Jump up in weight

[LongStick64]

I'd like to be able to make a jump in weight. I shoot very well and comfortable at 60 and would like to get up to 70. I have an invitation for an overseas trip where the animals have thicker skin. I have about 9 months before I go. Any suggestions.

[TheFatboy]

Just buy and shoot the bow. There's not much more to it.

No offense meant, but it's 10lbs. And you have 9 months. In 9 months, you could make the jump to 100lbs if you really wanted to.

Point is, if you buy the bow and shoot it, you body will adjust to the heavier weight quite fast.

[bawana bowman]

I agree with TheFatboy, and if your going after thick skinned game I'd probably go for 80#. And 9 months is more than enough time to build up to it.
I practice with an 80# Longbow all the time, makes shooting the lighter bows seem like toys.

[freefeet]

Not everyone is capable of jumping up 20lbs in 9 months.  That's a silly statement and could cause someone some serious damage to their shoulders if they believed you.

I'm just recovering from a serious rotator cuff strain and know from experience what overdoing it with shoulders can cause - it isn't pleasant at all!

[TheFatboy]

If I had enough money to buy the bows, I'd gladly show you a video of me pulling a 100lb bow, 9 months from now. I shoot 70 now.

Anyways, this was not the point of the statement. What I was trying to say..... 9 months is a long time. If you shoot an average 2-3 times a week, that's around a 100 shooting sessions in 9 months. Let's say now, that you shoot 75-100 arrows each session. That's alotta arrows in 9 months!

[LongStick64]

Thanks for the pep talk, but starting out sjooting 75-100 arrows at 70 isn't really possible for me right now, I'd like to build up to that. Slowly of course. I'm looking for solid progression tips. Exersizes and or other tips welcome.

Freefeet, I hear ya pal, thats why I'm taking it slow. I keep in very good shape and always strech before shooting any of my bows.

I had serious shoulder tendonitis in that past and I built myself up from that. Learned my lesson.

[TheFatboy]

"I had serious shoulder tendonitis in that past..."

Then it's a whole other story. Good to hear that you stretch and such.

I'd still advice you to just shoot the bow. And "warm up" with your 60 pounder first, of course!  

[LongStick64]

got the tendonitis shooting a compound, quit that habit after that.

[xtrema312]

Like all exercise, warm up, and build up on weight by increasing reps to a high number.  Then drop reps and increase weight.  Then work up on reps again.  Rest to repair your body between sessions.  I have always found 5 lb on one leg or arm to be plenty challenging for a weight jump.  I think you can do the jump if you can shoot the lighter bow a lot now.  Just shoot the heavier one much less and work up reps.  I would also do an all over upper body work out because I found it was the little muscles that were most likely to have problems.  

I jumped about 7 lb. at one point this year, and it was a little much shooting it cold.  I had a hard time getting full draw the first 12 or so shots each time I shot.  If I shot a lighter bow some I could then shoot the heavier one ok for a while.  5 lb. would have been better.  I then dropped back to about 4 lb. heavier and it was much better.  After I got that weight shooting comfortable I found my form was not correct, and I was not drawings as long as I should.  I increased my draw about 1 1/2".  I am now up about 8-9 lb. more than I was.  I shot that quite a lot now without issues.  It took me about 4 months.  If I would have had my draw length correct in the first place I don't think I could have jumped 10 lb. because I has having a hard time getting back to a short draw let along a nice fully expanded draw.

One thing you could do is get the heavy bow and then find a nice old shooter for not to much $ as an in-between bow for a couple months.

[Barry Green-Burns]

Hey,

I wanted to increase, so I got a 25 lb Kettlebell and started working out. I then boutght a Burn Machine which gives an incredible shoulder workout. I am 63 and today shot about 400 + arrows with my 55# bow.

Green-Shanks

[TheFatboy]

Barry, if you are talking about the Speedbag Burn Machine, then you're right. It really helps on your endurance. But for strength, it's not as good as just shooting the bow.

Always great to hear about "old-timers" shooting that many arrows a day  

[champ38]

How about an update on your progress Longstick ? Have u settled in on a routine ? Goodluck !

[LongStick64]

I've given it a solid go and to me at least it's started to take the fun out of shooting to be honest. Yes now I can shoot a 72lb bow but the amount of constant work to maintain it is a setback. I told myself I would only continue this if I felt I could master it. In other words, I wanted to make sure that I could pick the bow off the rack, brace it and shoot as well as any other bow in my collection. Truthfully, it's not happening.

[Bird Dog]

I worked up to a 70 lb. bow a few years ago and like you decided it was too much effort to maintain that level. Good luck on your trip.

[triple h]

Why not stay with the sixty pounds you feel comfortable with and shoot 600grs plus in your arrow with 15plus percent weight forward. With a good sharp two blade and the afore mentioned weight you will blow thru anything. You don't need the extra bow poundage.

[Quinn]

I jumped from 45# to 65#. Worked out pretty good. It depends on how strong you are to begin with and how much you've been shooting that 60#.

[Arrow4Christ]

What I did to jump up in weight when I got my 68# longbow was to draw it past my normal anchor, almost to my ear, starting with 10 or 12 reps. I moved up in reps as I got more comfortable and now that I have my strength where I want it to be, I just shoot it        I was previously shooting a 55# bow, which was getting to be where it felt too light and it was taking me what I felt was too long at anchor to get what I like to feel in terms of back tension, and 61# was what felt perfect to me as far as the tension achieved at full draw for my best shooting. I thought, then, that 68# would be a piece of cake...wrong! It was a struggle to get it back to full draw after several shots. So I went through this routine, and believe it or not, it was less than a week before I felt totally comfortable drawing and holding the bow.
My newest bow will be 71#, and I think it should be fine since working up to the 68# was so easy using this method.

Good luck!

Craig