What kind of exercises can I do to increase my draw weight besides drawing a heaver bow repeatedly?
Thanks Joe
go to the gym do butterflies ,rowing,pushups,work on your biceps,triceps,lats and back,less weight and more reps will cut you and tone you,more weight and less reps will bulk you up.that will be $200.00 dollars please...LOL :goldtooth: :D
If you can find a rowing machine they work all of the above
Pull your bow all the time. Everytime you walk into the room where it hangs, pull it. There aren't many exercises that work the same muscles that are used for pulling a bow. A well rounded program in the gym will help but there are countless iron heads in gyms that can't hold back a 70 lb. bow. There are also countless muscles bound compound shooters that can't hold a 70 lb. recurve.
I went from a 45 lbs. to 70 lbs. in a short while by just pulling the bow often.
....and your billing address?
I pull a 70# @ 31 Hill and I stretch as well as lift moderate weight.Im not a muscle meat head but you should build muscle which will help in the holding and stabilizing of the bow at full draw.
Go to a physical therapist and buy some of the rubber band type (about 5" wide) material they use for therapy. You can get it in various strengths. Buy about 5 feet of whatever strengths you want.
Take it home, tie a knot in one end and a small loop in the other. Put the know in a door where the hinges are and close the door.
You can adjust the resistance merely by moving further out. I've never had one break, but I hold my hand over my eyes when pulling to my face.
Hold on anchor and don't let go
pulling a heavier bow works well as training ( make sure you pull it properly and used good form) Alternate arms will also help.
variation's of push-ups have worked out well for me
Stretch well before you do either
It's hard to beat push-ups. Especially for the cost.
You would be surprised what chin up's and pull up's will do. I have the perfect push up's and it's a totally differant feel than a regular push up. I also bought the chin up bar that goes over the door, all that for under 40 buck's. I got sick of going to the gym and it's alot cheaper! Jason
Try the bowfit.. It worked well for me!
http://www.3riversarchery.com/product.asp?i=799X
It's always good to have a balanced exercise program, but you don't need a gym for that. The old push-ups and pull-ups work well for upper body dynamics, as does pulling a heavy bow. Pull with both arms while you train, it will keep you from pulling muscles as easily as you would by just using one side of the body.
Be careful with everyday exercising...it's actually better to do it every other day and allow muscles time to recover after each session.
Shoot your bow-----a lot.
You'd be surprised at how many people can't do a single pull up..
When I taught NROTC we had a rather large percentage who couldn't do the minimum when we got them. 4 if I remember. Some couldn't do any. Took a while to get them up to snuff and they were 18 year olds.
Ditto on shooting more frequently though not necessarily for extended periods.
Quotepulling a heavier bow works well as training ( make sure you pull it properly and used good form) Alternate arms will also help.
variation's of push-ups have worked out well for me
Stretch well before you do either
What Andy said ....
Ben
best advice i ever got for handling bow weight is to pull the string past yer draw length and hold. do this daily, increase the reps.
now, switch hands and do the same (that is, if yer right handed, do the same exercise holding the bow with yer RIGHT hand). this 'balances' the muscle groups on both body sides.
when i was on the road for work, i use bicycle inner tubes to take the bow's place. works fine.
Yep, generally just pull the bow. That's what I do, and I can pull my 70@28 longbow to 32", though I've only done it a few times, as it ain't very healthy for the bow!
Besides that, if you can do pullups... do them.
I think pulling a bow is the only way to do it efficiently. I like to consider myself to be a pretty strong dude and I had to work for a while with a heavy bow to shoot it comfortably.
There's an old post somewhere on this site from Paul Brunner where he talks about drawing the bow past your ear and gradually increasing the reps over several weeks before ever shooting the bow.
Well, sling augers for a CME 55 drill rig for a livin' for about 5 months, that'll do it! b :)
Basically, daily exercise will give you what you need. The English longbowmen trained up to heavy bows over time. But once at the draw weight, they still shot regularly, by law. I seem to recall it was 2 hours after church on Sunday, was the law. Plus other training during the week. That's on top of the physical labor they already did just as a matter of course in their lives. Want butter? Gotta churn it. That kind of thing.
I pulled my bow for 100 reps yesterday. Was actually surprised that I could knock out that many. It's been a while. Anyhoo, the times where I've pulled the bow for training, are the times when I've shot it with the most ease. Not only are you getting stronger, but you're engraving the movement pattern into the back of your brain.
check this out
http://www.howardhillshooters.com/weighttraining/weighttraining.html
You have a lot of good suggestions, everyone works good; now you have just to be persevering,that is the key of any program.
It's true that probably the best way to train to increase draw weight is with the bow but don't discount a moderate weight program at the gym as a supplement for overall health and well being. In fact all men could benefit from a program of resistance training as it keeps the muscles taut and lively.
Most men my age have flabby muscles and stringy arms because they don't do anything but sit on the couch.
but i like my couch :biglaugh:
You could use a slingshot with extra heavy bands. This is an easy way to train both sides of the body.
QuoteOriginally posted by LKH:
Go to a physical therapist and buy some of the rubber band type (about 5" wide) material they use for therapy. You can get it in various strengths. Buy about 5 feet of whatever strengths you want.
Take it home, tie a knot in one end and a small loop in the other. Put the know in a door where the hinges are and close the door.
You can adjust the resistance merely by moving further out. I've never had one break, but I hold my hand over my eyes when pulling to my face.
I actually squinted after reading that post!!! That would leave a mark for sure!!!!!
(2) different size sets of dumbells (15# & 35#) 30+ minutes daily while peddling recumbent bike. One day curls & jabs, military press the next.
I agree with George on using the bow. I have a video by Price Elbert called Archery Fitness. He uses hand squezers and and a wrist roller besides his bow. The hard part is keeping any program up. I used to pull 80lbs. for many years but it required some type of work out every day. Now at 64+ years I still have to keep working even know I droped down to 55-60lb bows.
Fred Asbell had an article in the june/july 04 issue. Worked great for me. Remember to warmup before so you dont hurt your self.