Gunnercise

[PhoenixConflagration]

I was doing some dry-fire draw practice yesterday, and came up with something that might make for a good training technique. Or maybe I'm an ametuer and I'm doing something silly. I was thinking about how to simulate the stress reactions one would have in a real SD situation. I didn't think I could effectively fake an adrenaline dump, but I realized I could at least get my heart rate up quickly and put my posture out of the readiness one can't help but adopt when practicing. I holstered my gun (after making sure it was empty of course), then did five or six jumping jacks in my living room. At the point where my hands were high, I went for my gun, drew, acquired a sight picture, and dry-fired. (Please follow all safe dry-firing techniques.) After repeating a few times, I realized my heart rate was staying up, and I'm the type that could use a little more exercise and a few less pounds (I said a few). I then added into the mix sprinting from one end of my apartment to the other (not a long trip, mind you), then drawing, sighting and firing. I found that in the excitement it was indeed more difficult to maintain proper trigger control. Hopefully with more of this practice, that will improve. And maybe I'll trim up a bit. So, what do you think of Gunnercise?

 

[supergas452M]

Well, I sure would like to see a video of that. Could make America's Funniest videos.

Seriously tho, any training is good training and it certainly cant hurt.

 

[ar15chase]

Good idea. You won't hear me making fun of you. I also do alot of dryfire practice, but have never really thought of bringing my heart-rate up, or making myself tired, while doing it. Thank you for sharing. I think that is a very good idea. Perhaps I will practice "slicing the pie" from room to room, with my Ar-15 after running laps around my house with a 50lb weight in my backpack.

 

[govtcasualty]

it works..

We do exercises like this in the army. we call it a stress shoot. We sprint from one position to the other under simulated fire. Go over obstacles etc and then have to acquire a target and engage. It does work and really makes you concentrate on what you are doing( sight picture, trigger squeeze, etc) Now I dont recommend simulated artillery fire in your apt, but gettin your heart rate up will help.

 

[pax]

Phoenix ~

If you're going to be doing a lot of moving around during your dryfire practice, I'd recommend picking up a training barrel from Blade-Tech. Just adds another layer of safety to the practice routine.

pax

 

[PhoenixConflagration]

Interesting, Pax. I may have to get one of those. Does it also function as a snap cap would, giving the striker something resistant to hit? If so, the thing's cheaper than a pack of snapcaps and twice as useful. Thanks for the suggestion and link.

 

[Dwight55]

You can also add an "element of suspense" in the mix, . . . which "can" kick up the heart rate.

Do some running in place or maybe slow jumping jacks while watching the old tube. Psyche yourself so that you will watch for a certain person in the show, . . . or if a certain commercial comes on. It ties the reaction to perception first, . . . then recognition, . . . and can be a bit fun.

It was more fun about 8 or 10 months ago when more political commercials were polluting the air waves

May God bless,
Dwight

And, . . . in answer to the unasked question on everyone's mind, . . . no, . . . I did not shoot my television.

 

[OnTheFly]

There was another post here about doing something similar at the range.

Fly

 

[Murdock]

When working with my FAL, when the line went cold I used to jog down to the 200 yard berm to check and patch my targets, jog back, and do some sort of exercise until the line went hot again. Worked well when it came time to do a shoot-and-move event.

 

[teeroux]

Its not silly

My wife did a similar training exercise at the police academy where they would do exercises and then shoot the imediatly after.

 

[curt.45]

in local news today

PhoenixConflagration found dead in his aparment from apperent Gunnercise.

intrestingly enought his gun was still holstersd, strangly enough he was wearing a lime green spandex thong workout outfit.









ok so maybe i had a few to many beers tonight.

 

[Kyo]

wish they made that barrel for my gun. seems limited in selection, but maybe its cause its new?

 

[GlockJockey]

It might be my memory, but didn't Smith & Wesson put out a little flyer a few years ago on exercises designed to assist in control of a firearm?

 

[WW2]

Get involved in shooting sports

Once you master, or get bored with, you gunnersize you can move to shooting sports. For the adrenalin dump, movement and pressure of shooting with elevated heart rate and sweaty palms try some of the shooting sports such as:

Cowboy Action Shooting: http://www.sassnet.com/
Defensive Pistol Shooting: http://www.idpa.com/
Practical Shooting: http://www.uspsa.org/
Three Gun Competitions: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_2_51/ai_n8591509/

Since you are competing, moving, and fighting the clock in these sports they are as close to a real encounter as you can get without actually being in trouble. Plus you get to get out on the range to meet others and learn from them!

 

[cavymeister]

Ya know you could probably make a mold of a round with a longer bullet at the end. That way you could use the same long snap cap in every gun you have in the same caliber. Because of the long section that goes down the barrel, you wouldn't be able to remove the snap cap without disassembly. You then have a MUCH safer way to dry fire, and it wouldn't be firearm specific. If you kept the rim off of the snap cap you could rack the slide without worry of damaging the extractor and practice reload/jam drills.