5lbs should be doable, maybe a bit more but it really depends on you. Why do you want to move up?

 

I want to hunt with it, and would feel much more comfortable shooting 45 pounds vs ~38-39. Kind of lost interest in bow hunting compared to when I was younger and shooting traditional has definitely rekindled my interests.
I mainly bought the 35# bow to work on my form and release as I have shot a compound all my life so didn’t want to start heavy and get off to a bad start from the go.

 

I'm new to it so take this for what it's worth; my take was I wasn't going to be able to shoot a heavier weight until I went up in weight. That and some specific types of exercise/weight lifting took me up over 10lbs in a few months.

 

Do workouts to increase strength and shoot your current weight more frequently before attempting to up your draw weight. If you just up your draw weight your form is going to suffer and you might hurt yourself since drawing a bow isn't a typical movement and requires different muscles.

 

An ILF bow would be great for a lot of reasons. You can incrementally increase weight with a set of limbs, swap out heavier limbs, tune, try different grips, try different weighting options for balance, whatever.

I think a 5# jump would probably be fine, and if you want an objective reference, keep score for awhile before you switch, and then move up. At the point that you start scoring worse, more the weight back down. It may be that you start shooting say 30 arrows, 5 in an 'end', and then call it, and then progress to more. Until you can hold the same score at a full 60 arrows in an NFAA blue face 300 round, I wouldn't move up to the next weight. What's a good score threshold? Well, no lower than you're currently shooting, for sure, though I guess you can have a sliding scale depending on how well you want to shoot.

To paraphrase Viper1, by the time you feel fatigued, you're far past the point of meaningful training, and probably doing more harm that good. Shooting the bow is about finding your best form, not using it as an exercise machine.

If you want to do strength training, good, do comprehensive full-body strength training. But shooting the bow should not feel like substantial strain. Also, make sure to take time between shots. If you need more time to feel rested, take more time between shots. 60 seconds or even more between arrows is not unreasonable, particularly if you're transitioning into a heavier than normal draw weight.

 

I'll quote something from a magazine article I read recently. "Practice makes perfect isn't always true. But practice makes permanent." If you're pulling too much weight to maintain good form then you're doing more harm than good. Move up in comfortable increments.

 

Stay comfortable. I’m a newer archer myself, but like all things.. If you feel like you’re struggling, or your results become inconsistent, then you’re trying to do too much! Slow down, focus on what you’ve practiced, and stay within your own abilities. Don’t be afraid to explore different exercises that can help you build strength and endurance. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast! Good luck!

 

Man I might actually have to do some workouts… this is getting serious. So strange to me that I used to shoot an 80lb Mathew’s mr6 but you grab a 50lb stick bow and it makes you feel like a little boy again.

 

If you’re currently shooting 35#@28, you could try the same type limbs at #45@28. Warm up with the lighter limbs, and then switch to the heavier set. Shoot only as many times as you can with good form. Gradually increase the reps with the heavier limbs as you gain condition. There are all sorts of exercises for strength and range of motion you can do, but simply shooting the bow and slowly increasing arrow count worked well for me. I wouldn’t worry about setting a certain time at a certain weight, but more on letting your muscles develop and keeping consistent form and scores.

 

I think that is my plan. I’m pretty physically fit already due to the nature of my job, I think a little bit of conditioning with the heavier bow mixed with the lighter bow over the next few weeks will get me where I want to be.

 

You are shooting 35 at 28, but at 30 inches you're really holding 40. I killed a B&C moose with 39. It was a SR, but with a good tune and proper placement, they haven't invented a whitetail that couldn't be killed with 40 pounds. Thirty-five for that matter.

Keep in mind that your 30 at 40 pounds will deliver more energy than 40 at 28.

How much are you going to get into archery? I bought my first ILF set up just because I didn't know anything about it and it was becoming popular. Little then did I realize that's all I'd be shooting now. You really don't have to spend any more. You can shoot your 55 pound Tigercat and see what happens to your accuracy.

Bowmania

 

Oh, and one more thing. If you knew how to shoot your compound with true alignment and you can get that alignment into your sequence, you should draw more than 30. Look how the release attaches to the string compared to fingers. This also brings up the need for a longer bow.

Bowmania

 

Not sure on the exact draw length. I’m shooting 3 under with a tab and anchoring my pointer in the corner of my mouth. I would like to completely quit using my compound eventually except here and there and shoot strictly traditional. I figured my ~39 pounds would be plenty to kill but if I was able to comfortably shoot a bit more weight I would like too.

 

Five pounds at a time, works well for most people. Bow mania is right heavier isn’t always better or more effective if your form suffers. I tried like heck to accurately shoot a 50 pound recurve but I wasn’t getting to my anchor point. 40 and 45 I hit my anchor every time and shoot way better.

