Do you take a day off?

[tnichols]

I typically train every day, whether it be live fire or dry fire. Do you think there is any advantage/disadvantage to taking a day or two off to every now and then. I'm interested in your thoughts.

[jasmap]

I typically train every day, whether it be live fire or dry fire. Do you think there is any advantage/disadvantage to taking a day or two off to every now and then. I'm interested in your thoughts.

An advantage to taking a day off is not getting burned out.

[CSEMARTIN]

I know in some sports there is such a thing as overtraining. I'm very interested to see what the other guys here think.

While I haven't quantified anything with a timer, I am doubtful that taking a day off will hurt you. I have walked into and won major matches without so much as looking at my gun in over a month.

[tnichols]

But being a mere mortal, I have to practise Chris! Plus, I'm still getting used to that new "funny" gun with all those levers and switches and stuff.

[CSEMARTIN]

But being a mere mortal, I have to practise Chris!

We all have to/should practice. But at some point, you/we/me/I reach a point of diminishing return and fight burnout in the process.

I admire your drive Tom, and I want a front row seat to watch your success!

[jkrispies]

I also try to practice everyday, if only a little, but I also acknowledge that burnout happens without some time off. Well, that and while our sport provides me my sanity, it isn't the driving force of my life.

Two medical reasons to backup taking a break, even though it's more trivial than anything else... 1. When you learn something, the actual long term "filing" of the information that takes place in the brain occurs during sleep; in other words, it's more effective to study for a test and then sleep on it than to pull an all-nighter and head straight into the exam. 2. When you exercise, the building of the muscles occurs during the rest period (some say the next day) and not during the actual exercise itself; this is why trainers will often build rest days into a training regimen.

On top of all this, I've often found that I have my "Eureka!" moments not while in the act of training, but while quietly contemplating life after the fact. When I find myself stuck in a rut, I'll purposely walk away for a short period of time, and that's when I'll have my breakthrough. By constantly immersing ourselves in activities, we can blind ourselves to the bigger picture.

[dsb45acp]

I usually try to do a "4 day split". @ days on, one off, 2days on, etc. About 45 min to and haour per session. Maybe that explains why I'm only B class Limited

[schroed]

All right number 65 your fast enough please stop practicing how else I'm going to catch up.

So what is the issue: loosing mental focus during practice or the body(arm) needs some down time?

Seriously if your not mentally in to dry fire that day take it off or just practice a 3/4 speed draw/reloads

just keep it short 5-10 minutes. Live fire with out a plan creates the largest problem for me, I like to compare

my dry fire time with live fire after that I seem to get lost what to do next. Maybe add some drop turners or swingers

to the golf course for a change pace. But to the original question:

Do you think there is any advantage/disadvantage to taking a day or two off to every now and then. I'm interested in your thoughts.

If you have to take a day off maybe plan some changes to your routine, think through your strength and weakness and develop an

plan to fix, read a shooting book, or just relax. Sometimes we need some down time just make sure that it is not too long.

[Franklin D Wolverton]

Easiest way for me to tell if I need a day off is the same way I used to feel about running (those that know me realize that I haven't RAN in a few years ).

If I wake up in the morning, and sometime between my first cup of coffee and morning shower I think to myself "damn... I really don't want to go to the range today..." I'm getting a little burnt, and need a mental day off.

I don't pay any attention to thoughts I have BEFORE my first cup of coffee. If I did that, I'm quite sure I would have seen court martial at least once during a 15 year military career...

Frank

[C.A. Wason]

My wife and I both shoot. We practice with live fire 2 to 3 times a week, 2 to 4 hours each time. On the days we don't actually shoot we dry fire or handle guns in some form of training, drawing or movement kinds of things, or reviewing the videos from the latest practice . Both of us are involved in the reloading process and the cleaning and maintenance of our guns. We talk about our shooting constantly in regard to improvement and bounce ideas off of each other as to different concepts we might try to attain our shooting goals.

While it isn't a daily "total immersion" process in actual practice, each and every day is in part devoted to something shooting related. So the daily central theme is shooting. I think not shooting every day gives us a introspective opportunity in reference to how we can shoot more consistantly, or about what we can do to improve some facet we have not yet mastered (there are still alot of those ).

This "schedule" has evolved over seveal years, and seems to be of benefit to us. I recall that we used to shoot live fire practice every day, and some days when we were done I felt I had in a way wasted ammo. This was because I wasn't focused, and I was just pulling the trigger. I guess we all mature as shooters at different rates. I know the learning about shooting, and myself keeps me coming back. After reading all of the above it likely won't suprise anyone that our friends are almost exclusively all shooters too. That may sound excessive, but it works for us.

Finding something that works is a good thing!

[Jman]

My thoughts?

Variety is the spice of life. Mix things up. Keep it fresh.

Routine and regimentation is a prison for me.

Jim

Edited June 11, 2009 by JimmyM

[werewolf45auto]

I do agree with some of what has been said. Now I don't train as much as I would like but work has been pretty crazy the last year. I use to powerlift and before that I trained for good health and strength. Now its not the same as traing for shooting but it's still training. You should always have off days when training for anything physical or mental, thats when the body and mind heal. Some of the people in here have talked about taking a day off when your not feeling it that day. I don't beleave this is a good idea for a few resons. If you can make it to training on the days your just not feeling it, then the days you are feeling it should be some pretty great days. If you are sick or hurt REST. So first you make a goal that is hard but attanible(keeps you wining and wanting more) then you set a schedual you can keep and you don't cancel for silly things like your buddy Jake wants to go bowling. On traing days have a plan, when you wake in the morning start invisoning your practice for that day, spend the free moments of the day to really invision your goal happing that day, get yourself pumped and excited about it. Now when you get there train hard, have fun and leave on a good note. Don't tire out so bad that your not doing anything right because you will leave and later start second guessing your training plan.

Now I know this is more from a lifting standpoint and some things will be diffrant, I just always trained to win and beleave that your mind can power through what the body does not always want to do. I hope this all make sence as I can't always put my words on a screen and make them sound the same.

If I could start training like this again(but in this sport) then I could start moveing up LOL

Dave