How to coordinate weight lifting with pistol shooting

[The_DrPark]

Hello everyone. I've found this forum to b a wealth of knowledge in the past, so I thought I might be able to find some insight on a problem I'm running into. I apologize beforehand for the length of this post, too.

I competed throughout undergrad studies and became OK, not great (550-560 AP scores). I ran into a problem, though, my final year of study, when I became much more interested in weight lifting. It started out as a way to recover from some injury and correct some muscular imbalances (back problems from childhood, etc) but I enjoyed the activity and became more involved. The problem, though, was that the fairly rapid muscular hypertrophy meant that I was losing a lot of fine motor control as well as suffering from constant recovery times. I would lift about 3-4x a week. and shoot about 2x week on the interspersed days.

I saw my scores drop noticeably (530-540 range) and it was generally a frustrating situation. I was also dealing with a busy school schedule and so I know that also played a part.

I've now found myself with a new pistol team and committed group of friends and would really like to get better. But I still enjoy weightlifting and so I'm not exactly sure how to balance both.

Tentatively, I am trying to just weight lift less frequently (only about 2x a week) and keep the weights the same (i.e. don't increase them). The pistol season finishes at the end of February for me and then I am planning on increasing my weight lifting frequency and intensity.

I'm worried, though about two things:

1) Will my weight lifting (even if more moderated) still detriment my shooting during the season?
2) Will weightlifting after the season ends lead to a regression in the skill improvements and progress in pistol shooting that I gained during the seasson?

Also, does anybody have any recommendations as to what kind of weightlifting regimen to use to both maintain my current strength levels but not interfere with shooting?

Many thanks

[antispar]

Do more legs and core, reduce exercises for upper torso and arms, especially the arms.

[ScottSimmonds]

I started an aggressive weight lifting and conditioning program in May - CrossFit. Spending 3 days a week in the gym lifting bigger and bigger weights. Getting stronger and in better condition has helped my shooting and my overall well being. I dont see how getting stronger and in better shape could hurt our shooting. Stronger arms means you dont fatigue as easily. Stronger legs means a better foundation. A healthier body means we live longer to shoot longer.

Of course you still have to train for shooting - range time, dry fire, holding drills...

[v76]

What is your current weight lifting routine? Are you aiming for endurance, strength or hypertrophy?

At first glance, your problem seems to be with recovery/overtraining. That is a very common. You know your body better than we do but I'd say that weight training the whole body during the off season would be a better idea. Keep the weight/impact low during the season. If you're seriously competing, don't lift the week before the competition.

I've uploaded a bunch of articles on training but there's a lot of good tips from Mark McKean (an actual coach) that you might wanna read. Head over to http://tinyurl.com/airpistoltraining and check out the "Pistol Australia Coaching Articles" folder.

[jbaumhauer]

Do more legs and core, reduce exercises for upper torso and arms, especially the arms.

I often think if men with large forearm muscles are disadvantaged with the extra weight extended?