Physical exercise

I am a pretty good shooter and have been most of my life...Exericise is good, I do it at a gym no less than 3 days a week, plus I do some at the house...

Arm, grip etc is good, I do an exercise for grip that does not involve the trigger finger, then I do one that is for the trigger finger only...

That way the message is sent back and forth to brain for proper control, my thinking anyway

What kind of shooting?

In rifle shooting I would not try to muscle the gun at all. NPA wins. Bone support wins, not muscle support.

Being in good condition has some advantage. Just being able to survive the heat will put you ahead in my area.

Shooting is easier in terms of being physically fit that most other sports I have done. Then maybe I take someting for granted.

If something in particular is wearing on you it may be a fit problem more than a fitness problem.

Depends on the sort of competitive shooting you're talking about.

I like Crossfit, though I really need to get back into the habit.

I think you'll be hard pressed to find any sport where being in shape is not an advantage.

For IDPA specifically I've recently begun working on peak grip strength, and so far I'm really liking the results; both in terms of a dexterity boost allowing more robust execution of non-shooting pistol related mechanics (mag ejection, etc), and stronger grip leads to better recoil control, which is of course, very important.

12 oz. curls

Endurance training is more ideal than weight training for strength and/or size.

Your core is the fundamental building blocks for the rest of your body. Add in the legs. when I train lifters who are wanting to gain size and strength i tell quote them "Your body isn't going to build a foretress on 2 poles" -- in other words need to work your legs. Also your body won't stabilize itself on a weak core....your core is by far the most important -- grip strength isn't as important as grip endurance for shooting.

For shooting --- forearms, shoulders, upper back, core are the most important muscles to train if you pursue weight lifting. Cardio is just as important -- lower the heart rate and less volume you fill the lungs the more accurate you will become ( i have nothing to back that last part up -- just common sense to me...maybe?)

Justin said it best -- Crossfit. but who wants to spend $120 a month at a crossfit gym -- competition shooting is expensive enough...ha

I disagree, I think peak grip strength is more important for IDPA/USPSA type shooting than "grip endurance". We are talking somewhere between 8 and 20 seconds at a time here in the vast majority of cases.

You don't have to go to a gym...

ny32182 said:

I disagree, I think peak grip strength is more important for IDPA/USPSA type shooting than "grip endurance". We are talking somewhere between 8 and 20 seconds at a time here in the vast majority of cases.

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I guess one of the world female champions who is around 4'5"...and 100lbs is just out of luck... maybe she drinks a red bull before she shoots...

Well, Robert Vogel is better than any of the women I'm aware of, and here are his thoughts on the matter; I was pleasantly surprised to see they synced with my own when I started up the grip training not long ago:

My thoughts on getting a stronger grip: First, you have endurance and then you have maximum strength. To get better endurance you need to train high reps with low weights. To get more maximum strength you need low reps with near max weights. This is common sense of course. I AM NOT concerned with endurance, I will almost never be gripping and shooting my gun for more than 25 sec at a time, AND I get enough endurance with just my regular dry/live fire practice. If you want to bench 300lb you'll never get there doing 100 lbs all day long. Its the same with gripping. All that counts for me is my maximum strength, therefore I use only the heavier grippers. When I first started I could do a #1, but not by much. Within a couple months I could do a #2. I think I've topped out doing a #2.5 but can do a #3 with a "deep set". I would never have got to that point if I hadn't severely pushed myself with heavier grippers. Now, to maintian it I rarely use them more than once a week. The catch to all this is avoiding injury. Some people are more susceptible to this than others so you have to know your own body....but it is amazing what the body will get used to. I know this is long but its whats worked for me and hopefully it can help someone.

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With the CoC grippers I started with a Trainer and a #1, and couldn't do more than one or two reps with the #1. Even the trainer was a little tough to warm up with so I went to Dick's and got a fairly cheesy gripper to warm up with. Now that I can do 8+ reps with the #1 I'm going to be getting a #1.5 and 2 very shortly. I "pyramid" with the grippers just like with a bench press or other heavy lift. As soon as I can get four reps with one weight I'll go for the next.

I am quite pleased with the results so far in terms of gun manipulation and I'd like to think I've got a couple more grippers left in me before I hit a plateau.

