Just restarting, suggestions for exercises?

[Chia]

Howdy, I'm just picking the pistol back up after about half a year hiatus. I am not a natural. I did not do this growing up, and my scores before were not good (sub 500). I have a Steyr EVO 10 mechanical and live in a new house. I had the pleasure of having an extremely generous forum member let me borrow his SCATT and other equipment for quite some time, and it was amazing, but like all good things, it came to an end. I do still have the professional SCATT program on my computer and can print custom-sized targets.

I don't have a range currently. I have a house and a backyard, but I do not quite know how to proceed at this point. I'm figuring trigger control is the basis and am working on that.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do? My current goals are (in order):

1. Achieve respectable trigger control
2. SLOWLY build the muscles needed to hold the pistol more and more steady (I'm 30 years old)
3. Begin working towards creating a range. I do not know for certain if I have a 10 meter space in the house, but I'm currently doubting it. It's in the shape of a gigantic oval.
4. Start eliminating the outlying 6s and so on to raise my score up to be able to perform a string of 60 shots with nothing outside of the black.

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience that might help? I've learned the hard way that the methods I was using do not work.

[Mike M.]

Only 30? You're young!

WRT arm strength, here's my drills:
1. Extend both arms out to sides. Make small (~6 inch) circles. Forward, then backward. Start with 30 forward and 30 backward, build up to 100. Then add a small weight...a 1 or 2 lb weight in each hand.

2. A grip exerciser is good. I particularly like the ball types...sort of a ball of putty.

3. Pilkington Competition sells a gyroscope-type wrist exerciser that works OK.

4. Dry fire. A lot. Maybe with a half-pound weight under the barrel.

WRT training, dry fire is your friend. No need for a target, a blank wall works fine. Focus on the sights. Focus on shot release. If the sights move when the shot releases, it went wild.

[David Levene]

Every once in a while Rover comes up with a good idea.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=46778&p=222116

[Rover]

At 30 he's already a demented old fart. He'll fit in well here.

Here's my advice on your questions:
Build a range, preferably indoors next to your bar.
Screw "making targets". Just buy good Euro imports. At your level you'll easily get 20 shots on each target and still be able to score them. Think of it! A whole match on three targets.
Clip your targets on a box of rags; it's free.
Use RWS Basic pellets; they're cheap and good.
Get off your flabby ass and get some exercise.
Shoot one to two matches a day forever.

[Chia]

Every once in a while Rover comes up with a good idea.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=46778&p=222116

I laughed pretty hard. My wife still doesn't think it's funny, but serves her right for looking over my shoulder.

When you say "box of rags," how many rags are we talking and approx. how big a box?

And, thanks for the advice. This has given me ideas of how to make it work.

[atomicgale]

Rover forgot to add: Wear ECLIPSE GLASSES while shooting! They're on-sale for 98-cents elsewhere on this site (usually $5,000). In fact, poke a small hole concentric with your line of sight, and Voile', you've got full-focus specs, with IRIS and BLINDERS, for under a dollar. Way less than $450+ for Champion Super-Olympic frames.

The blacked-out E-Glasses also help conceal the delirium tremens.

Now, 60 shots a day for the next 20 years!

[Rover]

"When you say "box of rags," how many rags are we talking and approx. how big a box?"

About 16" square (I use much smaller), stuffed with a few pairs of your old polyester disco pants (the ones so cool you didn't wear underwear). Clip a target to the front. Put it in a slightly larger box with the face cut away so it will catch lint and target shreds. Do NOT empty it. The more you use it, the more effective it gets.

I think atomicgale is starting to get the picture here on TT.

[SamEEE]

Thick dowel rod with a 2kg weight to wind up and down from floor level to wrist height with an outstretched arms to increase grip strength.

Bucket of rice to grab, and flick fingers through to increase finger strength and dexterity.

[Rover]

BTW If you're feeling REALLY macho, you can get yourself a SSP. If you listen to the guys on here, they drop in a sweaty heap, panting and gasping, before the match is half over. Of course, they're just girly-men, whereas I'm sure you have the right stuff.

Here's one for sale: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=55984

[Chris__Colorado]

I was hoping someone would post Rover's exercise plan.

It's great but very stressful and tiring.

To help you get ready for it, I'd strongly recommend the following warmup which Rover deliberately omitted.
(They're TOP SECRET and releasable only to Secret Squirrel Shooting Society (SSSS) members)

1. Pushups (shoulder width or narrower, never ever wide arm--it'll destroy your shoulders)
2. Pullups (palms facing away)
3. Dumbbell Squat to Dumbbell Bicep Curl to Overhead Shoulder Press

Here's a link to videos of these exercises (you may need a gmail account to access it)
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Proper SSSS form is important to prevent injury.

The advantage of the above SSSS warmup exercises is that they work multiple muscle groups and your core.
Core strength is important for stability when shooting.

You are SSSS fully trained if you can do three sets of 100 pushups, 20 Pullups (no kipping), and 10 reps with 50 pound dumbbells (sandbags, bag of books, or 50# full potato sacks if dumbbells aren't around).
Start small (3 sets of just 10% of the above) three times a week and slowly work your way up.
Three times a week is Friday, Sunday, and then either Tuesday or Wednesday. The rest days are very important for recovery and to prevent injuries.
Our SSSS club meets and shoots Mondays and Thursdays so the above schedule works.
For most people, it's easier to work out on weekends (Friday and Sunday) and have some flexibility during the week (Tuesday or Wednesday workout).

The SSSS warmup and potato bag workout always takes under 30 minutes-- so no excuse for SSSS members not having enough time.

You'll be amazed at how far along you can be in a relative short time (6 months to a year). Your SSSS grip strength will also dramatically increase. This SSSS warmup routine is holistic, awesome, safe, and can be done almost anywhere requiring very little equipment support.

Track your exercises (what you do) in your SSSS shooting journal (you do keep a SSSS shooting journal--don't you?)

No girly-men in the SSSS--SSPs will cower in your presence! Electronic scoring systems will default to and start scoring at 570. No ISSF judge will ever approach you for wearing pink camouflage, using cylinders over 10 years old, or shooting barefoot. SOF/SEALS will come to you for mentorship.

As a side benefit, besides improving your shooting, Rover swears that the potato bag exercise (with SSSS warmup) will have the ladies swooning over you.

After reading this message, all non-members of the SSSS must delete their memories, preferably with repeat applications of Bombay Sapphire gin and tonics.
Under no circumstances will Rover's SSSS secret training program be exposed to anyone outside the SSSS.

:-)
Chris

PS In all honesty, those three exercises are simple, yet very effective. Doing them without breaks will provide aerobic benefit. For added challenge (and to provide a short muscle rest), between events or sets, add a minute(or two) of jumping jacks or jump roping (or just hopping/jumping in place if the rope is too challenging.) This routine will get you in shape, doesn't rely on expensive equipment, requires little space, and only takes 30 minutes a session three times a week.
If you have more time you can add chinups to the routine. And if you really want to up the game, add a burpee-box jump combination (burpee immediately followed by a box jump) to the routine.

[jaxontarget]

When you're ready...

https://youtu.be/nDWiFmLF4lw

[Rover]

Of course you could always go with this info that Zurek sent me:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/iDnEkFSMR ... autoplay=1