Archery weight training

[ArcheryRoxStar]

hi all,

i have been shooting compound for about 3 months now, and am putting serious practice in with ever increasing results.

i have started doing pushups every day as my coach instructed, and am shooting a couple of 100 arrows a week. i think this is helping core strength already, but time will truly tell.

the problem i seem to be having, is holding the bow up for any length of time, steady.

i know it is supposed to be more about the back half, and i know the sight is supposed to float a little, but i wana really be able to hold the bow with a relaxed arm throughout long days of shooting, consistantly.

what decent and easy training can i do with regards to strenthening my front arm, (without making it too large) that could be done without the need of going to a gym preferably? + is it the triceps that is the primary holder?

 

[Adam]

Draw length, mass weight and stabilization has as much to do with a steady aim as does strength. Try playing around with these items before you worry about changing your physique.

Adam

 

[ArcheryRoxStar]

have set draw correctly to 28", i got the bow to keep mass weight down, and have tried just about every possible stab setup i can think of, i am steady for 7 or so douzen, but the other day when shooting a fita, i saw a difference in steadyness after about 7 douzen, this is when my sight was floating more in the red zone, rather than gold where it was previously at 90/70.

 

[Hidden Hippo]

I only started shooting compound around 3 months ago, but I found that simply shooting was the best possible exercise. I've gone from being able to hold relatively steady for a FITA 18 over the winter to being steady for the duration of a York last sunday. One thing I find is that I tire much more quickly in practice, purely because I'm shooting much faster than in competition.

To give an idea of what sort of training I was doing - probably around 25 dozen arrows with the compound per week (in 3 sessions) and then reversals a couple of times a week with my recurve (34# limbs). I only did this for around 3 weeks and there was a substantial increase in my stability.

 

[Marcus26]

have set draw correctly to 28", i got the bow to keep mass weight down, and have tried just about every possible stab setup i can think of, i am steady for 7 or so douzen, but the other day when shooting a fita, i saw a difference in steadyness after about 7 douzen, this is when my sight was floating more in the red zone, rather than gold where it was previously at 90/70.

Adam is spot on, steadiness is alot to do with technique. (he'll know, you don't get his scores without being a rock)

If you do want to increase strength then.
Add mass weight for training, remove it for competition
Shoot 9-12 arrow ends.
Shoot to a timer and make it fast. 6 arrows in 2min works well.

Stabilizers will help, but only a little. Technique is more important.

 

[Meddler]

what decent and easy training can i do with regards to strenthening my front arm, (without making it too large) that could be done without the need of going to a gym preferably? + is it the triceps that is the primary holder?

Triceps straightens the arm(biceps bends it) - so to keep your arm straight, you need triceps.

To raise the bow you use the deltoids. Basic exercise for this is to lift a (light) weight out to the side (palms down) with a straight arm to shoulder level, without allowing he shoulder to come up.

Exercise both sides equally. If you feel pain - stop.

Ref : Sports Science and medicine in archery (published by FITA) p98

 

[archery_mum]

I do a split weight training regime 4 days a week and always try and shoot 12 arrow ends in practice.

Don't over do it and build up gradually, don't injure yourself for what would probably only be a small improvement.

Experiment with your balance and stabilisation. I found that the Doinkers worked well but were just too heavy on my shoulder, by switching to Triads I was able to maintain a good balance and hold steady without the need for the extra weight.

Practice in the wind as well as still weather as this is where you will need your stamina. letting down continuously or having your arrow blow off your rest soon increases the workload.

 

[acehero]

The others have already given great advice. You can do some weight training to improve general strength as its all beneficial, but probably shooting more will get you the extra stamina you need. Dont be worried about your muscles getting too big though, adding muscle mass takes time, effort and is largely influenced by diet (ie eating more calories, protein and fat than your body needs). You can increase your strength considerably without building big muscles.

 

[Marcus26]

You can increase your strength considerably without building big muscles.

Muscle size and strength are directly related. A muscle increases strength by getting bigger.

 

[acehero]

Muscle size and strength are directly related. A muscle increases strength by getting bigger.

Not entirely right - yes as a muscle gets bigger it will also get stronger, but you can improve your functional strength a lot without adding pounds of lean muscle. Strength training, without the desire to also add mass, is as much about training your nervous system (neuromuscular is the term ive seen used a lot) to perform better. Heres a really quick link i found that details it a bit, sorry didnt have time to find a better article right now Strength vrs Muscle Mass - Talk Tennis. There will be some muscle development but nowhere near the amount youd get if you were training for both strength AND size, as most body builders do and also as most people imagine will happen if they start doing weights.

Its largely to do with diet. Basically put:

Lift weights + eat more than you burn off = build muscle and strength
Lift weights + eat less than you burn off = lose body fat and build strength (perhaps slower)

I've managed to increase some of my lifts by over 100% since this time last year and i certainly dont look like a body builder yet - which was the point I was making. I do agree of course that theres only so many gains you can make like that, but its still considerable.

 

[sp220]

You dont necessarily have to increase size to gain strength, as you may also increase muscle density depending on the kind of excercises you do.

Swimmers usually do quite alot of weight training, but you never will see one that is particularly large - yet they are very strong.

This is because they will tend to do large quantities of reps per set, and perhaps many sets, rather than a heavy heavy weight with few reps and few sets - which tends to promote growth in size...

