I suffered from the macho poundage thing; I have trained very hard all my life. I can fairly easily do 100 push ups, 25 pulls ups, all sorts of weird "stunts" like the yoga Scorpion and Le Parkeur flag. In most circumstances I am pretty "strong" and have plenty of endurance but I think you need to chuck all of that out of the window when it comes to bow poundage.
Just experiment. Try different draw weights and I believe that you'll simply find a sweet spot almost unrelated to any other measurements of strength or endurance.
I would say that is partly true. You do not need strength to draw a heavy bow. You need good technique to draw it once and stamina to keep drawing it, but not strength. Good technique means using the right muscle groups at the right time. I would hazard a guess that most male archers between the age of 18 and 60, using the right technique and practice could easily draw a 60lb
compound with a reasonably aggressive cam. Women would not be far behind.
Now I shoot barebow after a layoff from
compound. I started at 32lb 18 months ago. It was my limit then to keep control and focus on good form. After 18 months of steady progress I now shoot 42lb limbs at 29" draw, probably about 43lb. It is easier now than when I started at 32lb. I could probably draw 46 okay but I wouldn't have the control. So why is it I could shoot 60lb compounds all day and 43lb
recurve all day?
Well for one I always shoot at least 8 arrows an end in practice and often 12. This means shooting six in an end at tournaments is no problem. Second I shoot over 200 arrows during a practice round session for endurance. During form practice I focus on using the correct form to employ the big muscle groups and using them at the right time with good alignment and getting the breathing right which make a big difference. It took some time to switch from compound draw to
recurve draw as these muscle groups have different timings for compound and recurve.
I'm 58, I'm not strong or fit, 20 push ups would probably kill me and pull ups... well, why would you? So all I have going for me is upper body stamina and the knowledge of what muscles to use and when to use them. Poor form will waste massive amounts of energy.
If archers want to pull heavier bows and don't want to be coached, or are being coached, you need to:
1. Read a lot about good technique and muscle groups. It's not enough to know you need to use back muscles. You need to know how to use them, what their role is and when to use them. Make sure you use good alignment.
2. Watch a lot more archers with good technique, especially Korean women. They are all slightly different but probably the best of the best for form.
3. Listen to coaches that are teaching archers near you how to use good technique.
4. Practice good technique. Practice good technique a lot.
...... and when you have done that, read even more, watch even more, listen even more,