Fitness & Firearms: Combining Skills for Real-World Performance

Rick Hogg judging an athlete during the second Tactical Games in North Carolina

Is your fitness training and firearms training two completely separate sessions? It doesn’t have to be, and it shouldn’t be if you want to maximize your self-defense readiness. Integrating the two builds a more capable fighter who performs under the stress that real encounters demand.

How Fitness & Firearms Began

The idea came about by accident right here in the War HOGG Tactical combat training facility. After retiring from the U.S. Army following 29 years of service, including multiple combat deployments, I was determined to stay in peak physical condition. But driving to a commercial gym every day ate up valuable time I could spend building the business, training students, or handling life.

Time is your most precious resource. You can’t buy it back, and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. So, I built my own gym setup, no excuses. This became even more critical during the 2020 shutdowns.

I started simple: Brute Force sandbags and water cans (the same gear we use in our firearms training courses to add physical duress). Over time, I added a rack, bumper plates, Olympic bar, kettlebells, heavy bag, and a Century BOB dummy by hunting down deals.

The War HOGG Tactical Combat Training Facility

I’d long done physical workouts on the live-fire range, but it never occurred to me to blend dry fire into regular gym sessions. One day, mid-workout, I spotted my gun belt, PACT timer, and a copy of The Firearms Training Notebook nearby. That’s when it hit me: Why not stack dry fire drills between sets?

That epiphany launched what I now call Fitness & Firearms. I’ve discussed it on On The Range Podcast in War HOGG Words of Wisdom segments because I’m convinced it’s game-changing. It’s now a non-negotiable part of my daily routine, I only wish I’d started sooner.

There’s real power in pressing a perfect draw or running a malfunction clearance when your heart rate is spiked, muscles are burning, and sweat is stinging your eyes. Dry fire under fatigue sharpens your fundamentals, and that edge transfers directly to live fire. You become faster, more accurate, and more composed when it counts.

Tracking It All: The Firearms Training Notebook

I track everything in The Firearms Training Notebook (available right here on warhogg.com). I keep one dedicated version for Fitness & Firearms sessions, the plain edition works great here since it’s indoors and static. For live-fire range days, I prefer the spiral-bound limited edition that lays flat no matter what.

My Fitness & Firearms Training Notebook alongside the spiral-bound live-fire copy.

How to Execute Fitness & Firearms

Safety first: I never dry fire where anyone can see me and mistake it for a threat, indoors only for pistol/rifle manipulations to avoid alarming neighbors or prompting a 911 call. Always know your local laws and surroundings.

Here’s how I structure my Fitness & Firearms training:

I pre-plan the entire session and log it in the notebook. I start with cardio: run, jump rope, Concept2 rower, get the heart rate up. Then hit functional strength work: sandbag carries/throws, pull-ups, TRX push-ups, squats, heavy bag rounds, Century BOB strikes, core circuits. After each set or round, gear up (gun belt on), run dry fire drills, focus on draws, presentations, transitions, reloads, malfunction clears, one-handed manipulations, etc. Finish dry fire, strip gear, return to fitness work. Repeat until both the workout and dry fire quota are complete.

Right now, I emphasize functional movements and fast efficient draws from duty-style level III retention holster.

Taking It Live: On the Range Stress Shoots

If your range permits, incorporate physical duress into marksmanship, especially critical for law enforcement and military. At War HOGG Tactical courses, we build this in every time. Sandbags (Brute Force, GORUCK) are our go-to for spiking heart rate and inducing fatigue, just like the stress shoots from my Special Operations days.Your imagination and available tools set the limits. Drag heavy gear, slap on a tourniquet, then engage, anything that mimics real-world chaos.In our law enforcement classes, we run dedicated Fitness & Firearms iterations:

• Shooters get three magazines (five rounds each).

• Exercises cover ~35 meters to a C-zone steel target at 15 meters.

• Iteration 1: Bear-hug sandbag to the line → 3 War HOGG burpees (sandbag overhead lift/drop) → load pistol → 5 shots freestyle → reload → holster → return sandbag.

• Iteration 2: Strong-hand sandbag carry → 3 War HOGG burpees → 5 shots strong-hand only → return sandbag.

• The second iteration includes lateral throws, forward throws, and bear crawls with the sandbag—no burpees.

  
  

Graders (fellow students) score misses (+10 seconds penalty each). Top performers win gear from our industry partners, because it pays to be a winner!

K9 Handler Application

For K9 handlers, we adapt for their one handed shooting for the K9 officer: Hold a sandbag (or BAMF hammer, ammo can, kettlebell) in the support hand to simulate controlling your dog during one-handed pistol drills. It bridges the gap until you bring the real K9 to the range.

K9 officer practices one-handed pistol shooting while using a BAMF hammer to simulate his K9 partner during a War HOGG Tactical law enforcement firearms training course.

Final Thoughts

If you can merge fitness with dry and live fire, do it. It takes more effort upfront, but the payoff is undeniable, I live it every day. For law enforcement especially, this is non-negotiable. The job is unpredictable and physically demanding; training to shoot effectively while fatigued can be the difference in a deadly force encounter. I’ve had students credit exactly this type of training for surviving real fights.

Train like your life depends on it, because it does.

Be 1% better every day. Train hard, stay safe, and I’ll see you on the range. – Rick Hogg

War HOGG Tactical Subscribe to updates, check course schedules, grab The Firearms Training Notebook, and join the conversation on On The Range Podcast at warhogg.com.