Building strength in bow arm ?

[jaarus]

Hi all,
What is the best way to build up muscle stamina in the bow arm?

I have recently increased the poundage of my bow and it now shoots much better and I am shooting well.
Trouble is, I am finding myself tiring early in the bow arm (not the draw) and just cannot keep it steady towards the end of a shoot and arrows start dropping low and left (right handed) due to me dropping my bow arm.
My score then just plummets from nudging BM to a lowish 1st class.


I am not sure if the change in stability is related to the bow weight increase but does seem likely as I cant think of anything I have done to increase the physical mass of the bow. I know the obvious answer would be to lower the poundage of my bow again but lets assume that that isn't going to happen.

What is the best way for me to build up the long term strength needed to last a round?


Is the best method simply to shoot more and wait for my muscles to develop to be able to hold the bow steady again?
or is there some other exercise I could do? Like holding a low weight in my bow arm to build up stamina?

Anyone else had this problem?

[Rhys]

Making sure that during the set up you have your bow shoulder and arm set correctly can help. but i know from experience that when you're knackered you've had it

Personally i take the heaviest stretchy band (black) stand on one end with my right foot (i'm RH) and hold it hold with my bow and and hold for 30s and repeat.

[NoobArcher]

grab a can of beans and hole it at arms length when you're at home and watching telly or something. Hold for as long as you can, lower, then repeat. you could also do the same thing to build the muscles in your forearm and wrist by making circles with the can at arms length......

[Zanda]

Originally Posted by jaarus

Hi all,
What is the best way to build up muscle stamina in the bow arm?

I have recently increased the poundage of my bow and it now shoots much better and I am shooting well.
Trouble is, I am finding myself tiring early in the bow arm (not the draw) and just cannot keep it steady towards the end of a shoot and arrows start dropping low and left (right handed) due to me dropping my bow arm.
My score then just plummets from nudging BM to a lowish 1st class.


I am not sure if the change in stability is related to the bow weight increase but does seem likely as I cant think of anything I have done to increase the physical mass of the bow. I know the obvious answer would be to lower the poundage of my bow again but lets assume that that isn't going to happen.

What is the best way for me to build up the long term strength needed to last a round?


Is the best method simply to shoot more and wait for my muscles to develop to be able to hold the bow steady again?
or is there some other exercise I could do? Like holding a low weight in my bow arm to build up stamina?

Anyone else had this problem?

its a common fault to assume that the exercise needed, has to be more of the same, ie raising a tin of beans, or using an elastic band to reproduce the same sort of effort needed ! imho repeatadly working the same set of muscles is of little benefit, all it does is fatigue them even more. you need to speak to a sports physio, tell them your problem, and get them to set you a work out, to get all the shoulder muscles working together.
good luck, I have had the same problem for a good while now, and its only after I was referred to a physio that I am finally starting to see progress.

[Rhys]

Thats a good point actually, at one point i was having some pain in the bow arm, unsuprisingly it was rotary cuff damage and since then i have done stretchy band excercises for those muscles as well.

[Macbow]

Archery is not exactly a super physical sport requiring peak muscle performance so high weights and maximum effort to build fast twitch muscle is probably OTT. Archery is about control, not just of the bow arm, but of the whole body so any exercise is going to be beneficial. Personally I don't think you can beat the good old fashioned press-up (properly executed of course) but done as slowly as possible. Varying hand positions will work different groups of muscles. A Powerball is a good investment for archers as it works the fingers, hands, wrists, forearms and the shoulder if you do straight arm rotations. Swimming, proper yoga, pilates and circuit classes are all good.

[NoobArcher]

being in the medical profession myself, and having asked a physio friend what i should do about my own pains in the bow arm, she suggested the can of beans method. Its not a heavy enough weight to do you any harm should you have an injury, and if it hurts, you stop....the pain from an injury and the pain from muscles unused to an action or overuse is VERY different....and I speak from experience here. If you find you're tiring and thats whats causing the pain, then you just need to build up some more stamina, which is where exercises come in...however you choose to do them. If it hurts from the start out, then its more likely you have an injury and shoudn't shoot again till its checked out.

[kes9880]

Hiya!
The can of beans works, my gym instructor suggested that purchasing a set of bell weights and use those every day or sometimes twice a day, along with using an elastic to stretch your muscles before shooting. This helps me, it may take a while so patience is needed but if you get a regime and stick to it, it will work!

[River Otter]

Gentlemen,

Interesting discussion. As a bowhunter, it has been my experience that the most effective method for increasing one’s ability to comfortably draw and accurately shoot a bow time after time is practice. Nothing else seems to exercises the muscles unique to archery quite as effectively. All things being equal, practice typically allows one to incrementally increase draw weight over time.

I have been in the presence of athletes who are larger and stronger then I am yet many of them could not break over my 80lb pull Oneida Screaming Eagle compound hunting bow. I’ve seen it happen time after time.

As a hunter and not a tournament archer I want to shoot the heaviest bow I can safely and consistently draw. I’m new to this forum – just found you today and haven’t yet had the opportunity to read many of the threads. It appears many of you are professional archers so forgive me if I am speaking out of my depth, but put the can of beans down. If you are otherwise healthy jaarus, drop that bow back to the weight you were comfortable with and shoot it a few thousand more times. You’ll eventually work up to the heavier poundage.

[Flying Whale]

I don't like beans...would a tin of beer do as well?

Interesting thread nonetheless.


What is the general feeling about possibly shooting a heavier bow in practise, and slowly building up the number of shots that can be "comfortably" shot, and then shooting the desired draw weight in competition?