General exercises/strengthening

[eastdesign]

yeah powerballs are great and will do wonders for the bow arm, so a worthwhile investment, got mine from ebay.

[phil_r_58]

HI,

I use one of the Saunders archers exercisers, as in the quicks catalog. It is like a slingshot, with two rubber bands. I use the first band only as a warm up, then two together. I find that the bands pinch as the angle is steep, so I used one of those plastic carrier bag handles, or a release wrist strap, with a loop of nylon cord and a metal clip for practicing release shooting.

http://www.quicks.com/pdf/quick_71.pdf.pdf

I would also add extra weight to it, especially if you intend going to a compound. I actually added one of those cheap Velcro wrist/ankle weights from Argos, instead of the expensive second weight.

Lots of people concentrate on the back muscles, and forget the muscles on top of the drawing arm, hence making the trainer heavy in the hand.

They can affect your style badly when they get tired. Especially on the PAA/Worcester round. After outdoors shooting 4 shafts all summer, or is it only me finds that 5th arrow weighs a ton to hold up and draw in the final ends ?

Hope you get on well in the sport. I still enjoy myself after 32 years, although I did have a long layoff in the mid 80s & 90s, you know, mortgage, house renovation, Kids, lots of overtime to pay for them. My fault though, my derelict 1860s cottage looked daunting, but it was in the open countryside, with a huge garden at the back just screaming "50 yard practice butt"

[dino1300]

With the clini-band, if you have about 1.5 - 2 m then make a loop on one end for the drawing resistance practice, then stand on the other end with your foot closest to bow arm to give a pull-down resistance. By adjusting the length you can make it as easy or hard as you like.

[BillM]

In addition to the above suggestions, have a think about a Pilates exercise called -The Plank, with both arms and alternate with left and right arm. Hold for 1 minute each. I'm sure you can see what it is via the internet. I also do Push Ups.

There are lots of others but i've found these to help this winter.

BillM

[ThePinkOne]

Yeah and don't forget to work on stamina/stability for the rotator cuff muscles, most general exercises don't give them much priority but they are rather important for an archer.

P.

[phil_r_58]

Hi, I believe Pink one is dead right. I have seen a lot of people who's wrist position changes as they get fatigued. This then affects the whole bow tune as the forces exerted on the bow handle affect the tune of the arrow.

power ball exercisers are good for this, as well as being lots of fun to see who can get it up to the most revs, if you buy the de-lux model with rev counter LOL. My manager, a non archer holds our record, but he is a rock climber, used to scaling cliffs with his fingertips and toes.

[ThePinkOne]

Rotator cuff: little muscles that stabilize the shoulder joint.

NOT wrist/fingers. Correct resistance exercises carried out (with a theraband) to develop stability and stamina in the rotator cuff will help resist injury and improve stamina. Shoulder has a huge potential range of movement and rotator cuff inbalance can be a problem, as can damage.

You don't control the bow with your fingers/hands (so unlike rock-climbers you don't need to hang on by your fingertips) you use the alignment of bone to bone and the larger shoulder/back muscles in preference- reduces tension in the shot.

P.

[not dead yet]

dont really now wot we are discussing here, but for arm strengthening ,i.e. dropping bow arm. i use a 2kg ankle weight strapped to the riser

[ThePinkOne]

I find that if my alignment is good the (physical) weight of the bow (in hand) isn't an issue- the back tension kind-of holds the whole thing up with my bow arm pretty relaxed and elbow bent.

That's with the full set of stabilizers on too.

P.

[frankish]

sorry this is a bit late, but a lot of the power balls are actually quite dangerous to use. I own oneand have used it almost religously for 9 months until i read an aritcle about it destroying the cartalige in your elbow. the small movenents are good for a short burst and light usage of once or twice a week, but using every day can cause elbows and wrists to damage.

I consider my powerball a bit of fun now and only use it with my mates to see who can gain the highest RPM.

Use and enjoy but be warned.

I think it was mens health mag where the article was. just google it and have a read.