TargetTalk

So I have pretty good aim for about twenty shots or so (about 9 or 10 ring on average) but then my wrist starts shaking. Does anyone have any exercises or tips for building the aiming muscles?

I'm currently attaching all of my barrel weights to the front of my gun and practicing as many lifts as I can in a row before taking a break (generally doing similar things to the other arm) before doing it again. I make sure to not only hold aiming for ten seconds, but lowering it down slowly afterwards to continue building those muscle groups. I do my best to break down those muscles so that they can come back stronger and hopefully gain some ability to hold the gun for longer. Lifting light weights completes the routine. It's amazing how much a five-pound weight can work if you do it slow enough...

My logic on this is that, similar to double-tap muscles in percussion, you just have to do the motions a certain amount of times before the memory and strength develops. This is typically done through weight training and continuous use with a break to let the muscles build back up.

Is this effective or should I be doing something else?

I've long said that 16oz. curls are just the ticket for pistol shooters.

It's just that some guys like William tend to overdo them.

http://tinyurl.com/AirPistolTraining check out the articles in the coaching Australia folder about assessing upper body endurance. Also, while I usually hate gadgets, the Powerball gyro was a pretty good workout at lower revs. Don't forget that the most important part of your training is recovery (imo).

I am not a physical therapist but I have spent enough time in their office I could be.

Depending on age and ability to increase muscle mass (for me that is old and low) it seems that low weights with large numbers of sets and reps works best for the relatively small muscles in the shoulder and the fine motor skills needed to shoot pistol.

Here is a link to a shoulder conditioning program from the American Academy of Orthopeadic Surgeons.

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/PDFs/Rehab_Shoulder_5.pdf

This has worked for my shoulder.

Lastly and most importantly DO NOT over do, especially the amount of weight you use. Trust me, you do not want to have to go ask your doctor why you can't lift your arm. It doesn't end well for you, but your doctor can buy that new Benz he has had his eye on.

ok, do this:

sit comfortably in a chair or couch that has a low armrest, grab your pistol and put your forearm on the armrest and watch TV for 10 minutes holding your pistol. Your arm will go sort of numb after a few minutes, but you'll be able to hold it indefinitely. The longest I went was twenty something minutes, but I could hold forever, you just stop at some point.

Pushups in the morning are a must. In addition, I perform holding exercises in the evening on non-shooting days...
1 series -> 20 second hold, 20 second rest, 10 times....then 2mins rest
Perform 6-7 series
This has done wonders for my hold. 1-2 rest days in a week are must for improving performance. Have the powerball gyroscope, haven't tried it much though

Hello,
I found several articles on the USA Shooting site that you may be interested in:
There are three on this page: https://www.usashooting.org/11-resource ... olshooting
and a few on this one: https://www.usashooting.org/11-resource ... altraining
Ryan

If you haven't already seen them, you might find some of the documents in the pistol section of the ISSF Academy Library interesting.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I definitely overdid it this week, so I'm glad to have this information. I'm up to 30 of the advanced reps, and am going to be switching to something less damaging. I keep forgetting that I'm 30 years old, not 16.

Rover wrote:I've long said that 16oz. curls are just the ticket for pistol shooters.

It's just that some guys like William tend to overdo them.

I actually had to look up what 16oz curls are to get the joke. I drink mainly hard cider and whiskey, and 16oz curls of whiskey is probably not what the doctor ordered....I'll get back to you on the hard cider, though. Maybe that'll solve my problems...

RyanA,
I think that Eric Uptagraft had a very good point in Postural Consideration articles.

“I’ve suffered chronic back pain for years,” said 1996 Olympian Eric Uptagrafft. “I attribute this to the stress from shooting standing. Through the use of custom shoe orthotics and more recently core stability exercises, I’ve extended my three position shooting career by
seven years so far.”

I have a friend who is a retired army captain who fought in our most recent war. His vehicle was hit by an IED. He was severely injured, and cannot run or do most high impact physical exercises.

Nevertheless, the man is an absolute fitness beast. I worked out with him four days a week during law school (you know the freshman 15? We have the 1L 30). He's the kind of guy that can do pushups with three claps in between, bounce up and not even bat an eye. He can't run but he sure as hell can swim. And he says it's all due to core stability strength. I believe him, and I certainly found that core stability and strength helps with a TON of different things.

Again, thank you all for the responses. I love how helpful this forum is.

I have a 5lb dumbbell in my office with a white dot I painted on with some white out. When it's slow at work I use that weight and shoot a 90 shot match, all in my head, while superimposing that dot on a fence post.
I think it's important to never train hold drills with your pistol. If your pistol is in your hand you should practice your shot process. Otherwise you are subconsciously instilling a tendency to just stand there holding your pistol, aka chicken finger.