Do You Exercise?

[Saltydog]

My routine is to shoot in the backyard every other night. The other nights I lift free weights. I start with 5# dumbells hanging at my side then lift them up to shoulder height in front of me to the count of 5. Then I hold them there for the count of 10 (usually listening to Rock & Roll to get the beat), then slowly lift them overhead, counting 5. Then 10 tricep pulls and then lowering the to the "Iron Cross" position and hold for a count of 10. Lower, then rest for 30 seconds and repeat in the reverse order.

Then I take a 25# dumbell (all these I bought at Dick's), lean over a chair and pull it up using only my back muscles for 10 reps and repeat with the other arm. Then I do 15 curls on each bicep with the 25#.

I was just wondering if anyone else does something else to stay in "shooting shape" other than flinging arrows.

[BWD]

Most of my exercise consist of going to get my arrows after I shoot them, not counting stringing and unstringing my bows.

[fireball31]

I'm fanatical about staying in shape. I feel that as a predator and a shooter the better shape I'm in the more I can concentrate and the longer I can practice and shoot with good form. I do not do anything that specifically pertains to drawing a bow other than the mandatory 100 shots a day.

[reddogge]

I do but have not been able to go to the gym for 4 months due to an elbow injury and surgery.  I walk though.  I went back Tues and it felt great to be back.

[frank bullitt]

Yeah, I exercise, I get up and go to work! A hard laborous job, welding and lifting heavy steel. A great workout!

[smokin joe]

Yes. I have had pretty bad arthritis for many years from old sports injuries, and seven joint surgeries to deal with the problems. The doctor told me very clearly that my only hope for staying active was to build muscle to take some of the stress off of my joints. I am at the gym 5 days a week lifting weights. I am not a big guy, and even after all of these years of lifting weights I am not all that strong compared to anyone who is still young or naturally big. But I can still get out and hunt deer with my recurve, hunt quail with my bird dog, and work my way up a trout stream with my fly rod.
Being able to still do things outdoors is worth the time and effort at the gym. And trying to prevent more surgery is a priority. I'll bet there are other old guys out there with a similar situation.
Stay healthy.
Joe

[nightowl1]

I am an exercise physiologist and trainer so yes i exercise...
its is extremely important to help balance out the muscle structure from the repetitious work that shooting a bow is. That is what will save shoulders no matter what pound bow you pull.

BTW invest the money in a good exercise book or trainer to get a good program going... exercising wrong can be worse than not working out

[TheFatboy]

I used to work out a lot. Now I just do various pulls with my bow. It's 70#, so it gives a fine workout.

[Scott F]

www.crossfit.com

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Other than shooting, the only thing I do is draw and hold for as long as I can before slowly letting down.

[TheFatboy]

Ben,

in the weight training world, we have a term called ladders.

Example: 1 pullup, 10 second break, 2 pullups, 20 second break, 3 pullups, 30 second break, and so on.

The great thing about ladders, is, that it will make you a hell of a lot better at doing one specific thing (like pulling the bow). I've transferred this to archery, even though I've modified it a bit. You may find it interesting.

Pull and hold with right hand for 1 second.
Switching side...
Pull and hold with left hand for 1 second.
Switching side...
Pull and hold with right hand for 2 seconds.
Switching side...
Pull and hold with left hand for 2 seconds.
And so on...

Don't have to pull with your left hand, I just do to even things out. You can also choose to count to 10 or so. The important thing is, that you climb the ladder up until the point where you can feel that it will soon be too much. This is where you start to climb down the ladder again, pulling the bow for 1-2 seconds less each time. Do this regularly, and laugh in the face of fatigue!

I hope that this was useful. If you have any questions, please, do ask.

[coaster500]

I believe that Cardio is number one. I use an Elliptical machine 5 days a week for 15 to 30 minutes. The time depends on the resistance settings of the machine. I also do major stretching before and after exercise.
I have a friend that is a physical therapist and has given me exercises to maintain shoulder health (rubber resistance bands).

nightowl1 .. as a trainer what excercises do you do to "balance out the muscle structure from the repetitious work that shooting a bow is"

[Paul WA]

I cut,split, haul and stack about 10 cords of firewood a yr. Between that and my job I get enough exercise...PR

[mahantango]

Absolutely. I've been a carpenter my whole life, and used to believe that a physically demanding job was enough to keep in shape. Not so. We lose muscle mass as we age, and at 49, after many bouts of tendonitis in both shoulders and both elbows, sciatic problems and more ice and anti-inflamitories than I care to remember, I came to the realization that rebuilding muscle was the best way to protect my joints, and continue to shoot the bows I love. Ironically, I have an extensive background in running, weightlifting and martial arts as well as archery, but over the years as marriage, children and work took more and more of my time, archery and hunting were the only things I managed to hold on to. It was time to re-evaluate. I now lift free weights 3 times a week and work the heavy bag on off days for cardio and flexability. I am nearly pain- free and in the best shape since I was 22. I can shoot my 55 - 60 pound bows literally all day and ALMOST keep up with my 7 and 12 year old kids. Life is good.

