One of my biggest problems with exercise is I get bored easily. I’m always changing my workouts while retaining the core concepts. Cardio is always cardio, but instead of a run it’s an hour of Insanity this week, next week it’s jumps, sprints, and groundwork. I like to keep things interesting and I keep them moving. The Dry fire fit cards fit well within my workout. I love card workouts in general, they are always moving and you never have something laid out in front of you that is predictable. I detailed the card idea a little more here.
The Dry Fire Fit cards also fit my other favorite hobby, handgun shooting. They involve dry fire of course, but also drawing the weapon, transitions from target to target, and a variety of other combat related drills.
I plan to evaluate these cards as both a workout program and a training tool.
As a Workout
As a workout, the cards are quite efficient. The workout is primarily cardio and body weight exercises. You can do them almost anywhere, but for some of the Dry fire fit exercises, you’ll need a little room to move.
The exercises also require some form of firearm or firearm training device. I used my SW99CC, which is basically a P99 compact made by Walther and Smith and Wesson. You’ll also need a holster of some kind for some of the drills. You can also use a blue gun, or airsoft if you choose I prefer the real thing because the trigger, sights, weight, and all that is the same. As long as you are capable of safely dry firing you can use a real gun. If you need a holster you also need a pair of pants that can accommodate a belt. None of my workout shorts can accommodate a belt, so I had to work out in full on pants.
Here is my main problem with these cards. This all can be a problem for some. Will your neighbor call the police if they see you dressed and exercising in your yard with a gun? Is exercising in pants comfortable by any means? You may be forced to workout inside.
I have a home gym, live in the middle of nowhere, and have a few acres. So using a real gun wasn’t an issue for me, and no one is going to see me and get the wrong idea. If you plan to add these to your actual public gym routine you can replace the gun and use this purely as an exercise and non-training device. Replace the gun with a water bottle to get the almost the same workout.
Sweat it out.
I added these to my workout as part of the cardio and bodyweight portion. They didn’t fully replace any one workout. I simply shuffled, and drew one card at a time. Sometimes I did 10 cards, sometimes I did 20, and only once did I attempt the entire deck. The first few times you use these the cards the workouts are a little easier than you expect. The reason being you have to stop and read them and make sure you do everything right.
After about a week you know what’s on the cards and you know the exercise almost as soon as you read the title. This means you take less time between exercises resulting in no break between moves. Some moves are more complicated and more challenging than others. However, once you learn them they are relatively simple.
Of course, some are harder than others, and rated appropriately. I personally could never master the shoulder stand, I’m terrible about balance. However, simply attempting it over and over lead me closer to mastering it. Other moves rated hard were easy for me due to my lower body strength and experience with them.
I will say everything on the ‘easy’ list is easy, but after that, it is subjective to the user. Some mediums are easy to me, but hard for my wife. Some of the hards are extreme for me and a breeze for her, Like those damn shoulder stands.
Worn Out
It’s perfectly suitable as a workout for someone interested in general fitness. If you have specific fitness goals past lose weight, and get a little more fit this program probably isn’t focused enough for you as a workout. As a workout added on top of your normal workout it’s perfect. It’s a good way to warm up, and get the blood pumping for weight lifting. It’s also a pretty good cardio workout in general. The Dry Fire Fit cards and exercises are mixed up enough that you can get a good full body workout, on top of the cardio.
It’s also fun, and interesting, and trying to dry fire with a pump and a rush is something new. The program difficulty varies as much as the cards do. It made me what a bigger set of sights for my SW99c.
As a Training tool.
As a training tool, it works well. The biggest problem I had was a personal one. I was in workout mode so I am trying to go as fast and as hard as possible. This meant I would constantly find myself slacking on the actual dry fire. Sometimes my sights were far from perfect, sometimes my trigger pull sucked. I began to constantly remind myself to fix my sights, focus on the trigger pull. Even when I was tired, even when my hands were shaking, my heart beating, and my breath ragged.
So if Dry Fire Fit taught me to slow it down for a half second, focus, pull the trigger, and align the sights, even when I was tired, So does it work as a training tool? It did for me. In an action shooting role it certainly works. I hated wearing pants while working out, but drawing from the holster from a wide variety of positions proved challenging, and difficult. However, they became easier eventually, and I became much faster.
A few specific goals involve using cover, firing, and moving as you shoot. This changes my normal dry fire routine quite a bit. Typically I just stand and dry fire, focusing on the trigger pull and perfect sight picture. I’m a big proponent of dry fire. It’s something I teach my students and something I invest in personally. I use the Laser ammo 9mm cartridge and Laser Pet target in my normal dry fire routine. These cards worked as an effective tool. The most important thing to realize is that the exercises are not designed to replicate actual tactical moves. I’m never going to fire my gun from a plank position. The goal of mixing these exercises and cards is to put you in awkward positions and to get your heart racing while you attempt to dry fire.
Is Dry Fire Fit Worth it?
Considering the low cost of these cards I can’t help but suggest them. Cheap, easy to use, and compact they can go anywhere with you. There is rarely training tools or programs that mix affordable and effective. I say grab them if you see them. Grab them if you want to blend guns and exercises, and are capable of being safe while you do it. From less than a month at the gym these are an effective workout, an effective training tool, and a fun one to boot.
