I was at the range a couple weeks ago and a guy was shooting next to me. He looked like Hercules. Obviously spent a lot of time throwing around weights. We got talking about bows and he said he was struggling to pull 65lbs. He was a newer archer as well. Not sure if it’s a form issue? New muscles you aren’t used to working?

I spend a lot of time in the gym. Back and shoulder exercises are your best bet.

Back : pull-ups, lat pull downs, seated close grip rows. On all workouts pinch your shoulder blades and stick out your chest.

Shoulders : military press, dumbbell and bar bell, dumbbell shrugs,shoulder press with machine. Stay away from front dumbbell raises. It’s hard on your shoulders.

 

haha, yeah there was some hulking dude learning to shoot with Cameron Hanes on youtube and he was having serious problems with 70lbs. And I've seen teenagers and young girls pulling 70-80.

Those seem like all good exercises I used to do.

 

Lots of shooting imo. Shoot what is comfortable and bump up a couple pounds at a time, don't treat it like a race. You can eventually get there, but don't feel like you have to, 55 lbs will work just fine.

 

Attach yourrelease to a Winn Free Flight glove.....that will get you 5 to 10

 

I'm in a similar boat. I'm 5'5, 155lbs - not a beast. I was at 60# and just had the shop assist with bumping it to ~66/67 to compensate with speed loss due to migrating to heavier arrows (500gr) and a short draw length (26.5"). Tried 70 and while I could pull it, it wasn't pretty. The middle ground is manageable and I found it interesting how much of a difference 3-4 pounds makes. My buddy, who is in GREAT shape (Spartan races, weight lifting, etc.), struggles to pull 60 whereas I didn't. I'll be at this weight through the season.

When I started, I found it helpful to just shoot every day, but NOT A LOT. 10-20 shots each night in my basement with a focus on form. After a week or two, it wasn't a big deal. I suspect that holds true as one moves up in weight. My focus will be maintaining form and consistency. It really won't matter if I have an extra 30FPS if I just sail the arrow over the animal or worse, wound it.

 

Slowly up the #. There is no gym exercise that can replace shooting/drawing back your bow. Sure some stuff can help but the best thing is to slowly up the draw weight. When I first started shooting after I finished playing college football 65 lbs was what I started at. Wasn’t hard but 50 shots and I fatigued. Finally just maxed the limbs for no reason after a year or so and same thing. Took a couple weeks to get adjusted to the 5# increase. Same if I shoot my buddy 80# bow. It’s noticeable compared to butter of 70# and probably would fatigue around 50 shot mark if I had to guess. Takes time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I agree with big44. When I started I was at 60lbs and quickly bumped up to 65 i shot that for about a year then bumped to 70 and it wasn’t anything now shooting 60 feels like I’m drawing my gf 45lb bow. Best thing is to take your time it’s muscles you don’t use as much as you think. I throw 80-100lb block around every day and when I shoot I still feel different muscles being used. Take your time slowly increase draw weight and you’ll reach your goal. Form is your focus.

 

When I first started shooting I lifted weights and was strong and when I went to the shop I thought 70lbs would be nothing. Turns out 62 was my limit. But I shot every night for a couple weeks and I would shoot until I started to feel tired. But by the end of 2 weeks I had the limbs maxed out and have pulled 70lbs+ since. But now I realize there is no substitution for proper form and just shooting. Don't try to over do it, if you can end up only pulling back 60 as long as you can hit the x then fantastic. In the end accuracy is what kills.

 

You need to work on the eccentric contraction of the muscle groups, that is the "conctraction," or tension, of the muscle while the joint is extended. For the gym rats, these are commonly called 'negatives' and this eccentric contraction [tension while extending] is about 20% stronger than a concentric [flexing] joint contraction.

So, at the end of your session, grab a no-fire release and draw, then SLOWLY lower. This trains muscle fiber bundles that may not be fully engaged during the typical draw, and overloads the muscle beyond what it is used to doing.

