TargetTalk

Hi i'm rifle shooter. I would like to start physical training. On which muscle have to concentrate?
Thank you

Heart and lungs (cardiovascular training) for better hold between pulses.

Core for position shooting, but don't forget the stretching.

Remember, it'd an endurance sport not a power sport, so train for ability to compete for several hours at a time.

I want to start this post by saying working out will not lead to 10 points in a month in pretty much any circumstance. If you are just starting out, or even have been shooting a while but are still working out the kinks of your positions, my advice would be to do, at most, very little weight training for rifle in specific outside of any normal routine you may have.

Number 2, I am not a certified personal trainer. I was the guinea pig for the trainers at my college to figure out a rifle training program. I am speaking from my experience of working things out with them, and my further involvement with the team and bettering the workout routine.

Here is our plan per week in order of significance:

1st- 2x1 hour sessions of cardio, can be bike, treadmill, elliptical, stair stepper, or swimming (idea is to go the full hour, 2x30min with 5min in between if needed)

2nd- 1 session of 45min of yoga followed by 15min core workout

3rd- 1 session of 45min of full body workout followed by 15min core workout

The cardio is most important. We look to train for stamina so your decision making will be as disciplined at the end of a match as at the beginning. By pushing yourself through the discomfort of cardio, then a match will be easy. It also helps you deal with lack luster conditions due to heat, cold, or other.

We have scheduled the yoga later in the week so we can get the full week's workout in each week while having something low impact later in the week that is easy to recover from. We concentrate on balance and stance stability in our poses and movements. Don't ask me to explain yoga yet, I'm still learning about it.

Weight training is a full body workout, but with high reps: 2-4 sets with at least 10 reps. Exercises include deadlifts, overhead shoulder press, bicep curl, tricep kick backs, bozu ball squats, lat pulldowns, and round the worlds.

Lastly is the core workout. This is a fast paced assault on the core, moving from one exercise to another. 2x25 knees to chest, 1x50 toe touches, 2x20 leg throws (with partner), 2x10 front medicine ball crunch toss with partner, 1x30sec plank, 1x30sec planks to each side, 1x30sec plank, 30sec flutter kicks, 30sec scissor kicks, 2x10 supermans.

Let me say again this is not a magical formula for 10 points, or 5 points at that matter. Look to your shooting for points, look at this as supplementary mental training.

I agree with yoga. Yoga is a lot of fun. it definatly helped my scores. but not as much as hard training does.
Yoga is not just the physical side. you dont just go and hold poses for an hour. you really must focus on your posture, breath(big one), and levels of tension in your body.
Some poses will improve your balance quite a bit. in particular Tree Pose, Warrior 3, Half Moon Pose, Boat pose does as well.
matt

Soupy44 wrote: The cardio is most important. We look to train for stamina so your decision making will be as disciplined at the end of a match as at the beginning. By pushing yourself through the discomfort of cardio, then a match will be easy. It also helps you deal with lack luster conditions due to heat, cold, or other.

We have scheduled the yoga later in the week so we can get the full week's workout in each week while having something low impact later in the week that is easy to recover from. We concentrate on balance and stance stability in our poses and movements. Don't ask me to explain yoga yet, I'm still learning about it.

Weight training is a full body workout, but with high reps: 2-4 sets with at least 10 reps. Exercises include deadlifts, overhead shoulder press, bicep curl, tricep kick backs, bozu ball squats, lat pulldowns, and round the worlds.

Lastly is the core workout. This is a fast paced assault on the core, moving from one exercise to another. 2x25 knees to chest, 1x50 toe touches, 2x20 leg throws (with partner), 2x10 front medicine ball crunch toss with partner, 1x30sec plank, 1x30sec planks to each side, 1x30sec plank, 30sec flutter kicks, 30sec scissor kicks, 2x10 supermans.

Let me say again this is not a magical formula for 10 points, or 5 points at that matter.

I know we have discussed this topic before and disagree to some extent but I have some questions about the exercises you use.
Bicep curls and triceps kick backs: why target these relatively small muscles?
Why squats on a bozu ball when you have yoga and (I assume) balance exercises in position? is it for strenght or balance?



If I would put together a training plan entirely for shooters it would also focus on cardio, both HIIT and longer sessions with moderate HR. Whole body strenght training 1-2 times a week with dead lift, squat, overhead shoulder press, standing barbell rowing, lat pulldowns (or chins if you can do them) and benchpress + 1-2 core exercises (front/back) depending on intensity level of that particular day (no leg throws though due to the increased risk of injury). 2 months low intensity, 2 months high.

Soupy44 wrote: Let me say again this is not a magical formula for 10 points, or 5 points at that matter. Look to your shooting for points, look at this as supplementary mental training.

Agree, even though I believe it to do more than solely mental

/EJ

Anonymous wrote:Hi i'm rifle shooter. I would like to start physical training. On which muscle have to concentrate?
Thank you

What are your disciplines?

If you just do prone, then focus on Cardio-Vascular and some upper body/arms.

If you do positional, then as the detailed posts above mention, you want to start looking at whole body workouts, core stability, maybe some yoga, etc.

Working the arms is part of the full body workout. In order to prevent injury, you can't ignore muscles you "don't use". At the very least, it helps with carrying equipment.

The point of the bozu ball is the same as something I left out before, which is sticking to free weights and away from machines. This is to help refine the small muscles which stabilize movements, whether that is a squat or balancing in standing. Sure, this overlaps a touch with yoga, but it's a point worth focusing on.

Soupy44 wrote:Working the arms is part of the full body workout. In order to prevent injury, you can't ignore muscles you "don't use". At the very least, it helps with carrying equipment.

Of course the arms need training but they are included in almost every exercise needed for general strength. Triceps: bench press, overhead shoulder press are two examples. Biceps: Standing barbell rowing and lat pulldowns. Training just those two individual muscles can be compared to leg kicks in machine. My point is that they don`t need that extra focus.

Soupy44 wrote: The point of the bozu ball is the same as something I left out before, which is sticking to free weights and away from machines. This is to help refine the small muscles which stabilize movements, whether that is a squat or balancing in standing. Sure, this overlaps a touch with yoga, but it's a point worth focusing on.

Squats on a Bosu ball have less muscle activation than regular squats and with less weight added. Therefore normal squats will give you more strength gain and muscle activation than an unstable ground (have references if you like). There is also an increased risk of injury with that exercise. A more focused balance training on wobble board, different kinds of one leg stands (in or out of position) and yoga will do fine (my opinion). On top of that, dead lift, squats, standing rowing and overhead shoulder press (barbell) also improves balance, same with running.

Agree with you about machines vs free weights. Machines does not have that extra effect on muscle stabilization, activation, balance and reduced injury risk as free weights have (with a proper technique)

/EJ

I just.. walk. 1 or 2 hours every day gives me all the mental and physical stamina I need. I just walk... and just think and focus on whatever I want to improve. Focus is the key... not your muscles.

/ 595+