Fitness while on the road.

[Chris Conley]

I would like to know if some of you all still do fitness training while at a big match. I'm not talking a one day match, more like a 3 day match. As bad as I feel after todays WOD I'm wondering if it's a good idea or not.

Chris C.

Edited August 6, 2008 by Chris Conley

[outerlimits]

well for 3 gun, the workout usually consists of lugging thousands of pounds of ammo up many flights of stairs at whatever dive i end up getting a room for (strange that there's never a 1st floor room available when there's a 3 gun match). oh yea, then the real workout is the beer...

[ChuckS]

IMHO,

Fitness falls into the same category as shooting skills: what you bring to day 1 of a match is pretty much what you are going to have for the entire match. You will not make any major strides in fitness during those few days but you can definitely screw yourself over by overdoing something. Doing a puke workout can't really help without recovery time. You have done a lot of work to get to that match, you have paid significant $ and probably have traveled also. Go live the match! Plan the stages, watch other shooters that you normally don't get to see. Talk to them and learn. Go to the vendor tent and blow more money on the sport. Stalk you favorite shooter of the opposite (or whatever) sex. If you need a warm up or a stress reliever, by all means do it. Other than that, you are on a shooting holiday/mission. Do the match, the other stuff will be waiting for you when you get home.

Have a good one,

Chuck

Edited August 6, 2008 by ChuckS

[BritinUSA]

When I shoot the Nationals I always book a hotel that has some kind of fitness room. I found that gentle exercise, 30 minutes on a treadmill (walking with an incline) helps to alleviate any stiffness that sets in from all the standing around etc. that occurs during a long match.

I do a few light weights as well if possible. I don't try to get my heart rate up to the max, it's basically a stretching/unwind type thing. Hope this makes sense.

[XRe]

I taper some the week before a big match. The last thing I want is to show up feeling sore or sluggish - or worse, injured. Usually, the rule of thumb is to back off on the loads and do the reps...

At the match, I'll maintain my stretching routine, but generally don't do what would really qualify as a workout until post-match. I want to conserve everything for the performance. If I do anything, it'll be a light set of squats, pushups, situps... that sort of thing - and mainly to address any stiffness from travel or anything, similar to what Paul's talking about. I also make use of the hot tub at the hotel, if it has one, if I end up stiff or sore after the day on the range.

[Jake Di Vita]

Eva T's Blog

She doesn't update it very much anymore - but there are a ton of almost exclusively bodyweight WOD's in there.

This is what I would use during travel.

I absolutely still workout while on the road. I might cut the volume a bit - but especially with these mainly BW WOD's - it isn't gonna blast me to where I can't move the next day.

Bottom line - listen to your body. If you can handle it - do it, if not - don't.

[Chris Conley]

When I shoot the Nationals I always book a hotel that has some kind of fitness room. I found that gentle exercise, 30 minutes on a treadmill (walking with an incline) helps to alleviate any stiffness that sets in from all the standing around etc. that occurs during a long match.

I do a few light weights as well if possible. I don't try to get my heart rate up to the max, it's basically a stretching/unwind type thing. Hope this makes sense.

Thanks, that was what I was looking for. Most day if I don't do some kind of excercise I feel like crap the whole day. Maybe I'll try what you suggested.

Chris C.

Edited to add: Jake and Xre, thanks for replies also.

Edited August 6, 2008 by Chris Conley

[Mark K]

Anyone who were to look at me now, would not guess that I ever worked out in my life. But in my time with the USAMU, and shooting around the world I tried to make it a point to do the same things on the road, that I did at home.

I wanted to make the match as near to my everyday shooting experience as possible. I agree with the comments about not doing a monster/puke workout, but keeping up a normal active lifestye, is far preferable to laying on your motel room bed and doing nothing. By doing your normal routine, you are more likely to feel normal on the range.

I used to pay big bucks to ship my road bicycle with me (though not usually overseas), to do my daily cardio workout.

Mark

[GTOSHootr]

Pavel's The Naked Warrior book has great body weight excerises you can do on the road that allow you to vary the degree of diffculty.

Edited August 6, 2008 by GTOSHootr

[Brian Payne]

By nature I am on the Hyper side ( a lot on that side according to my wife ). At a match that lasts several days, I am up at 0500 hrs. and "jog" about 2-3 miles. I do mean jog, not run. I am interested in burning off the excess energy and breaking a sweat only. Come back to the motorhome, shower, eat a light breakfast, suit up, ready to go. If I wake up in the middle of the night due to match excitement - good time for some pushups and ab work.

During the match I found that if I jog downrange to paste and re-set steel, I stay much calmer than if I just sit around or move slowly downrange.