You have recently started offering advanced training courses and courses on the subject of eye training. What can you imagine under the topic?
Iris Zimmer: “Eye training is a holistic health program for maintaining and improving the sense of sight.”
Why do you do eye training?
Iris Zimmer: “If we look at a normal daily routine, we quickly realize that we are constantly demanding our eyes, from reading the newspaper in the morning, to driving to work, to our daily work, perhaps at the computer. Even during the lunch break, when we like to check our e-mails or are busy with the cell phone, the eye is strained. For many people, working life also takes place sitting and in rooms. Concentrated work lies in the close range of vision. The natural look into the distance, which is relaxing for our visual system, plays an increasingly smaller role.
Seeing is so natural for us and always there that our eyes only become aware of us when the system is no longer working properly. With eye training, I have the opportunity to give something back to the eyes in order to counteract daily stress and perhaps overload and to promote long-term health maintenance of the sense of sight. “
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How does this affect the shooting, can something change positively?
Iris Zimmer: “Regular eye training has a positive effect on the whole body. In eye training, targeted, simple exercises stimulate little-used visual potential. This can, for example, have an impact on improved balance during exercises for peripheral vision. I am convinced that such improvements have a positive impact on shooting. “
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So can you improve your result by doing this?
Iris Zimmer: “An improvement in balance and thus an increase in restraint certainly also has a positive effect on performance. Eye problems are very complex and very individual. It is clear that many functions of vision can be trained and that this training improves or strengthens the sense of sight.
Can that be measured in rings? If I become physically active, do sports, strengthen my skeletal system through targeted muscle training, this will certainly lead to an increase in performance in the long term. Eye training is just another component, especially in our sport. Another goal is to avoid eye-related deterioration in performance by keeping our sense of sight healthy. “
Can you use all the advantages even when you are not shooting, for example in everyday life?
Iris Zimmer: “Of course, good vision also has advantages in all other situations in life, whether at school, at work or in sports. Regular eye training cannot prevent the aging process of the eyes, especially the lens, but it can certainly slow it down and keep the lens flexible for longer. Similar to physical activities such as endurance training and muscle building training, eye training can contribute to a higher quality of life at any age.
Exercises suitable for everyday use to relax the eyes are sure to have a positive effect on working on the computer. Incorporating such exercise elements in between times naturally promotes the performance of the eyes in everyday life. Knowing what I can do about burning, itchy and dry eyes without having to resort to aids from the pharmacy is an advantage that has a positive effect due to its direct availability alone. “
It cannot be that we can train the whole body, but not the eye!
Iris Zimmer on the question of her own eye problems
How did you come up with the subject? Did you get into it through shooting, or did you have a different motivation?
Iris Zimmer: “That has a lot to do with shooting and especially with me, with getting older. In the course of my life as a marksman, I have found that good vision is not only dependent on a good lens, technical aids such as iris diaphragm, color filters and targeting technique. The aging process as well as stress and eye strain also play an important role. As we get older, it becomes more and more difficult for us to compensate for these factors with good physical training and shooting training.
I wore glasses as a child. As I got older, the performance of my eyes deteriorated faster and faster. I think I got my first varifocals when I was 35 years old. At the age of 40 I was no longer able to read a menu without these glasses.
At some point I thought that there had to be a solution to this problem. It cannot be that we can train the whole body but not the eye.
While looking for this solution, I first came across a measure at the Cologne trainer academy, where I took part in the course “Increasing visual performance” as part of a further training course. That was very interesting, but also very technical. I missed everyday exercises without special aids.
A day course at the DOSB in Frankfurt on the subject of “eye relaxation and eye training” convinced me and led me to holistic eye training. This mixture of exercises with tools that are accessible to everyone, exercises that can be used anywhere, and many relaxing elements can be integrated into everyday life for everyone. “
Both trainer training courses and courses for everyone are planned. What can the participants expect?
Iris Zimmer: “Seeing and experiencing the sense of sight in a new way, looking at it with different eyes. Starting with the topic “Eye as part of the body”, the modular program leads through eye mobility, exercises for peripheral vision, television and near vision for two-eye spatial vision to visual memory and mindfulness in everyday life.
An important part of all modules are various methods to effectively and sustainably relax our eyes. For all participants, the personal experience and learning of the individual exercises is the focus. In the trainer training, it is important to me to sensitize the participants to the subject of eye training and maintaining the health of visual performance. To consider eye training as a further component of general training. “
What knowledge would you particularly like to pass on to the participants?
Iris Zimmer: “Very clearly, the knowledge of the function of the eye and the trainability of certain functions, regardless of whether someone has ametropia or normal vision.
The participants should learn that both are important: to train and to allow the eye to rest. The whole thing has so many facets, it is a mixture between tension and relaxation, and I think this mixture simply makes it too. “
It’s all in the mix. How do you implement that in your courses?
Iris Zimmer: “With a good mix of information, theory and practical application. So it’s not just a theoretical advanced training course, there is also a lot of activity involved, and that’s what makes it: first listen and then experience, just feel it: What does it do to me? “
With a good mix of information, theory and practical application!
Iris Zimmer on the content of the course and the added value for the participants
Do you have an exercise at home that you can always do?
Iris Zimmer: “Yes, definitely. Yawning and stretching is my personal secret weapon. It contains so much and on closer inspection makes it clear that the eye is a part of the body and that it should not be viewed in isolation. Yawning and stretching cause a lot: It loosens the neck, shoulder and face area. More oxygen is supplied to the body. The eyes close, which relaxes the inner and outer muscles of the eye. At the same time, the short-term tension in the muscles in the face activates the lacrimal glands, which spontaneously produce more tear fluid. The eye is moisturized and intensively cared for. We all know that when we yawn our eyes water so badly that a tear runs down our cheeks. We can activate the natural functions of yawning and stretching, which can even be contagious in a healthy way, anytime and anywhere. Often the thought of a hearty yawn is enough to trigger this function. And when you’ve lost the shame of yawning, yawn always and everywhere. “
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