fitness

[rugrat]

I find being relatively fit increases my enjoyment of airsoft, and i was just wondering what everybody else's views were.

dont get me wrong, im not saying if you are unfit you shouldnt play, i was just wondering how your fitness level effects your enjoyment of the sport.

 

[boxmag]

Depends on how much running uphill I have to do

 

 

[Carrion]

im am totaly unfit and tacticaly biimble around sites when i play.

 

doesnt affect me at all. and its always amusing to wander after the fast runners with leet geardo gear and after they are stood around puffing and feeling ###### due to all the unneeded ###### on them and then bimble past them shotgun in hand and pawn some unseupsecting geardows with boxmags who are to fixated on there own acog to see anything.

[cshirk]

Being fit inherently enhances your overall capability, and therefore can enhance your experiences in milsim - i.e. airsoft. I think, though, that it greatly depends on the types of games you play, what equipment you use, et cetera. If you're playing a lot of CQB, then you certainly have to be in better "sprint shape" (I guess you could call it). You've got to be able to move very quickly in short bursts of energy and violence within close quarters. You have to be flexible and there tends to be a requirement for more lower back and abdominal strength - for leaning around corners and the like (unless you're like me and your starting to carry your old collapsible baton strapped to your shoulder and a mirror attacment for it in your admin pouch ). If you prefer using an AR-style gun, then you need arm and shoulder power/speed-endurance. You need to be able to get your AR shouldered quickly, repeatedly, and keep it shouldered unbraced for long periods of time whilst keeping it (relatively) steady. If you play more in very large fields, then endurance needs to be high...you need to be able to cover long distances between target areas. All that, though, is just things that will help you get better at what you do. They're not necessary for the game.

 

The only thing I'd consider "necessary for the game" would be learning and practicing of useful skills, especially movement and firearm skills. I've found the "tactical walk" (walking method which keeps long-arm shouldered and steady) to be extremely useful in CQB, as well as CAR pistol stances. Above all, though, I think people should practice more stealth skills. In CQB there are people who sound like a herd of elephants coming down a hallway. The result is that they really give away their position. They're so obsessed with speed they forget that while speed is good in wide open spaces for CQB, stealth trumps speed in tight quarters.

 

All that, though, is just my opinion, so please take it with a grain of salt.

[rugrat]

i agree, generally i think people find their strengths and weeknesses and play them to their advantage. i generally rely on stealth when moving to contact etc but when i get into a firefight i use my speed to my advantage, moving from cover to cover etc.

[Lance Jackass]

A lot of airsoft is walking and crawling around, with only short bursts of sprinting. However like carrion said, when you add more kit like magazines etc, you get knackered faster. I was unfit when i played, but it never really affected my enjoyment of the game. I did notice that my knees and muscles took more time to stop aching though.

[Malkovsky]

My team is very tactical and there is very little running. Have you ever seen an old lady walk? Thats how we move slowly yet effectivly.

[Azubi]

I personally think it does as your fitness can restrict what you are capable of doing. Dunno about you lot but that would certainly affect my enjoyment. As it stands I am getting fitter and finding I can do more which is making it more enjoyable.

[skapunkninja]

im pretty unfit, and a long game kills me!

that, and the fact that my beer gut makes a MASSIVE target

[cafemondo]

some pressups regularly and some wieghts occasionaly does you the world of good, as a support gunner it seems part and parcel to be a bit of a meathead

[Abelius]

On regular skirmishes it rarely matters if you have that extra layer on your belly, as the action isn't as stressing and stamina requiring as longer ones where you actually have to carry much equipment with you. Ofcourse, it's a bonus if you are fit enough to crawl for long distances without breaks every five meters.

[ardrummer292]

Being able to shoot well is great and all, but one of the main limiting factors is how physically capable you are to get on objective FAST. Granted, I'm in the military, so I don't have a bloody lot of choice when it comes to "should I work out or not," but I think physical fitness is key in airsoft.

[Captain Hat]

Personally I think being fit takes airsoft from "Great" to "AWESOME."

