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Gun Shooters Healthy Food Diet in Australia.

Shooting sports are a skill-based discipline where strength, flexibility, and aerobic fitness play a key role in ensuring consistency and accuracy throughout long periods of training and competition. Competitions can include pistol, rifle, and shotgun categories with most being held in summer months.

About Shooting

Shooting originated as a means of survival, and it was practised in order to hunt game for food. As the industrial revolution made hunting for food less necessary shooting evolved into a sport. Shooting is a skill-based sport where consistency, accuracy, and concentration are key features. Strength and endurance are important to support the firearm for long periods.

There are 3 categories of firearms in shooting sports:

Pistols are short firearms held with one unsupported hand in a standing position. Different pistols are used for different events.

Rifles are shoulder firearms and are fired in a lying, standing, or kneeling position (or a combination) depending on the event.

Shotguns are smooth bore firearms fired from the shoulder. Shotgun shooters use moving clay targets and are fired from the standing position.

Training for shooting sports focuses heavily on perfecting technique, where the same action can be repeated accurately over long periods of time. Elite athletes may spend 2-3 hours on the range most days of the week. They often have multiple training sessions on a day both on and off the range, which focus on:

Strength: in particular, core strength, to maintain the position of the firearm for long periods of time and absorbing the gun recoil in shotgun events

Flexibility: to allow rifle shooters to comfortably maintain kneeling and prone positions for extended periods of time

Aerobic fitness: to achieve a lower resting heart rate and ensure the athletes can perform at their best (physically and mentally) for long periods

Domestic and international shooting competitions are generally held in the summer months. The major international competitions are:

Olympic & Youth Olympic Games (4 yearly)

Commonwealth Games (4 yearly)

World Championships (4 yearly or 2 yearly for shotgun events)

World Cup (4 events and final each year)

Training diet

Maintaining concentration, preventing physical and mental fatigue and promoting adaptation to maximise the benefits from time spent in the gym and on the range are the primary goals of training nutrition. Remember, food not only fuels muscle but also fuels the brain for focus, skill and concentration on the range.

A nutrient-dense diet is important for shooting athletes. Consuming a wide variety of foods from all food groups, including carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats like nuts and avocados. Basing meals around training sessions is useful, for performance, appetite and body composition.

Portion controlled, well-timed snacks can prevent over-eating later in the day. Choosing quality snack choices and limiting high-energy snacks (e.g. chocolate, chips, pastries, cakes, etc.) will improve overall diet quality. Eating a carbohydrate based snack (e.g. fruit, yoghurt, wholegrain crackers with cheese) before training can help to ‘switch on’ your brain and muscles for the session ahead.

Hydration needs

Dehydration can impair focus and concentration and can negatively impact skill and coordination. Shooters should drink adequate fluids to maintain good hydration levels during training and competition. Fluid requirements vary depending on the athletes’ size and gender as well as environmental conditions (e.g. hot, humid weather, which can be common during training and competition).

Shooters may deliberately choose to limit fluid intake during competition to avoid the need for toilet breaks. However, the benefits of maintaining good hydration levels should not be underestimated. Sports drinks may be useful as part of a fluid plan during events as the fluid, carbohydrate and electrolyte mix can improve fluid absorption from the gut, improve mental focus and promote fluid retention.

It is important to rehydrate after competition, especially if competing in multiple events on the same day. For more information on fluid needs, refer to the Fluid in Sport factsheet.

Eating before competition

Competition days can be long therefore it is important to eat a pre-competition meal that contains carbohydrate to prime the body and brain for the day. Lower glycaemic index (GI) carbohydrates can be useful as these deliver a more sustained release of carbohydrate, which can also help prevent the distraction of hunger during competition.

The pre-competition meal should be something familiar and enjoyable that does not cause stomach upset. Practising with different food options during training is a good way to find the best pre-competition meal for each individual. Possible options include:

Wholegrain sandwich/roll with cheese and salad

Porridge with milk and fresh fruit

Baked beans on multigrain toast

Fruit salad with Greek yoghurt and natural muesli

Poached eggs and avocado on sourdough toast

Nervous athletes may find it difficult to eat before an event. In these situations eating something light earlier in the day can help with digestion to avoid gut upset. Liquid based carbohydrates (e.g. fruit smoothie or Sustagen Sport) may also be easier for nervous athletes to eat.

Eating and drinking during competition

As competition can be completed in hot conditions, replacing fluid losses and keeping cool at breaks is important. In addition, carbohydrate can enhance performance and delay the onset of central fatigue.

Practical hydration and cooling strategies include:

Sip regularly on fluids throughout competition

Use individual bottles to keep track fluid intake

Choose higher electrolyte fluids as the sodium promotes fluid absorption and retention

Add ice to bottles and store in eskies to keep cool

Include small easily digested snacks between events will help will keep blood glucose levels topped up to sustain focus and avoid fatigue. Snacks should be low in fat to help ease digestion. It is important to be prepared on the day and not rely on canteen facilities at competition venues to provide suitable options.

Some appropriate snack choices include:

Dairy based smoothies or flavoured milk

Yoghurt

Fruit fresh or tinned fruit in natural juice

Sandwiches with lean meat or spread

Fruit muffins or crumpets with jam/honey

Sushi rolls

Grainy crackers + vegemite and cheese

Sports drinks can provide a convenient and compact source of fuel (carbohydrate) and fluid if eating is uncomfortable for the athlete.

Recovery

There are three main goals of recovery nutrition:

Refuel muscle glycogen (carbohydrate stores)

Repair muscle (for function & development)

Rehydrate (replace fluids lost through sweat)

Recovery meals and snacks are particularly important after hard training sessions and long days of competition – especially if competing over several days. Suitable recovery options can include:

Sandwich with turkey, cheese and salad

Tub of yoghurt and a whole grain cereal bar

Sushi with salmon, tuna or chicken filling

Stir-fry with lean beef and vegetables on rice

Homemade pizza with low fat topping

As alcohol negatively impacts recovery it should be avoided – especially around multi-day competitions.

The season will dictate what you put on if you’re heading to an outdoor range, but even if the weather isn’t a factor, here’s a quick run-down on the best gear to wear while you shoot.

Create Your Own Custom Shooting Jerseys, Custom Shooting Singlets, Custom Shooting Polos, Custom Shooting Jackets, Custom Shooting Long Sleeve Jerseys, Custom Shooting Long Sleeve Polos and so on with our Online Kit Builder.

Your shooter jackets are one of the most important components of your range outfit. Whatever jackets you wear to the range, you want to be able to move comfortably and without distraction.

Explore our categories for more interesting Custom Shooting Shirts and Custom Shooter Polos.

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