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Originally Posted by g_samsa
My wife bought me a recurve bow and arrows for Christmas (I asked for it) and I went yesterday to get the arrows cut. While I was waiting at the indoor range there was a guy who offered to let me shoot. I used my own bow and shot maybe 30-40 arrows. I didn't feel too bad at the time, but now (the morning after) my arms are sore like nobody business. I used muscles I've never used before. My shoulders hurt, my back hurts and a few odds and ends hurt in my chest. It's a 50lb bow and I was wondering if any of you weight lifting guys or someone with this sort of knowledge would know of any strength excersizes that would be good for archers.
Being my first time, I noticed that at full draw I was a bit shaky. I think I need some more strength for stabalizing purposes. I sure hope someone has some suggestions on specific excersizes that might help.
Oh yea, I don't suck that bad at it either. I actually managed to hit the target about half the shots. he he he.
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Shooting a bow is just like resistance training. You are trying to increase the amount of force you can exert on a resisiting object, with the side effect of launching off an arrow every time you let go. And just like resistance training, it takes time and patience to build your strength. What is the draw weight of your bow? If you say that you were shaking at full draw, then your bow has too high of a resistance for you right now; consider a bow with a lesser draw weight.
The best way to determine the right draw weight for yourself is to pick a bow draw it as far as it will go, and hold it. If you can hold the bow at full draw for at least a minute without shaking, then consider moving to a slightly higher draw weight; the draw weight of bows generally tends to increase in five pound increments. My suggestion would be to start out with a draw weight of 30 lbs, and go from there. And instead of 30-40 shots at a time, try 10 or 12 until you work yourself up a little. Shooting too many arrows from a bow that has too high a draw weight WILL do some pretty serious damage to the muscles in you back, arms, shoulder, and chest.
But in the meantime, advil, light movement of the muscles in question, and a little protein will help. Good luck!