I agree also with aceheroes post on diet.

A good excercise to do which is very often forgotten is forearm strengthening, which I have found helps to keep the wrist as relaxed as possible while shooting.

 

[Marcus26]

Swimmers usually do quite alot of weight training, but you never will see one that is particularly large - yet they are very strong.

This explains why the GBR Swimming team will get pounded by Australia in the Olympics. Our swimmers are HUGE.

People associate muscle size increase as turning into a body builder. These are extreme. You can increase muscle size quite dramatically and show little change in physical size, especially if you are losing fat at the same time.

 

[sp220]

Yeah, I also agree there aswell to a certain extent.

As you have pretty much already said, it is basically impossible to add any strength without adding size to the muscle....

It's just that you can taylor the excercise to suit so that the muscle doesnt grow using an excercise that isn't going to add any usefull function. Like lifting a really heavy weight for 3 reps for 2 sets is completely useless, even though if done properly at the right times it could get the muscle to grow pretty fast... whereas doing 20 reps of a lighter weight, over 4-5 sets isn't going to work the muscle in the same way, probably won't stimulate as much growth because a different part of the muscle fibres is excercised for many reps, but it will probably have more benefit to the endurance of the muscle in terms of how the muscle is used to archery...

IMO it's building muscle endurance that this promotes rather than power or resistive strength like making the muscle enormous would bring.

Tbh, most of the best excercises to promote that are easily done without weights. Push ups, sit ups, free standing squats, pull ups, chin ups, dips... etc etc...

One peice of greatly forgotten kit, that is seen as outdated these days, but is awesome, is well worth buying, because it can work any part of the body whatsoever, and is perfect for the objective. If you can find one, get an adjustable chest expander, you can probably pick one up for less than a fiver and there probably is not one single muscle in the body you cant work with it...

 

[T101]

i've lifted weights for over 15 years now and i have no doubt this has helped alot with my archery, the only down side is hard weight training will leave your muscles stiff and sore and in need of complete rest for probably 48hrs. i've found shooting the day after a hard workout or even 2 days after makes it impossible to relax when shooting and fatigue sets in much quicker. so go easy and try and schedule rest after lifting. a good quality protein/carb shake straight after your workout or a hard days shooting will aid in muscle recovery and strength/growth no end.

 

[Furface]

... there probably is not one single muscle in the body you cant work with it...

Tongue?

 

[Yorker]

i've lifted weights for over 15 years now and i have no doubt this has helped alot with my archery, the only down side is hard weight training will leave your muscles stiff and sore and in need of complete rest for probably 48hrs. i've found shooting the day after a hard workout or even 2 days after makes it impossible to relax when shooting and fatigue sets in much quicker. so go easy and try and schedule rest after lifting. a good quality protein/carb shake straight after your workout or a hard days shooting will aid in muscle recovery and strength/growth no end.

If after 15 years of weights you are still sore 48 hours later then you seriously need to check your diet.
Also I would like to point out If an archer is going to do weights and intend to do them fairly seriously, fix your diet, otherwise it just won't work.

Size and strength Are related but by varying the weight you are lifting and the amount of sets and reps you are doing you can emphasize hypertrophy over just strength or strength over hypertrophy, hence if you are aimed for getting big you go for hypertrophy and for strength you train for it.

As for why the Aus swimmers always win there was an article about this floating around somewhere. Aus have tonnes more facilities, more funding, more coaching, more everything (including the new nifty pool with adjustable floor), whereas here I don't think we even have a suitable sized pool in my section of the country.

 

[T101]

If after 15 years of weights you are still sore 48 hours later then you seriously need to check your diet.
Also I would like to point out If an archer is going to do weights and intend to do them fairly seriously, fix your diet, otherwise it just won't work.

Size and strength Are related but by varying the weight you are lifting and the amount of sets and reps you are doing you can emphasize hypertrophy over just strength or strength over hypertrophy, hence if you are aimed for getting big you go for hypertrophy and for strength you train for it.

As for why the Aus swimmers always win there was an article about this floating around somewhere. Aus have tonnes more facilities, more funding, more coaching, more everything (including the new nifty pool with adjustable floor), whereas here I don't think we even have a suitable sized pool in my section of the country.

It depends how hard you train!

yes diet is everything, but muscle soreness, or DOMS, is unavoidable if you train with proper technique to muscle failure which would be the quickest way to gain muscle strength/size/density whatever your training type dictates.

Although i realise this type of training is not necessarily the only way to go here, but as a beginner to lifting and archery some muscle soreness is inevitable.

i agree that primarilary just shooting is best, maybe supported by some secondary resistance training and a look at your diet.

 

[sp220]

Tongue?

Lol, sorry, the tongue is an organ...

 

[Yorker]

Lol, sorry, the tongue is an organ...

All muscles are organs and the tongue is the most flexible muscle in the body.

On another note: training to fatigue ie. can't quite do another clean rep gets the same gains and results as training to failure but slices down the recovery time.

If anything the simplest way to build a bit of strength and conditioning is to get a heavy stretchy band and do all the exercises on the theraband chart.

 

[sp220]

Hmmm

I dont think a muscle fits into the definition of an organ

IE: a tissue being a collection of different cells, and an organ being a collection of different tissues...

A muslce is just made up of layered tissue throughout, but its basically all the same - hency why it can grow in size - it just adds more layers...