How do I build up my back muscles

[mountain lion]

Hey all, are there any exsercises I can do to build up my muscles to shoot a little more poundage.

[Goshawkin]

Pull ups

[Will Cocke 2]

Wide grip palms away pull ups

[Tom Anderson]

Bent-over dumbbell rows are better for building up back strength for archery than pull-ups are.  Pull up exercises are limited by the strength of the lower lats whereas rowing movements work the upper lats, rhomboids, and traps - the muscles used when drawing a bow.  Seated rows using a cable machine will also work well.

I'm not a physical therapist or M.D., but a former competitive bodybuilder.....so, take it for what it's worth.

[The Whittler]

Yep bent over rows.

[krink]

One thing I learned while deployed is you dont need dumb bells.  A sand bag or what ever is heavy enough works.  Also you can use thera bands.  They helped me get back form a shoulder surgery and pulling a bow again.

[tbird-51]

As a former amature body builder my advise is get into a total body exercise routine for overall strength and endurance. However,to answer your question, due to the multiple muscles required to draw a bow, lats both upper and lower, rear and outer deltoids, tricepts,forearms, finger,etc, well you get the picture by now, No one exercise is going to help alot all by itself.. What actually worked best for me at pulling HEAVY BOWS was finding a bow 15 to 20 lbs heavier than my hunting rig, and draw and hold momentarily 20 or 25 times about every 3 days, giving the muscles a rest the next day. This worked all the bow drawing muscles together... hope this helps

[AWPForester]

I gotta agree with Tom Anderson and tbird.  The bent over rows will hit everything depending on the angle you bend.  Change it up between 45-80 degrees between sets.  Just remember to always pull it like you are pulling a lawnmower.  It will do little good is you get the weight to low which will happen if you arch your back.  It needs to basically be perpendicular with your chest while keeping your back straight and bring it to the bottom of the rib cage with the dumb bells turned up and down.  Throw in some pull ups, and rows on a machine or seated rows off the weight bench.  God Bless.

[Drewster]

The best way to build up the shooting muscles is to shoot a bow.....working out with a heavier bow is good, but don't over do it.  As tbird-51 said, give your body some recovery time between workouts.  It's a unique set of muscles that you use to shoot a bow.  Just being in good shape overall is good too.

[gregg dudley]

Terry always talks about actually using your bow as a piece of exercise equipment.   Reps and sets left and right handed with pauses at full draw.

[mountain lion]

Thanks fellas, I'll try it out and see what happens

[elkken]

Good old fashion push ups ..... good for your arms too !

[ericmerg]

bowfit

i use the safari and push it to its max but it always seems to remind me that its the boss in our relationship

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by tbird-51:
As a former amature body builder my advise is get into a total body exercise routine for overall strength and endurance. However,to answer your question, due to the multiple muscles required to draw a bow, lats both upper and lower, rear and outer deltoids, tricepts,forearms, finger,etc, well you get the picture by now, No one exercise is going to help alot all by itself.. What actually worked best for me at pulling HEAVY BOWS was finding a bow 15 to 20 lbs heavier than my hunting rig, and draw and hold momentarily 20 or 25 times about every 3 days, giving the muscles a rest the next day. This worked all the bow drawing muscles together... hope this helps

I agree with T-Bird and remember each muscle group has an antagonistic group that opposes it. Like the bicepts and tricepts. You need to work both or the result could be an injury because of muscular imbalance. You see a lot of guys who do a lot of bench and chest exercieses and who don't exercise the opposite muscle groups begin to have troubles with shoulder and (esp) rotator cuff injuries.
Rows are good but you can also get surgical tubing and a stick(old broomhandle)and create a bow simulator. just attach the tubing to each end of the stick, use the stick as the "bow" and the tubing as the "string" and exercise away.
my recomendation is after doing your sets of "bows" do some flies or pec/chest exercises.
(A well rounded exercise program)
(PE teacher, ex-Head football coach, Strength and conditioining coach for football)

[Bill Carlsen]

Get yourself some TRX bands and you won't need weights or any other apparatus. They can be pricey but way cheaper than buying gym equipment and you don's need much space to use them.

[Shakes.602]

Many, Many Push-Ups   :eek:    plus what was mentioned above, Plus Reverse "Sit-Ups".   :confused:    Flat on your face, Hands behind the head, and raise your Face up as far as ya can.      

[Jeff Roark]

Don't forget that shooting a bow has an isometric contraction that is more important to build than the concentric. Most everyone can pull a heavier bow back, but they can't hold the peak contraction(anchor). I have been doing one arm dumbell rows with between 130-150lbs for years and its simply not the same as drawing a heavy bow.

I suggest just getting a heavy bow and work on pulling it back to anchor and holding for a certain count and then slowly letting it down. Let down slowly because the eccentric will supplement the isometric better than the actual pulling of the bow.

Don't forget to strengthen your fingers, hands and wrists. They are your connections. I always do one arm hangs for time after each workout. Builds powerful fingers, hands and wrists.

[Shakes.602]

And Carpel Tunnel??

[Jeff Roark]

Originally posted by Shakes.602:
And Carpel Tunnel??

not that I have found. Carpal Tunnel is imbalance in muscles and lack of stretching.

[reddogge]

A formaster will help teach you to engage those back muscles. This one is homemade but they are available commercially.