[monkeyball]

Good topic.I think it is very necessary to exercise,
if you want to be able to do the things you enjoy doing for as long as you can. I honestly believe that we (my brother and I)got our first weight set about the same time we got our first recurves.The weights were a junior set made by York Barbell and ironically the recurves were York Archery. I was probably 10 or 11 then.I am 51 now. Lots of weights,and even more bows, and I still enjoy working out and shooting. It is my therapy,and definitely keeps me away from counselors.

 My workouts consist of a lot of dumbbell work,
with a good amount of pushups and pullups also.
 I workout with the weights 3 times a week,and
every 12 weeks I take a week off.Then I switch the whole workout and start all over again.You have to keep your workouts varied to get anything
out of them.Right now I just started a Kettle Bell workout, which really chews you up when you first start,but it really pays off in the long run.
   Biking is my cardio.Some messed up discs keep
me from running,but that is okay because I love to put the miles in on the bike.Road or trail,does
not matter to me.
  It really becomes more of a challenge as we get older,but if you want to do the things you like to
do,you have to keep in shape.We didn't even mention weight and diet.Get yourself in fighting weight now because it does not get easier as you
age. Good luck to all and good shooting.

                                Craig

[TheFatboy]

Originally posted by mahantango:
Absolutely. I've been a carpenter my whole life, and used to believe that a physically demanding job was enough to keep in shape. Not so. We lose muscle mass as we age, and at 49, after many bouts of tendonitis in both shoulders and both elbows, sciatic problems and more ice and anti-inflamitories than I care to remember, I came to the realization that rebuilding muscle was the best way to protect my joints, and continue to shoot the bows I love. Ironically, I have an extensive background in running, weightlifting and martial arts as well as archery, but over the years as marriage, children and work took more and more of my time, archery and hunting were the only things I managed to hold on to. It was time to re-evaluate. I now lift free weights 3 times a week and work the heavy bag on off days for cardio and flexability. I am nearly pain- free and in the best shape since I was 22. I can shoot my 55 - 60 pound bows literally all day and ALMOST keep up with my 7 and 12 year old kids. Life is good.

[freefeet]

I do now.  End of February i was shifting some tables, i pick one up and my shoulder went twang!  Rotator cuff strained fairly badly.  Been doing physio for the last 6 months.

Started shooting my bow again (46lb) two weeks ago and everything's going really well with the shoulder.  So every other day it's 70 shots with the bow, followed by 75 minutes of various weighted upper body exersizes that i learned doing the physio course for all round upper body health and strength and then lots of stretching to warm down after.

The day in between is lower body and i go sand walking (i live by the sea with a four mile sandy beach) with a weighted pack.  Soft sand is great low impact exersize.

With hindsight i think the shoulder injury was good in that it made me wake up and realise that i need to take more care of my health.  When i was 30 i could have lifted those tables all day and not injured myself, but i've let myself veg out and atrophy for at least a decade.  I'm 45 next month and not getting any younger and want to be fit and active for many years to come.  So a good disciplined exersize routine is now a very good thing IMHO.

Most of all, i'm glad to be back and shooting trad again.

   

[kshunter55]

Training the body for the actual drawing of the bow is hard to acomplish by lifting weights.  I have some very strong friends that lift four of five times a week that struggle to pull my bow.  The rythm and timing of the body parts working together are key instrument of drawing the bow.  With that said I believe that it is always good to be in good physical shape and it will help your body and mind.

[BobCo 1965]

Originally posted by kshunter55:
Training the body for the actual drawing of the bow is hard to acomplish by lifting weights.  

I think that is very true. There are excercises (Specific Physical Training or SPT's)that are developed specifically for archers that will aid in strength, endurance, and flexibility. These excersises use bows, therabands, formaster, and nylon straps.

[freefeet]

Originally posted by kshunter55:
Training the body for the actual drawing of the bow is hard to acomplish by lifting weights.

I agree with this bit, but exercising and training your rotator cuff and scapula stabiliser muscles properly to prevent injury is not going to be achieved by shooting bows alone.  Pulling a bow only exercises your shoulder in one direction, you need to balance this with all round training.