay back...hold it with both hands...and throw it straight up...catching and throwing it with the finger tips.

Simple.

[GuildSF4]

Push -ups, Feet elevated with push up bars helps too. (Stretch the musles after doing the push-ups...) Running stairs (again stretching after).

[dirty whiteboy]

You may not be able to do this work, but grab an overhead bar and hang by your hands as long as you can. When you get to where you can hang for 1 minute, you are getting there!

[standles]

Work on your grip strength

If your workplace is like mine you have an endless supply of obliviots (Cross between idiot and oblivionis). Whenever they cross your path you just follow this routine.

Look them dead in the eye and say ***BEEP!***

At that moment you hand spring from the ready position and quickly grab the obliviot around the throat.

Tighten your grip till you hear a slight wheeze of air.

Hold until shades of purple appear.

Loosen until you hear a gasp and color recedes.

Repeat as neccessary.

If Obliviot looses conciousness then you can maintain grip but use forearms to lift them off the ground.

Perfect Workout Plan..

Can you tell My Monday didn't end yesterday

[686+]

standles,

not sure I can get away with that routine. Sometimes it would seem appropriate, but alas....

Follow up note:

I stuck with doing some sort of workout everyday. I try to do a routine, but the pushups and pullups are kicking my * . Still keeping at it.

Here is the good news - I shot a club match and I felt slow. Not slow as in not able to shoot fast, but slow as in the gun felt on target and I had to then work the trigger. (I shoot a DAO S&W 45) So the excersises are giving me much more controll over myself, but now I need to work on the trigger, as I still shoot the first one about a foot low and the other one right into the A.

So I am making progress, and it is just amazing what a little working out is doing for my shooting. Next I add writs workouts and maybee I will be able to speed up my trigger a bit more.

[Dream]

Standles sounds like you work at the power co..

ok i need help with the trigger ... control seems good speed not so good.. any ideas on how to increase trigger speed

[m.e.t.]

5lb. weight in each hand. Hands naturally at sides. At the beep snap the weights to a freestyle shooting position. Hold position for a slow count. You can also use a variant of this for strong hand and weak hand draws and transitions.

Get a stop watch use it to time splits. You can do this anywhere. You will hit a wall as far as speed is concerned but keep at it.

And my wifes favorite. I do yoga execises with a pistol in my hand. Balance is something that is easy to work on and is often forgotten.

[Tangram]

http://www.twist-o-grip.com/instruction.htm (Similar to a weight on a dowel but a bit more compact).

A foam rubber block to exercise the fingers more and light weights to work the rest of the upper body and ....

[standles]

Standles sounds like you work at the power co..

Naw Guvment Job... I now know where the hiring program for idgits is.

If you screw up like I did and hire on then they can offer you training ad nauseum till you break.

If that fails there is always the frontal lobotomy but that is usually reserved fro management.

LOL!

[SA Friday]

I would honestly train everything because you use every muscle in your body in some aspect of shooting. Do a lot of shuttle runs (maybe even play in a soccer league at night for foot speed). Forearm strength is a must, I usually work a pair of grippers while I'm driving in the car.

+1 on this. If you exercise only specific areas, you will not gain as much as if you have a well rounded exercise plan. I run 3 to 3.5 miles every other day, and add 45 minutes of weight lifting after the run. I rotate the muscle groups I lift for every session. Your forearms will receive a workout automatically doing the thorasic cavity muscle groups, especially shoulders, biceps and back exercises.

I recommend gripper bags or springs for most of the newer shooters (Military M9 has a 12.5 to 13.5 DA trigger pull, M11 is around 8.5) having problems controlling their trigger pull and steading the handgun during firing. It does make a big difference. The deltoid is the major muscle in play for raising and steading the arm during shooting. It all gets covered in a well rounded exercise routine.

[John Thompson]

When instructing I do a demonstration with a .40 Beretta where I shoot a bill drill standing on one leg and holding the gun one handed w/o using my thumb and little finger. The purpose of the drill is to show that handgun recoil is a myth and how much tension in the thumb and little finger screws up accuracy. In short the only grip you need is enough for an almost limp handshake. One is better off just training for the health of it.

Edited June 9, 2006 by John Thompson

[shred]

When instructing I do a demonstration with a .40 Beretta where I shoot a bill drill standing on one leg and holding the gun one handed w/o using my thumb and little finger. The purpose of the drill is to show that handgun recoil is a myth and how much tension in the thumb and little finger screws up accuracy. In short the only grip you need is enough for an almost limp handshake. One is better off just training for the health of it.

What?? no Egret?

[BritinUSA]

I found working the triceps helped me with grip. Another thing to try is this..

...it really gets the forearm burning.

[bwannabe]

Sledgehammer levering will buld wrist strength like nothing else.

Block lifting will build hand strength like nothing else.

If you want to add strength everywhere including your grip - deadlift. If you can pull 150% of your bodyweight, you have strong forearms and a powerful grip compared to the average man.

Pullups and chin-ups on a fat bar really work my forearms hard. If you don't have access to a fat bar, wrap a towel around a regular bar.

Grippers are great, but they don't work the thumb, and I really beleive that block lifting will do a much better job developing strength in your fingers.

If grip endurance is what you're after don't bother with a little spinning ball, go find a sledghammer and tractor tire and bash it. This is a tremendous upper body work out, your forearms, abs and shoulders will be on fire afterwards (your back will only tingle a little). Or, if you want to take up kettlebell training, the snatch done in the RKC style will smoke your grip.

Edited August 14, 2007 by bwannabe

[et45]

Don't overlook the plain old pushup.You can vary your hand positions and even do lateral movement in the down position.

[Jake Di Vita]

Pushups, pullups, and dips are some of the best exercises you can do for your upper body to have actual functional strength. Don't overdo it like I did though...I'm still recovering from horrible tendonitis.

[Micah]

Weightlifting a bonus...yes and no.

Last year, I worked at a jail, and lifted two hours a day, every day. Took all of the supplements, and really bulked up. The wife dug it, but the shooting did not. I found that my range of motion was hindered, as well as my ability to compete for long periods of time.

My suggestion...cardio will be the way, truth, and light for our sport. Light lifting will be a plus as well, but cardio is still king.

[Jake Di Vita]

You bring up another good point.

Flexibility too is key. I think strength, cardiovascular, and flexibility issues need to be addressed by anyone who desires to be a truly competitive shooting.