I dont want to turn this into a debate....and I agree with the post above --I also still agree with my post. But comparing the training needed to bench 300lbs vs the training needed to grip to shoot isn't really apples to apples. I'll say this -- your training techniques are far superior to not training at all -- and the grip holds are short enough to be on the fence as to what's better -- endurance training vs strength training. I think you'll be satisfied doing either or or both -- I'll also add -- I have trained with IBFF bodybuilders and I have never seen a weakling do high reps of 100lbs and I've never seen a weakling do 300lbs....

In the end -- something is better than nothing -- working on grip strength alone would get dull -- love your heart and lungs -- do some cardio!

Back in the day when I was in school --during classes I would rep out with hose hand squeezers you're talking about -- the strength builds very quickly -- so for people who can only do 1 or 2 -- don't get discouraged... you'll be doing many more reps in very little time. The forearms are an amazing muscle in terms of building size and strength quickly. Who knows -- may be challening Sly in Over The Top one day...

I don't know if I am a top shooter, but I find spending time doing cardio workouts (bicycling is my favorite) helped tremendously this past season. A Highpower rifle match can be a long day, and it is more about endurance in my opinion than raw strength. And it also conditioned me to be able to focus when uncomfortable, which is a trait that may be overlooked for competition shooting. What I mean is, no matter how tough, strong or great of a shot you are, it's going to be difficult to do well when you can't stay focused on the task at hand.

Oh no, do not turn this into another "You will never get big shooting a .22" argument.

We still haven't heard back from the OP as to what the goal is.

wanderinwalker,
I truly believe cycling helps with balance. Do you find it helped with one position more than another? Flexibility is good for sitting. People don't realize how strong your core has to be for cycling. You do road or offroad? I raced bicycles for a few years. It does require focus and some repeatablity of position. Sounds similar to HP in ways.
Thanks,
WNTFW

Cardiovascular exercise will slow your resting heart rate, giving you a longer duration between beats in which to pull the trigger on long-range precision rifles. Strenuous exercise immediately prior to shooting, however, may make you a bit shaky and throw off your aim.

Many times while hunting your cardio is tested and if not in good shape it will be a major factor...The one thing that is important is to have strength and cardio, neither have to be at the same performance of a trained super runner or basketball player, but you need to be in fair condition IMHO...

Arms and grip are major factor in handgun shooting... Especially powerful weapons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFJjaj7pXsA

The above link is pretty obvious why

Regards

the lower your heart rate the less you breathe and the more shallow you breathe.... the less your heart pumps, less your lungs inflate/deflate, the less calories you expend...the less calories you expend the more calories you have to feeding your brain...the more you have to feed your brain the less tired you feel and the more you can focus....

Same goes with muscle density and mass.... the more density or mass you have the less muscle fibers it takes to do something the less fatigued you will feel --

You want a real challenge shooting -- do a biathlon.

wanderinwalker,
I truly believe cycling helps with balance. Do you find it helped with one position more than another? Flexibility is good for sitting. People don't realize how strong your core has to be for cycling. You do road or offroad? I raced bicycles for a few years. It does require focus and some repeatablity of position. Sounds similar to HP in ways.
Thanks,
WNTFW

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Offhand mostly. But I think spending a lot of trigger time with a DA S&W last winter may have also helped my offhand. (Oh wow, look, I can hold it with my hands, my shoulder and my face. And the trigger only weighs 4.5-lbs! And the sights are so far apart... ). Flexibility is great for sitting, and I found pulse-bounce to be less pronounced. And my core strength was good for doing multiple repetitions of offhand, "raise rifle, load, mount rifle, shoot, repeat."

At least in bullseye rifle shooting, I think relying on raw muscle strength won't help you. In offhand, my best strings are almost always the second 10 of a 20-shot match. Why? Because I can't muscle the rifle anymore, so I have to focus on NPA and proper shot execution more closely. More 10s and fewer 8 result.

I ride road primarily, just for fitness and fun. I used to ride a lot of mountain, but it's not as convenient from my new location. There is a difference where in road work, you have a steady workload for endurance, but in mountain your workload varies from 100% to almost resting. I want to get back to mountain riding more, but my "fun fund" is currently earmarked for a smallbore match rifle...

And I think there was one other benefit which was just simply being conditioned to being outside in the weather.