Do these no more than one or two sessions a week.

 

You need to work on the eccentric contraction of the muscle groups, that is the "conctraction," or tension, of the muscle while the joint is extended. For the gym rats, these are commonly called 'negatives' and this eccentric contraction [tension while extending] is about 20% stronger than a concentric [flexing] joint contraction.

So, at the end of your session, grab a no-fire release and draw, then SLOWLY lower. This trains muscle fiber bundles that may not be fully engaged during the typical draw, and overloads the muscle beyond what it is used to doing.

Do these no more than one or two sessions a week.

I spend a lot of time in the gym, and am a big believer in the value of the eccentric or stretching portion of the rep. However, I would not advise doing this with a bow as exercise. The hard cams used on today’s bows are too aggressive to do this safely as exercise. The OP is already going to the gym, and that’s the place to safely focus on getting a good stretch and negative work on your back. With a bow, as you fatigue there is too much risk of injury with the cam trying to pull it away from you.

D

 

Do alot of shooting. Slowly bump up the weight. Pretty simple process really. And it doesn't involve going to the gym and throwing around weights. You don't have to get bulked up to pull a 70lb bow.

 

why? any lb at specific draw and equally grained arrows for respective draw weight will i've similar speed. you,ll run he risk of injury later in life,,,NOT worth it.

 

You already have the perfect training tool with that 50# recurve. Pull it back and practice holding it at full draw for a set time, say 5-10 seconds. Repeat

 

I would also encourage you to be wary, I know plenty of older guys with shoulder injuries... that joint just never fully heals once it’s messed up.

FWIW I’ve killed an elk at 62 and at 66. I can easily shoot 75 lbs but intentionally stay around 65 to save my shoulder. 60 is plenty fine, even for elk

 

Spend a lot of time in front a target at 5 yards in your garage or back porch just shooting into the target without aiming. Its called blank bail. Slowly increase your draw weight over a few months. There is no substitute for lots of shooting.

 

Building up draw weight by slowly increasing poundage on your bow and shooting a lot will work, but it will take a while.

If you want to get there faster, you’re going to have to do a lot of work in the gym. 6 months of training for 4-5 1 hr sessions per week will make a lot more progress faster. Scott Abel’s hardgainer solution is a fantastic program for this kind of thing. You can get the book on Amazon.

I shoot 70 lbs, and it’s nice because I can shoot a very heavy arrow at pretty good speed because of the draw weight and my long draw length. However, as others have pointed out it isn’t necessary. A pretty heavy arrow, flying a little slow due to the reduced poundage, with a sharp COC broadhead will get the job done just fine. You do gain some things with the higher weight, but it isn’t necessary.

I’ll also echo the others cautioning you to not overdo it if you want to increase the poundage. Never get close enough to the edge that you’re risking an injury, a little extra draw weight certainly isn’t worth that.

D

D

 

If you can and want to shoot 70# you just have to work your way up over time. It takes muscle memory and muscle work. I recently bumped down to 60# from 70 because of a shoulder issue that I’m trying to be proactive about. Shooting is much more enjoyable at 60# for me. I could still shoot 100 arrows at 70# just fine but shooting at 60 is just much more enjoyable and it’s effortless. I’m not telling you what to do one way or the other, but apples to apples you’ll get more enjoyment shooting at 60# IMO. The more you enjoy shooting, the more you shoot, and the better you’ll become at hitting what you want. Hitting what you want is the name of the game. Accuracy always trumps a little more speed/KE.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Tagged for great info.

 

10lb jumps is too much at a time, try bumping 1-2lb a week and keep shooting. You want to make changes that aren't necessarily noticeable and your body will adapt more easily.

