Shooting off hand and muscle fatigue, some questions.

K

Kimio

New member
I’ve come to realize that being at a desk job, and the lack of working out has negatively affected me when shooting off hand. Simply holding up the M4 (w/rails and a Comp M4) for more than a few minutes has my aim shaking all over the place. This was most noticible when I had to qualify recently.practicing with a handgun, I also noticed my hands fatigued quicker as did my vision than it did 3 years ago.

That being said, my current situation doesn’t allow me to train unfortunately, seeing as personal firearms are forbidden where I’m currently at.

With that in mind, outside of getting my but back into the gym, what other exercises do you think I can do to to try and keep myself up to speed? I can’t use air soft unfortunately nor paintball at this time.
 
Without knowing your age or physical condition it's hard to know where to recommend starting.

There are a variety of bodyweight exercises that may work for you. Pushups are a good place to start. If necessary you can start doing them inclined on the stairs until you can do them on the floor.

There are also inexpensive rubber bands you can buy of varying resistance. An online search will show tons of various exercises you can do.

For hand strength you can squeeze a ball, use grippers, or my preference, loop a hand towel around something and pull yourself up. Just like the stair pushups you can start by adjusting your body angle to add resistance.

Just a few ideas. It would help to know more about your circumstances.
 
Spend an hour a day in front of the TV holding an EMPTY gun. When I used to go to big matches in the spring, and couldn't get outside much due to our winters, I'd spend an hour a night holding the gun up and dry firing it. You don't need ammo to build muscles up. I also used to tape a weight to the gun(s) to increase my strength. Most people shoot poorly simply due to lack of conditioning. Even with acquired "skills", without the muscle development to back it up you're not going to do as well. FWIW, you have to be dedicated to the game to do this. There simply isn't any magic to becoming a good shooter. Good luck.
 
I'd recommend regular dry-firing at home, aiming at things like a corner of the ceiling or ornery looking light switches.
 
bassJAM1 said:
I'd recommend regular dry-firing at home, aiming at things like a corner of the ceiling or ornery looking light switches.
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Indeed. Dry fire 10-15 minutes a day, start from draw or low ready, sloooowly raise to site picture, squeeze and HOLD for 15-20 seconds, repeat. Wall drill (look it up) and a dedicated target of some sort. I use a 50% B27. And work on your deltoids.
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Kimio wrote:
...outside of getting my but back into the gym, what other exercises do you think I can do to to try and keep myself up to speed?
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The problem you described isn't with your gun, but with your body. You need to exercise and build your muscles back up. You also don't need a gym. The U.S. military has developed a very good physical conditioning regime based around the sit-up, pull-up, push-up, jumping jack and marching/running.

See a doctor to make sure you're healthy enough to start an exercise program and if you are, start with walking, sitting-up, pushing-up, jumping jacks, and pulling up if you can get access to an overhead bar. Start slowly and build up gradually.
 
After you get into some decent shape, buy P90X and a set of dumb bells. Buy the diet plan book and follow it. You can mix your own "recovery drink" for much less although theirs does taste amazing. The rubber bands they sell do work, but I'd suggest wearing safety glasses anytime around something that can fly back into your face. Ask Senator Harry Reid if you have any doubts.

In about two months you'll be a new man.

The other suggestions given are great too. Dry fire really does improve accuracy but I'd still use snap caps.

AND DON'T SHOOT A HOLE IN YOUR TV! :p
 
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You could practice aiming with dumbbells or even jugs of water. Maybe even while watching tv. Unrestricted and easy.

Hand strength isn't bad either. You can get a stress ball or any kind of adjustable gripper. Should be under $10. One thing to watch out for is that it's real easy to overdo it. Much like your abs, you use your hands all day for everything. If you overdo it, it can get pretty rough. I wasn't able to type for a day after overdoing it once.
 
I find muscle training helps both rifle and pistol shooting. Cardio will help with your breathing.

I do both and sm a decent shot.

David

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"...my hands fatigued quicker..." Isn't your hands. It's your back and shoulders. Upper body tone is required just like when shooting a bow. A rowing machine is good for upper body tone, but so is a gallon jug of plain water. A gallon of water weighs 10 pounds. Isn't much weight until you try to hold the jug out on the end of your arm.
Regular dry-firing is practice for breathing, sight picture and trigger control. Not so much for upper body tone. Door knobs at the end of a hall way make good targets.
 
Get a can of tennis balls, and take one in your hands...

one at a time. Then squeeze with your four finger together and then thumb/ and each finger to built up finger strength.

Take a five pound barbell and exercise your arm, with full extended curl [hanging at your side and up SLOWLY to your shoulder and slowly back down.
Then raise the barbell from side up to shoulder like you are slowly squeezing a shot off, hold for five count and slowly lower to your side.

Do some slow push-ups aftr getting out of bed.

Repeat.

Good Luck
 
dumbells, exercise balls, wrist weights, etc, your problems are almost entirely in biceps and triceps, and the major muscles in the forearm, and you can't do anything without building those up. You can't do that by working out or weight machines, all you can do is separate those specific areas and work them with simple equipment.

I liked wrist weights. ten hours a day of hauling an extra pound or two of weight as you cook or even work at your desk will help. I can tell you that building up the strength in your hands and forearms will be the best thing that you can do. Having to exert a lot of force just to hold and control a pistol makes actually handling your trigger difficult.
 
Lots of advice here, and like most on the internet some's good and some isn't. You'd be better served by buying a book written by someone who's known to be a real expert or ask for credentials. You're going to go nuts trying to follow all this advice and might be wasting your time on a lot of it. However, it's worth every penny you paid for it. There are a good number of books out there written by some actual winners with real credentials. Why not start there and start using what works for them. Here's a good place to start. He's the real deal. http://brianenos.com/pages/reviews Good luck.
 
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