By Gabby
I doubt I'm the only person who's arms tire quickly when shooting long guns. Frankly, when I'm really focused and doing everything as I've been taught, even shooting a pistol will tire my arms out quickly as well. But when it comes to shooting rifles and shotguns, which require the weak side to carry most of the weight of the gun, I notice my forearm begins to burn almost immediately. Once fatigued my left tricep serves as a very poor mount for my gun and for achieving a steady, careful shot. So I figured, if I was going to do this 3Gun thing right I should probably build up a little more strength in both my arms, and probably in the rest of me too.
I got in-touch with a competative shooter friend of mine who has notably, the best arms I have ever seen on a woman. Anette Wachter, aka 30calgal gave me a few tips. For one thing she said to focus on shoulders and back with my work out. This was actually a bit surprising to me, as I had expected to need grip and tricep work most of all. Anette also said not to forget basic cardio and legs. With all the moving and shooting positions in 3 Gun, she recommended I try boxing for an all-in-one routine.
My first plan of attack was to break out some light dumb-bells and use You Tube as my trainer. I've created a playlist of videos that you can watch below. I picked out 4 or 5 upper body excercises and alternated, doing a few each day. I also decided to dust off the ol' Nintendo Wii and do some faux boxing against a cartoon version of my boyfriend. Not only did this get our blood pumping, but we both appreciated the opportunity for a little nonsens-ical competition. For grip strengthening I went in search of some little device that I could carry around and use almost mindlessly.
It's funny what sticks in your brain from childhood. I remember a kid in my seventh grade class bringing in a toy I have often thought about, to this day. It was a ball-inside-of-a-ball kind of device that once you got it going, it created so much torque it was tough to hold on to. Us nerds knew that it was a gyroscope inside, but I doubt we knew at the time that it was actually a piece of exercise equipment. So imagine my surprise when, while clicking around Amazon for a grip strengthening device, I stumbled upon the familiar little blue and yellow plastic ball.
I bought the Sports Pro gyro exerciser by DFX Sports & Fitness, because I knew it would help my grip as well as my general arms strength, but when it arrived and I went to the company's website, I was surprised to see NRA top bullseye shooter, Brian Zinns smiling back at me. It seems that this device is actually recomended for shooters along with athletes of other sports. I have been using it for a few days now, and I am deffinately feeling the burn. We will see if all of this proves helpful at the range.
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