 

Almost all working out is good for you but nothing beats drawing and shooting. I've been at this game for better than a half century and have had ups and downs through the years. Back in March I had a severe accident. Flat on my back for a week and a half and then 3 weeks in a nursing home. I'm 4 months into PT and they figure another 4 months to get back to close to normal. Bear in mind, I'm not in optimal shape. I'm working on everything between my neck and my toes. Now that I'm gaining some muscle as well as strength I can start getting a little more aggressive in what I'm doing. What I'm doing is all PT approved so I'm not overdoing it and I've seen good progress. First, I'm drawing both right and left handed to maintain some balance on both sides. About a month ago I started drawing at about 27 lbs. I'm up to about 40 lbs. This has been achieved by cranking the limbs down 1/4 of a turn at a time. I've been doing 3 reps of 10 and today I started doing it twice a day. It doesn't sound like much and it's not but over time it all adds up. Every time I increase the weight, I leave it there for a couple days depending on how I'm feeling before I repeat the process. As said, be patient - it's a process. Good luck.

 

There is no "man card" for shooting 70#. I pulled 70 for years, until the day my buck walked out and my muscles were cold from a long, cold sit in the stand, and I couldn't pull it back. I am at 60# now and will not hesitate when the time comes to go to 50#.

 

Get to 60# and call it a day. Your shoulder will thank you 10 years down the road.

Not exactly sure what 70#'s gets you in today's modern compounds other than torn shoulders.

 

There is absolutely no need to shoot 70. It will wreck your shoulders over time. A modern 50lb compound is more than enough bow for anything in North America.

 

Why do you want to shoot 70 pounds? I used to shoot high poundage and 2 shoulder operations later and I am much wiser now. Draw length is more important than pounds actually in the archery world! 1 pound will only give you 1.6 feet per second. So 10 pounds will give you 16 fps, at 30 yards that will make you hit 2 inches higher. But if you adjust your sight correctly what difference does that matter? For every yard off you are your arrow will drop 1 inch. Yardage estimation is way more important than arrow speed. (get a range finder) If you are hunting its momentum that is important (shoot a slow heavy arrow in combination with that range finder) for maximum penetration. For hunting a good COC fixed broad head will get the job done at 50 pounds easily with a well placed shot (where are you the most accurate pounds wise) A fast miss sucks! SET your bow where you can easily shoot 100 arrows and shoot hundreds of arrows! I wouldn't turn it up more than 1 pound every month or so, 60 is surely enough!

 

What I did, after breaking my draw arm humerus, was started at the bow minimum, 60 lbs, and shot every night until I could not shoot any more. In the beginning that was only 3-4 shots. Every few weeks I put a turn on my limb bolts and repeated the process. Started the recovery back in January and finally have my stamina at 70 lbs back. I can shoot ~2 hrs before I get to where its tough for me to shoot.

 

if you are comfortable at 55, but fatigued at 65 after 10 or so arrows, bring it up somewhere in the middle of that on the lower end though, and work up from there graually adding a turn on your limb bolts. I would say turn it up to around 58-60lbs.......start from there

 

Just because some of you guys can’t shoot 70 lbs doesn’t mean the OP shouldn’t work up to it. I never advise someone to do much shooting at the top of their draw weight ability, but the OP is wanting to build up to it slowly over time and he’s 35 years old. If he takes his time and stays far away from the injury line he’ll be fine and should have no trouble reaching his goal.

I can pull 90 lbs if I want to, but I shoot a 70 lb hunting bow. If I was being macho I’d shoot the 90, but I’m just shooting what is comfortable and performs well which for me is 70. Clearly not everyone is going to be able to do that, but there are some of us that can.

D

 

I shoot 60 (actually 58.3#) and I can shoot for hours taking little breaks. I’m considering a 50# bow. Why? Because I could shoot way more without fatigue. I imagine I’ll shoot 60 for 3D and 50 for Target. If hunting dear you can shoot 40 all day with no problem and drop the dear. Unless you’re hunting King Kong I don’t see the need for 70#. That’s my opinion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk