hufnagel
03-24-2016, 01:20 PM
Background:
At the beginning of this year I ended my 43th rotation around the sun on this beautiful blue marble we all call home. As that day approached I'd decided, after taking stock, that I needed to make a change in terms of my health. Sufficed to say, after over 15 years of marriage and over 8 years with a son, I've developed a strong case of Married Bod and Dad Bod. I didn't like it. I'm not and never was majorly overweight (216# was the highest I ever saw) but I wasn't happy. So I began on an exercise and diet regimen that now ending its 3rd month is paying great dividends.
The details:
Due to an unfortunate soft tissue shoulder injury back in January I haven't been able to work on my arms as much as possible until recently; it's taken until the beginning of March for me to be able to do exercises involving my shoulder with any kind of intensity. This whole time I've been "treading water" with my upper body so as to not lose too much. Today was the first day back on the range after having done some extensive strength training of my arms, shoulders, back, and hands for about 3 weeks. The results were surprising.
First: recoil control has been markedly improved, muzzle rise was dramatically decreased.
Second: i'm back on target and sights lined up noticeably sooner than before.
Third: my grip isn't slipping like it used to, to the point of almost being non-existent.
Fourth: and this is the important one, it's changed my trigger control.
That last one surprised me, specifically surrounding rounds being fired before I expected them to be. I've always maintained muzzle discipline, but I had several shots break before I wanted them to. Apparently all this strength work means I need to reprogram what I *think* is the correct amount of trigger pressure to discharge a round, as what I would think was correct to start absorbing the take up in the trigger was now enough to actually trip and fire a round. There were some other side effects such as change in sight picture due to both arms now being stronger and me not having to "wrestle" around with the firearm so much, to the point of I'm actually over-wrestling it now.
My point in all of this: if you're exercising and making noticeable gains in the gym, or have large a-periodic blocks where you can't or don't shoot and are still exercising, give yourself some time to acclimate to your new found "power" when it comes to controlling your firearm, specifically surrounding the trigger. Apparently being able to do 5 sets of 15 finger curls with 45# dumbbells REALLY messes with your trigger control! :)
At the beginning of this year I ended my 43th rotation around the sun on this beautiful blue marble we all call home. As that day approached I'd decided, after taking stock, that I needed to make a change in terms of my health. Sufficed to say, after over 15 years of marriage and over 8 years with a son, I've developed a strong case of Married Bod and Dad Bod. I didn't like it. I'm not and never was majorly overweight (216# was the highest I ever saw) but I wasn't happy. So I began on an exercise and diet regimen that now ending its 3rd month is paying great dividends.
The details:
Due to an unfortunate soft tissue shoulder injury back in January I haven't been able to work on my arms as much as possible until recently; it's taken until the beginning of March for me to be able to do exercises involving my shoulder with any kind of intensity. This whole time I've been "treading water" with my upper body so as to not lose too much. Today was the first day back on the range after having done some extensive strength training of my arms, shoulders, back, and hands for about 3 weeks. The results were surprising.
First: recoil control has been markedly improved, muzzle rise was dramatically decreased.
Second: i'm back on target and sights lined up noticeably sooner than before.
Third: my grip isn't slipping like it used to, to the point of almost being non-existent.
Fourth: and this is the important one, it's changed my trigger control.
That last one surprised me, specifically surrounding rounds being fired before I expected them to be. I've always maintained muzzle discipline, but I had several shots break before I wanted them to. Apparently all this strength work means I need to reprogram what I *think* is the correct amount of trigger pressure to discharge a round, as what I would think was correct to start absorbing the take up in the trigger was now enough to actually trip and fire a round. There were some other side effects such as change in sight picture due to both arms now being stronger and me not having to "wrestle" around with the firearm so much, to the point of I'm actually over-wrestling it now.
My point in all of this: if you're exercising and making noticeable gains in the gym, or have large a-periodic blocks where you can't or don't shoot and are still exercising, give yourself some time to acclimate to your new found "power" when it comes to controlling your firearm, specifically surrounding the trigger. Apparently being able to do 5 sets of 15 finger curls with 45# dumbbells REALLY messes with your trigger control! :)