JW,

I think you are off to a great start and are already doing a lot of things the smart way.

I do several things which have helped get me to the top of AAA class. Here they are:

1) Excersise. In the morning I take the dog for a 15 min. walk and then do 3 sets of 10 pushups, 10 situps, 10 chinups, and 10 curls. Then I ride a bike to work which is 7.4 miles round trip.

2) Dryfire. Every evening I spend about 20 min. dry firing at distant objects. One of my favorite "targets" is the flag on a neighbor's mailbox about 70 yards away. Make sure the gun is empty! I also save spent .22 casings which I use when dry firing to protect the firing pin and chamber. You should also stand away from the window when you do this so nobody calls the cops!

3. Shoot cardboard at least once a week. I make paper targets on a copier and then staple them to a piece of cardboard. I really like being able to see exactly were the bullet hit. And I think one can learn just as much from misses as you can hits. Interestingly, you may find that your point of impact when firing offhand is a little bit different than shooting from the bench.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks Mark,

As for exercise, I try to do the following: two times weekly train with light weights 1 to 2 sets to failure (usually 20-30 reps) bench press, military press, curls, shrugs, one-armed rows. If I still have any juice left, I then do a bit of core work like crunches. That's it. Also I have a number of very light weight physical therapy I do for an old shoulder injury that has been acting up on the shooting line. It is this old rotator cuff problem that prevents me from hitting the weights harder. If I am in a hotel on the road, I occasionally get in a few sets of pushups to failure and crunches.

Aside from that, the ocasional mountain bike ride and when we are on the job 5 days a week or more, 4 to 8 hours of hiking does a lot of good. The problem comes when I have some time off and start getting softer around the middle.

Due to my busy schedule during this time of year, for the past month and next few months I can only get to the range twice a month for matches. So I shoot one match each for hunter's pistol and SB rifle sil. Hope to add HP Sil. to that list as soon as my schedule allows.

I am not comfortable taking my firearms with me on the road, and don't know of any "away" ranges, so I can't dryfire practice away from home. But that will change when this work lets up. The job keeps me away from home and out of state part of the year.

So I have read through the Basham book on mental training and have been working a little on that side of things... the mental part of the game, visualization, etc. If I can't practice at the range, I may as well practice in whatever way I can in the interim. Thanks to all for the advice and suggestions.

Great training routine guys.....

For exercise I usually just run my mouth and push my luck to failure....At least once a day, be tough, don't take weekends off!!!...When I'm feeling really froggy (Gator's term, I borrowed it) I will walk from my house to my workshop/reloading room. 200 yards round trip.....When I'm not quite up to it I take the lawnmower......I usually finish off this routine by eating too much of the wrong things and drinking too much of the good stuff and running with the wrong people and women my momma warned me about.....amazing how much better you feel when you get past the bloated/hung over feeling....

This routine is not for everyone......but it has taken me to the heights of "middle of the pack" which is more than I can say for anyone else that has never picked up a gun......

KItty, With tongue (mine) firmly in cheek.

If you're shooting AAA with that routine, I need to seriously re-evaluate my own. I like the sound of yours a lot better!

Actually, I have noticed that a good spare tire makes for a nice place to prop my elbow, since I can't seem to get it to my hip bone without going all contortionist, Dr. Seuss style.

How about passing over a plate full of the "wrong things" and bottle of the "good stuff?" ...strictly for times when I'm away from the firearms, mind you.

Cheers!