| I'm partially in agreement with Marcus: correct form does most of the work and will yield the best results. However, I do also believe that shooting-specific exercise helps hugely, particularly where stamina is concerned.
There are principally two things that you can do, and I'd recommend doing both.
Firstly, get your hands on an old recurve bow, tie a D-loop on the string and do some reversals. 3 sets of 10 reps, holding at full draw (i.e. at your natural anchor point) for 10 seconds each, is a good target,
Secondly, you can exercise your bow shoulder: if you're going to use dumbels, that's fine, but the exercise needs to be what's called "functional" exercise rather than just a straightforward up/down type of exercise. What is it, and why? Well, when you shoot you don't only use the deltoids to lift the bow, you use all of the muscles of the shoulder girdle to maintain the aiming position. So you need to exercise them all in order to strengthen them and stabilise the position of the joint. If you're using dumbels, use light-ish weights and extend the arm to the position you would have it in when aiming, then describe small, controlled figures of 8 with the dumbel. Reverse the direction and vary the duration of the exercise. Control is the key. You don't need a large weight: you're not after bulk, or brute strength, but control and stamina. This also builds strength throught the range of motion you would expect to see when shooting - on a windy day, for instance.
I don't use a dumbel. Can't be ***** to go and buy one. I use one of those theraband jobs. Has the advantage of being totally portable and of infinitely variable resistance - I just change the point where I stand on it.
Adam  |