Workout / Training Tip #2

[Venator]

Shoulders - You better take care of them

I am shocked by the amount of traditional shooters that I talk to that currently have shoudler problems, have gone under the knife to fix them, or have switched from a right handed shooter to a left handed shooter or vice versa. I am sure no one wants to go thru this. With that said you better think of taking care of them or you could be looking down the barrel of a very unpleasant experience, especially if you are sore deep in the bones.

Listed below are a few things that should help; however, if you are sore all the time it maybe something that is more serious.

Pre-shooting warm up / stretching

I notice a lot of people that show up at the range and take their bow out walk up to a target and start shooting. This is asking for problems from the get go. Warming up and stretching prior to shooting can help a lot of problems as far as the muscles are concerned. I realize that this is not practical during hunting, but should be done when practice shooting. This is not something that has to take a long time either, five to ten minutes can do wonders in preparing the muscles. Arm circles, stretch bands, arm raises, military presses with your bow, pushups, drawing a extremely light weight bow, or even running in place can all be used to get warmed up. Sure other people may look at you weird, but they are probably not even considering the long term effects this might have.

Shot count shooting sessions

Keep track of the total number of shots each session. It doesn't do the muscles much good to shoot 50 arrows one day and then 300 the next. Work up to a shot count over a period of a few weeks. If you know you are going to have a session that you are going to shoot a lot of arrows take breaks and take frequent rests. If the rest [periods are long warm up again before shooting. Rest and recovery are key for muscles if you have a day that you have shot a lot of arrows or have shot a higher weight bow take some time to let the muscles recover, a day or two off can do wonders for the muscles.

Stretching after sessions and cooling down.

Stretching after a session is as important as stretching as before a shooting session. Invest in a foam roller or a piece of PVC and learn how to use it, there are lots of videos on the internet on how to use a foam roller. Do not be afraid to use ice, ice has been proven useful time after time. If you want to go the extra mile get a massage a couple of times a week, this can do wonders on the muscles, plus it's relaxing. Contrast showers at the end of a shooting session can also be a great benefit. Believe it or not fish oil is a great anti inflammatory.

Weight lifting

Essentially the shoulder is broken down into three heads, the front, middle, and rear. Having a good rounded shoulder is critical. Listed below are a few exercises that can be used to help the shoulders.
Bench Press
Military Press
Rows - any kind will work
Lateral Raises
Pullups
Their are many you can do, but these are pretty straight forward.

You may also want to think about shooting more with your back and less with your shoulders.

Given there are many other things that you can do to help prevent shoulder problems, but ten to twenty minutes a day might save you from a boat load of problems down the road.

If anyone reading this has been thru a shoudler surgery or injury, please post any recommendations that your doctor has prescribed for you to keep your shoulder healthy.

As always any comments or input is greatly appreciated.

[bbrooks]

I agree with the training. But also believe most shooters are shooting bows too heavy. In the 50's a heavy traditional hunting bow was 40,45#
Matching the arrows with good FOC(w/ greater than 15%) 10 grains per # or more(more better)--and the correct spine to insure good stable arrow flight. A stable arrow from a lighter bow will out penetrate heavy unstable arrow. Howard Hill in his latter years had his shoulder wired up from the abuse of heavy bows. We all get caught up in the heavy bow thing. Bow over 50# performance drops and drastically after 60#. 35-50# bows are the peek performance zone (per pound).
If an arrow goes thru an animal does it kill better, if it travels 1 yard or 20 ? Drop you bow weight down, use a balanced arrow with the proper physical weight applicable for the Bow "type". This will make you a better shot and enjoy our great sport into the "golden years".

[Venator]

bbrooks, good advice. I also agree with that alot of people shoot bows that are too heavy for them. Thanks for posting.

[wbp93]

Very interesting,thanx!

[Four Eyes]

Venator, once again some really sound advice. Following on from your first workout tip on "Focus" we've now got one to cover the physical nature of our sport - good stuff!

Being prepared is vital and I'm thankful for your tips and look forward to more.

A question comes to mind and that is how would you, whilst being in a treestand in freezing weather whilst waiting for your game to arrive stay limber and alert without drawing attention to yourself? Over here in the UK hunting with the bow and arrow isn't allowed and our weather conditions (whilst people gripe about the wet and cold) are no where near as extreme as you guys get it in the US.

There's only one bow in my hand and that's a Centaur!

Kind Regards

[Venator]

[quote="Four EyesA question comes to mind and that is how would you, whilst being in a treestand in freezing weather whilst waiting for your game to arrive stay limber and alert without drawing attention to yourself? Over here in the UK hunting with the bow and arrow isn't allowed and our weather conditions (whilst people gripe about the wet and cold) are no where near as extreme as you guys get it in the US.

Kind Regards [/quote]

That's a great question, I hope other people chime in on an answer to it. The one thing that I make sure to do is to keep my core and my feet warm. I carry of heavy down vest and an extra down coat with me to me treestand, I wear these under my hunting clothing. They are noisy and I try to muffle the sound. I try to not break a sweat when walking in to the treestand. If it is really cold, minus 30 or below, I also then carry boot covers in with me, and I make my sits a little shorter. I would be interested to hear any advice other people have on this.

I am glad you like reading the workout tips, I have been lazy as of late. I will try to post another one this week.

Enjoy shooting the Centuar, they are a great bow, and Jim is a good man.

[ceme24]

I am working my shoulder back up as I read this. I injured it severely 20 years ago lifting weights. It's now problematic. I am comfortably shooting 40# now and contemplating whether I just tune this 40# bow up with a matched arrow and run with it this fall or keep working the shoulder up to 45#. The little 40# really hums a 450gr arrow and I would have complete confidence with it for white tail.

Reality struck me when the doc said he wanted me to go to a 40# COMPOUND!!!

He said I need to hunt with 40-45# and drop down around 30# in the off season "if you want to stay in this sport for a couple of more decades".

My exercising and stretching are paying off immensely. I also use a bow fit and do the shoulder exercises listed in there which are the same the doc gave me. I have had several docs tell me my condition is non-operable. If I damage it much more etc...I am just done.

Take care of them shoulders. Maybe I will hunt the 40#er this year and save my remaining 50# days for when I have an opportunity on hogs.

[Venator]

Ceme24, sorry to hear about your shoulder that sucks. Good luck with the upcoming hunting season, thanks for the tip on the using the bow fit.

[ceme24]

I have no real complaints in life, and don't feel badly for me. My shoulder issues were all self inflicted. I am considering some serious changes in my approach to archery though that may be done just to keep me in the game longer. I have more than a couple of bows, and I love to shoot them all. I would likely get more years out of archery if I had fewer bows. It's not a good time to sell, and I'd like to see how the current re-hab program works out so I won't do anything hasty.

As for this fall, I will be in the woods with a beautiful bow that I have no doubt can do what I need it to do if I do what I need to do.

[2Bucks]

I too have had a shoulder injury, not severe just enough for some rehab. I learned after stretching using a 2 pound weight for my shoulder exercises, I could shoot comfortably, and sometimes no pain at all.
Exercises were 3 sets of 15 reps. (Each exercise).
A little exercise is better than none!!!
Good luck ya'll