Archery Fitness Essay

Archery Fitness

Archery fitness consists of three main factors;The flexibility (movement) of joints in the body are controlled by several factors:- bone structure, muscle bulk, tendons and ligaments.All these control the range of movement the joints are capable of.To increase this range of movement, the following stretching exercises are recommended.Stretching ExercisesThe following exercises are for stretching and warming up the muscles before shooting and for stretching and cooling down the muscles after shooting. These exercises will help prevent damage to muscles, tendons and joints and also increase flexibility.When performing these exercises, do not hold your breath at any stage, as it may cause dizziness.As you do each exercise the

Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat about 6 times.Repeat exercise with opposite hands to balance muscle development.Back to TopStrength in Archery is not only the muscle power required to draw a bow, but also to maintain balance and stay steady as you aim.How strong you currently are dictates what poundage of bow you can use. A bow that is too strong for you will only do possible damage to your muscles and joints.A light draw weight bow will generally be used for beginners to learn basic skills without the need for strength. As skills are developed, then a stronger draw weight bow may be used and so strengthening of muscles will be required.Some of the above stretching exercises can also be used to strengthen muscles.Strengthening ExercisesThe best results for strength training can be achieved by the following principles;Progressive LoadingSpecific MovementProgressive LoadingThe training weight for a person to start with is usually established by finding the maximum load that can be lifted 10 times in repetition.(Usually about 75% of maximum strength).With all exercises, it is best to start with only a few repetitions of each exercise for the first two weeks, then progressively increase the number of repetitions over a period of about 4 weeks, until 8 to 10 repetitions can be achieved.Allow a recovery period between each exercise to avoid fatigue.Most importantly, if a particular exercise is causing pain in the muscles or joints, then reduce the weight and/or the number of repetitions. "No Pain, No Gain" is wrong. When the body feels pain, it is a message to ease off and slow down before you do damage to muscle fibres and tendons.Specific MovementThe muscle groups used in archery where strength is required are;the upper back and shoulder muscles to draw the bow,the upper and lower shoulder muscles to control the draw arm,the arm muscles to extend the