How many of you lift weights to improve handgun control?

[Samuel2011]

My experience with a couple of friends that are into body building is that altho the can lift very heavy things and make heavy rifles and pistols seem light, they tend to get tiered of holding up the mass of the firearm along with the mass of their arms for long periods of time. They tire faster than some people that don't lift weight or exercise for that matter.
So, I guess there is a limit to how much weight lifting is too much.

Just my $.02

 

[Billy Shears]

My experience with a couple of friends that are into body building is that altho the can lift very heavy things and make heavy rifles and pistols seem light, they tend to get tiered of holding up the mass of the firearm along with the mass of their arms for long periods of time. They tire faster than some people that don't lift weight or exercise for that matter.

You make a very good point. Lack of endurance is a common problem with the traditional bodybuilding style of lifting weights. Big, but not necessarily fit.

That's why I encouraged folks to check out www.crossfit.com. It's a functionally based approach to fitness that can be tailored to even the laziest couch potatos among us. We have reached a point in the United States where far too many men "look like twinkies with buttcracks and are just about as useful," as one observer has put it. It's time we all took better care of ourselves. There's more to self defense and emergency preparedness than ammo selection.

 

[C0untZer0]

All these problems can be solved with an adjustable stool and a good benchrest

 

[C0untZer0]

Also want to put in a recomendation for the prone supported position...

Another plus for this setup is that I can use my left hand to get potato chips while using my right hand to fire...

 

[Billy Shears]

Another plus for this setup is that I can use my left hand to get potato chips while using my right hand to fire...

Careful there, especially if you use a two hand grip. All that salt isn't good for a gun's finish. You may want to restrict yourself to stainless steel only.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Never lifted for the purpose of shooting, but have lifted pretty steadily for over 20 years, and it helps with the shooting, unless going shooting the day after a strenuous workout. I wouldn't recommend that. Just wish I had started in high school rather than in my 30s. I've pretty much dropped the super-heavy stuff that made me so big, and now try to just stay in some kind of shape and keep the heart healthy.

 

[MidwestRookie]

I just got one of those captains of crush handgrippers and have been using it for about a week..haven't got a chance to get to the range yet, but just dry firing it seems to be helping...

I'm gonna need to order the next weight up tho in a month or 2..

 

[C0untZer0]

Stevie-Ray makes a good point, and I noticed it myself. I dry-fire on and off almost all day. But after I've done wrist curls and grip exercises my dry-firing is horrible. I'm shaky, can't get a good sight picture and have horrible follow-through.

But in general and over-all, the exercising helps with shooting accurately.

I just have to make sure my muscles have had time to recuperate from a workout before going to the range.

 

[irish52084]

Cross-fit is excellent as an all around fitness tool. Core strength is very important to everything we do, including shooting, so any gains there should help as well.

A great way to improve reflexes, gain strength and flexibility is to train in combative sports like MMA, Muay Thai, boxing etc... You'll gain strength, speed and endurance, not to mention quicker reactions to stimuli which can help with sight acquisition, reaction to sounds, draw times, trigger control and more.

 

[TylerD45ACP]

I lift weights because its something I have been doing for a long time and enjoy it. I also want to join the Army in the future after more college. But, I do find it helps with just about every aspect of handgun control. That and the constant practice .

 

[spacemanspiff]

Yeah, lifting is definitely a good idea. However, the problem is that few weights or devices accurately mimic the grips of a pistol. So I had my smith spotweld arms on the sides of the frame of my gun and I put 1 to ten lb weights on each side while at the gym.
I do make sure its not loaded though, but for some reason everyone runs out of the weight room when I unholster, maybe I need to use more Axe bodyspray?

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Coming in late, I just do a general lifting routine and don't have problems with my guns? What am I missing?

I've lightened up a bit with age and some specific health issues but hand strength doesn't seem to be troubling.

 

[Clifford L. Hughes]

Huskeruy:

When I was shooting on several Marine Corps' pistol teams I din't lift weights but I did do push ups. However, my main exercise was shooting a 44 Magnum pistol. I loaded Magnum ammo by the hundreds at a setting. I was station at 29-Palms so I had the whole desert to shoot in. I would walk the desert and pick out rocks up to 100 yards or so away and see how many shots it took me to hit it. I shot about 200 hundred rounds at an outing. My right arm soon became brick hard.

Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired

 

[Huskerguy]

Interesting replies. I started lifting free weights about 10 years ago although I have always kept in really good shape which was much easier in my younger years.

I don't do specific exercises for shooting aside from general arm, wrist and hand strength which I think will naturally occur with most basic lifting. I also work pretty hard on my core but it is still a long ways from a six pack and I won't be doing any commercials for PX90. My wife walks by and says "not bad for a 57 year old man."

I, like many who have replied, lift mostly to maintain some conditioning as I age gracefully which is not easy.

 

[KevininPa]

I workout,.....

......have been since I was 15 or so. Started then to get big. Now at 50 it's to stay toned and smaller. Have a Bowflex in the living room. If I had a gym membership I wouldn't go. But with that thing taking up space and screaming at me that I paid money for it, it gets used. Hate wasting my hard earned cash!
That aside, I don't work out specifically to shoot but have found that it helps. My shoulders don't bruise as bad as my friends who don't exercise when shooting rifles and shotguns. I handle recoil very easily compared to some I shoot with. Working construction probably helps with this. Though there hasn't been a whole lot of that lately. (Sigh) No new toys for awhile yet.

 

[C0untZer0]

It doesn't take long...

I mentioned before that I wasn't happy with my follow-through on my G34 and tailored my workouts to focus on improving my grip, forearm, wrist and hand strength.

It doesn't take long... I noticed on Friday that some of my exercises were getting easier so I increased the weight on those, I also moved up one notch on the Captains Crush grippers.

 

[Dino.]

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how lifting weights would be beneficial.
Unless you're toting a .50 cal

Practice trumps weight lifting IMO.

 

[Scorch]

Overall physical conditioning will indeed help in shooting, particularly in steadiness, control, and endurance. I lift 2-3 times a week, with conditioning thrown in. I am 54, and I can still hunt almost as hard as when I was 40, but nowhere near as hard as when I was 30. But my buddies that are in their 40s wonder why I am stronger than them and can shoot and hunt longer.

 

[ltc444]

I have used many excercises including weight lifting to improve my shooting. The thing which was most effective was shootin a bow. I set up a range in my back yard. I shot 30 to 40 arrows from a 55 lb draw bow.

After 6 months without shooting a pistol, my scores improved by 20%.