regardt

hi guys! as someone who works offshore for 2 months at a time i find i come back nice and fit but of course not the muscles we use for bow shooting. as it is not possible to take my bow with (for one i might be tempted to try some live target practice on certain morons) is there any other form of excersise one can do to keep drawstrenth up? its bad enough only being able to shoot one month out of three but then i have to spend two weeks getting in shape as well! any suggestions?

FSUBIGMAC

Assuming you can't get to a gym -- stick with simple push ups, pull ups and sit ups. Push ups will work your antagonist muscles during a draw. Pull Ups will work your back muscles which do the pulling. Sit ups will strengthen your core which help stabilize you at full draw. If you do have acess to a gym let me know -- then I can give you some more muscle specific exercises.

dirtyd

u shouldnt have a bow that u can barely pull back. or have to keep up curls and bench presses to be able to pull it.

bigcountry

I understand what you are saying. No, pushups and situps won't help the particular back muscles for drawing a bow. I ahve seen bruisers of guys who can't draw my 66lbs longbow to fulldraw. Here is what I suggest. I have it and use it quite a bit.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0004832414603a&type=product&cm Cat=SEARCHFEAT_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=draw+exercise&Ntk=Product s&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3As ort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabel as%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

FSUBIGMAC

Actually push ups and sit ups will help his draw. Its not just your back muscles that do the pulling. Without strong antagonists and core muscles there wouldn't be a pull. To ever motion there is an opposing force. IE -- the bicep curl -- Yes your biceps do most of the pulling but your triceps supports the bicep and actually helps stabilize on the downward movement. That bow band is a great thing to get. I do similar stuff with a different type of band but its all works the same muscles. I pull 70 lbs easy -- but then again I am a 6'3 285 lb ex college offensive lineman HAHAA

Bigcountry: I bet I can pull that bow back HAHA -- but you are right -- my buddys dad has a longbow at 66# and it is a BITC- to draw -- I don't know how he does it all the time when he is only 5'8 165ish

FSUBIGMAC

Let me rephrase that -- you back muscles do the pulling however it shouldn't be all your back is what I was trying to point out. Your core plays a big roll in the drawcycle.

Mac T29

regardt....I use a band similar to what bigcountry uses the only difference is mine are flat. You might be able to get some (likeCabelas)at Wal-Mart for a couplebucks. I don't know what kind of time you have avialable to be able to use these on the rig, but here's what I do. Since mine are flat, I tie the ends together and close them in a door jam at shoulder height. I put my left hand/fist against the wall and grab the band as close to the door as I can and pull back all the way to my shoulder like I am drawing my bow. Make sure you don't twist your body while you do it use your arm/back muscles to pull. As your muscles get stronger and you need more tension, double-up the bands and go that way. I also suggest doing this with both arms so you don't end up looking like the hulk on you draw side and gumby on you weak side. You can do the same for triceps and biceps by putting the bands higher/lower in the door frame/jam. You can workyour core muscles and shouldersfrom there too by standing sideways to the door, but don't stand with your shoulder against the door/wall and make sure your feet are about shoulder width apart. Bend you arm 90 degrees and pull across yourabdomin until your arm is 90 degrees to your torso. Make sure your upper arm stays still (except for rotating)while doing those or it won't help. I got my bands from a doctor because of shoulder problems as therapy (it sucks being small framed and everybody wants to stuff you in all the small places to fix vehicles), but after I worked with them 2-3 times a weekfor 3-4 months, my shoulders felt better/stronger and I could draw 70# on my bow effortlessly with either hand and i'm only 5'9 and weigh in at 145/150.

Hopefully bigcountry can verify this, but I was told that if you can't hold your bow out and draw strait back to anchor without raising/lowering your bow arm, twisting your body or almost bending over backwards/forewards,you're pulling too much weight. I have my left arm slightly bent (adjusted/advised by the guy I bought my bow from) and can pull my bow strait back to my anchor point without any effort. I watched a guy in Alaska hold his riser strait up in the air over his head and have to twist his body bending over backwards to draw the bow...he even went up on his tip-toes!

Longbows/recurves are a different critter all together.....there are a few what I will call "gifted" people out there that have a longer reach than what they should and can draw bows like that back to full draw andsome times over-draw them.....my cousin is one.......5'8", 170#with a 74" reach from finger tip to finger tip....what a freak! Truely a knuckle dragger...ha-ha!

Hope that helps a little and good luck. I'll try to find the exercises I did and post a link or something for you so you can see how they are done.