BUILDING ARM MUSCLES TO FIRE GUNS YO!

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ok so about a week ago i was shooting an SKS rifle. have a very hard time shooting it because it was slightly heavy and i got a slight headache after that.

i do shoot a .22 just fine though....*ta....tink! ta......tink!*

anyway i was wondering if there is any exercises that i can do to exercise the muscles to shoot something like the SKS rifle.

It's not your arms really, it's your back. Your arms just have to hold the gun isometrically, on a pistol, you'll use more arm muscles, as there's no stock to brace it to your back. So for pistol shooting, you'd probably be able to have direct forearm work (either a gripper or hand roller) help you a lot, but for a rifle, I don't know how much that'd help you, unless you're having trouble just gripping the gun. For a rifle, you'd probably need to do some compound exercises that involve your lower back and legs, so odd as this is to say, probably deadlifts would be good for you. Deadlifts are just when you pick up something off the ground and get it all the way up, with no arm bend, though. Deadlifts very much improve grip strength, as that's half the battle in getting the bar up, gripping it. But mostly, they work your lower back and legs very well, so you'll be able to be more stable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M13EBl_jF0 Very good example of a deadlift.

Obviously too, you do know why the Army does pullups, pushups, and situps, right? Pullups and situps very much work the back and core muscles, and then pushups work the arms but moreso work the upper back and shoulder muscles. So there's always those, too. You could also look into standing overhead presses, ie, standing, with your legs straight, you press the bar up over your head until lockout. It was actually called the "military press" as the military used it to measure strength until I think the 70s or 80s or so. It was sort of "the king of lifts" if you would, until the benchpress came along. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDulY9AJc_c Example of overhead presses. I think the reason it got less popular is, it's easy to hurt your back if you're an idiot, and also in the Olympics, people would really hyperextend their back to press more weight, so that made the lift harder to judge but also more dangerous, so yeah.

That's just my input, though. See what works I guess.

I am SO glad I live in Canada right now. The USA has got to be the most violent, gun-loving country (that isn't being ripped apart by war) in the entire world!

Overall USA is pretty good. It's not really guns that are the problem, Switzerland has compulsory military service for males, and most males get to keep an assault rifle in their house at all times in case of invasion (sweet military strategy, btw) and their crime rates are astronomically low. Guns are about as easy to get in Switzerland as USA, too, for the most part. The reason crime occurs is because of socioeconomic factors, not really legality of guns. Washington DC has one of the highest murder rates in USA, but handguns are actually illegal there. Same with South Africa, most guns are illegal now, but still high murder rates. Generally too, most crime happens because of drugs being illegal, and the fact that the entirety of the business is controlled by gangs ala Prohibition of Alcohol in the 20s.

ANYWAY, OP, you could maybe do some bicep curls if you're bored. Or farmers walks, just holding a bucket of water or something in your hand or hands and just walking with it until your grip gives out.

Don't press your head against the stock so hard. If you flinch, that can eventually result in a headache as well. Stance can make a big difference too, but if you want to work out, pushups and pullups would probably suffice. In the meantime, there are other firing positions besides offhand. For some very long and heavy old military rifles, I prefer a kneeling position.

Take it to the PPR forum. There's a few debates on that going on there.

Well, you sure told us!

no.


anyway i guess i will do the "Dead lifts" exercise. thanks for the info!

With a rifle, it can make a big difference whether or not you have the stock properly pulled into your shoulder pocket, otherwise the gun gets sort of a running start at you and can really beat you up. When shooting offhand, having the gun tucked also really helps you absorb the recoil with your body weight rather than letting it hit you fully like if you were shooting prone; you should be rocking back just slightly with each shot. I've shot a 13lb .50 BMG offhand comfortably using this technique; the hardest part was holding the damn thing steady while anticipating the shot.