 

I used to play every other week or so, when I started, but I got out of the habit and for a couple of year I played between once a month and once every three months. I started playing regularly again in around September of 2005, and at that stage I would play for one Sunday and then collapse- I literally had to book the following Monday off work. I'm not overweight, in fact I have the opposite problem- there was literally nothing to me, I was a beanpole carrying tactical gear around all day. I've always had quite an aggressive play style, I tend to run a lot of places others would walk, and I'm usually to be found somewhere ont he front lines, and I think that that, combined with the regular games, has actually helped me to get a lot fitter over the past year or so. Nowadays, I can leg it around with a ridiculous weight in pistol magazines about my person all day and be absolutely fine, bright and early the next morning for the walk to work.

 

It enhances my enjoyment of the game, as well- walking about is all well and good, and when you know contact is imminent stealth and good tactical movement is essential, but moving across ground you know is safe, or avoiding long-range fire, or attempting to move past someone's aimed point in CQB by charging past them (sometimes upright, sometimes sliding along the floor), or climbing through the one unguarded entry point to a building (which happens to be a window) are all a lot better done at high speed in my opinion, which means a high level of fitness is absolutely great for playing airsoft.

[nine]

CQB takes more explosive movements, woodland takes more endurance. I have both

 

however, i dont think people should consider airsoft is a workout...

[Captain Hat]

Heh- It's good excercise, but it's hardly what I'd consider a workout. My legs have benefitted a lot from legging it all over the place. I'm still not what you'd think of as particularly strong, though

[askeytheman]

I'm currently undertaking a (Uniformed) Public Services course at college, and Unit 16, assessment 3 reads as follows:

 

"A. As a potential new recruit for your chosen uniformed public service you will then need to take part in the selection process for your chosen job. To do this you will need to complete (P5):

 

• An application form for your chosen job

• A Curriculum vitae (CV)

• A letter of application

• A selection test (Including both Physical and Aptitude tests) "

 

Now the service i wish to join is the Royal Marines, and still having a year of college, and or University to go, i could be as unfit as i like - but i'm marine fit now.. Gotta be for this assessment! Makes games great fun, being the first into buildings, and the one that gets thrown through windows, down pipes - being a commando!

 

Fitness is great! Think i'm addicted to it..

 

[cafemondo]

You probably are, release of endorphins when you excercise. Mucho testosterone running through your system. Been to boxing training yet at your local gym? very tough training but your self confidence will just go through the roof

[askeytheman]

Yeah.. I almost know I am.. Got a very harsh fitness program! Love it all though..

[Parsley]

as i am going for my army two day selection in a month or so i have to be pretty fit, it does help a lot especially being a sniper and fleeing when being spotted

[rugrat]

yeah, i did the commando pft 3 miler just for sh!ts and giggles i managed it in 21.47, although i couldnt stand up for 5 mins afterwards

[Newsh]

I think beig fit definately enhances the game

 

Don't think its as important for CQB as it is woodland, but it certainly helps depending on the game scenario - legging it to an RV or extraction point is miles easier if you're fit! lol

[wideload]

I would think being fit definalty helps , although even though i weigh 20st (before loadout!) i still enjoy every game and find it is making me fitter (although once a fortnight mean very slowly)

[rhino]

I'm not particularly fit myself (with my bong leg et al) but the main thing is even if i am a fat lardy git, i don't let that ruin my enjoyment of the sport. I gave up smoking in 2002 and as a side effect, my weight has increased. So i had a choice of carrying on smoking and coughing and being knackered all the time or putting on weight and just being knackered all the time. I think i chose the lesser of 2 evils so if people don't like the fact that i'm not very fast, tough.

 

(Carrion will vouch that me and him had this discussion at OP:MA3)

My 2 cents

[Haystakk]

The group of guys I skirmish with tend to have different roles. Some are snipers, some are riflemen and the others run around shouting 'Leeroy Jenkins'! It often helps to be fit and small too - you're much more mobile then; hence why they're the ones that often have the job of carrying the satchel charges or other objectives!

[immutep]

Well i like to think i'm quite fit myself and i do enjoy the odd suicidal charge and so on. But that being said i don't think any of my more generously weighted/asthma suffering/"what do you mean when you say this word . . . . RUN?" friends enjoy the sport any less than me.

 

So i think that the answer is NO! Being fit doesn't mean you enjoy the sport any less, just for different reasons.