FIGHTING FIT
Richard Hewitt and Mike Buttrick talk through the advantages of attaining
and maintaining a suitable level of fitness, and the practical benefits that
simple exercises can have upon your airsoft experience
exhausted after a session. For example, during
running you should be able to maintain steady
conversation for the entirety of the session.
This reflects in the ‘five times a week’ – if
you max out on a Monday and are new to
exercise, then chances are you won’t be able
to come back on a Tuesday. However, for more
advanced individuals this is quite viable.
When exercising it’s important to structure
The upper movement of the basic push up technique
RICHARD:
A strong, functional level of fitness is hugely
useful for airsoft. In all other sports the
necessity for fitness is paramount in order
to succeed, so why should airsofting be any
different? You’ll be faster, more agile and able
to play more effectively, and most importantly
you’ll not have to stop in game to get your
breath back!
Having served in the military, I’ve seen the
necessity of fitness for soldiers firsthand.
Being able to operate effectively is essential
and can make the difference between life and
death. My military service has been spent on
15 Squadron RAF Regiment, on operations in
Afghanistan, and currently serving with 2503
Squadron RAuxAF Regiment. As infantry we
have to possess high levels of cardiovascular
fitness and strength. Maintaining fitness
consists of daily training (usually carrying out
flight, troop or platoon runs on a daily basis),
along with circuit training and swimming. On
top of this it was not uncommon for lads to
carry out sessions in their own time, be it
sports or their favourite training method (often
weights).
068
February 2012
Fitness, strength and conditioning have
been a cornerstone of my personal life for
some time, not just because of my military
experiences. I have now attained an A-Level in
Sport and PE, an NVQ Level Three in personal
training and I’m studying for a health-related
Exercise and Fitness Degree.
So, onto the good stuff: what should you be
doing and when?
A great, basic cornerstone is to apply the
World Health Organisation’s recommendation
of 30 minutes of moderate activity each day of
the week. If you’re new to exercise then this
will give you a brilliant foundation to build on –
but what is moderately intensive activity?
As a guide, this form of exercise shouldn’t
be so strenuous that it leaves you totally
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Cardiovascular
Circuit
Cardiovascular
Circuit
Cardiovascular
REST
REST
your routines – you need to have a plan. The
old adage ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’
couldn’t be more apt. This doesn’t have to be
technical; a simple set up could be to carry
out circuit training and cardiovascular training
on alternating days.
To put this into practice you need to
consider how your body works. If you carry
out cardiovascular work day after day for five
days, you’re going to be feeling taxed and
it’s the same with circuits. They use different
‘energy systems’. Now I don’t want to throw
you in the deep end with too much detail,
but suffice to say the body has systems
which you may have heard of: the aerobic
energy system (long duration, lower energy
expenditure) and the anaerobic energy system
(shorter duration, high energy expenditure).
There is more to the anaerobic system than
that, but that would take an article all of its
own!
Running at lower intensities would
generally fall under aerobic system, and circuit
style training under anaerobic. Alternating
allows one system to recover while the other
works.
I’ve talked at length about how the systems
work, so let’s sink our teeth into some session
plans. Here’s a simple set-up built from what I
mentioned with alternating energy systems.
Run/ swim/ bike
Run/ swim/ bike
Run/ swim/ bike