 

Instead of rubber bands to increase draw weight for exercise (which by the way is not a dab idea.. they add some work to install/uninstall) I used to use my heavier bow as a workout tool. Doing half draws, draw and hold (timed) Over time one can build enough strength to have command of the heavier draw weight bow. I enjoy NFL season , but can't stay still long enough to watch a 60 minute event over 3+ hours. During commercials I would grab the heavier or rubber banded bow and do a little work out. After the 4th or 5th game of the season I loose all interest if NFL football (Chicago Bears fan) but have gained enough strength to be comfortable with going from 35# to 45 or even 50#. I have to tell you I do not miss the thousands of arrows it takes shooting a 50# and feel "in control" or the nearly vertical getting back into shape after a lapse in shooting. Good luck and happy hunting.

 

I happen to disagree with 3finger's half draw idea. If you need to increase your strength at half draw, you are WAY overbowed. If you're not WAY overbowed you don't need to be steady at half draw. You have to be steady at full draw.

To strengthen yourself where it counts you have to know alignment. You could call it full draw, but if you looked at probably over 50% of trad shooter, they're not reaching alignment when they're at what they call full draw. TO know what alignment is, have someone stand behind and above you. Draw back and have them tell you when your elbow, nock and arrow point are in a straight line. The reason I mention this is you could hurt yourself If not at alignment. Only guessing here.

This exercise is called SPT specific physical training. Stand in front of a mirror (helps with alignment) Draw to full draw/alignment and hold for 30 seconds. Relax for one minute and repeat. Some Olympic archers are capable of doing that for two hours!!!

When I started rehab after shoulder replacement, I could hold for 10 second ONCE. Finally built up to 20 and then 30 seconds. Still working on it.

Bowmania

 

I happen to disagree with 3finger's half draw idea. If you need to increase your strength at half draw, you are WAY overbowed. If you're not WAY overbowed you don't need to be steady at half draw. You have to be steady at full draw.

To strengthen yourself where it counts you have to know alignment. You could call it full draw, but if you looked at probably over 50% of trad shooter, they're not reaching alignment when they're at what they call full draw. TO know what alignment is, have someone stand behind and above you. Draw back and have them tell you when your elbow, nock and arrow point are in a straight line. The reason I mention this is you could hurt yourself If not at alignment. Only guessing here.

This exercise is called SPT specific physical training. Stand in front of a mirror (helps with alignment) Draw to full draw/alignment and hold for 30 seconds. Relax for one minute and repeat. Some Olympic archers are capable of doing that for two hours!!!

When I started rehab after shoulder replacement, I could hold for 10 second ONCE. Finally built up to 20 and then 30 seconds. Still working on it.

Bowmania

I do draws in the mirror and take videos behind quite often. I can hold the 50# steady in full alignment but not nearly as long as I should. I think I’m going to shoot it a few times each night inbetween sets

 

What I do is shoot my regular bow and have a second hunting bow, these are set up to have the same point on and gap. When I am shooting I will shoot 100 to 200 arrows with the regular bow but also throw in some with the heavy bow making sure to use proper form when shooting it. Remember when you are hunting it will only be one arrow and your form should let you shoot one arrow well. All my tournament bows are set up at 35-36 pounds on the fingers, but shooting 45 pounds well for a few arrows is quite easy.

 

The best way to increase draw weight.

1 be comfortable and dominate your current bow.

2 Get a bow 5-10 lb heavier. It has to be light enough that you can draw it and maintain good form for at least 4 or 5 shots.

3 Take it to every session and shoot it for a few shots - ideally blank bailing to start. Never shooting so much that you cant maintain form. If you sense that happening then stop and in the next session shoot it less.
Build up till you are to shoot it regularly.

I think most healthy active adult males should be able to move from a 35# to a 42 or 43# this way.

Lifting free weights is good for you and will probably make you safer all around when shooting. But the waay to increase bow weight is by shooting bows.

 

Any lifting of weights is good for you and will help some with bow weight, but not as much as doing something with the bow.

I do have one that is a ball buster. You can't use round dumb bells. I worked with 15 pounds. On the floor have a dumbbell in each hand.. Do a push up and while in the up position do a press with the right hand/dumbell towards the ceiling. (You're in a cross position with left foot and hand on the floor) Come back down and put the right hand/dumbbell on the floor. Do another push up and press with the left hand/dumbbell.

It's very hard and the odd thing is it's a lot more cardio than you'd thing. I'd still say holding at alignment is better for a solid bow hand/shot. It does 'make you strong, like bull'.

Bowmania

 

Any lifting of weights is good for you and will help some with bow weight, but not as much as doing something with the bow.
Bowmania

I agree, gaining poundage (with good form) has been very slow for me, probably due to my age, but occasionally shooting heavier than comfortable limbs on my ILF has done it for me (I started at 30 then 35 for about six months, then to 40 for six to nine months. I am now at my target hunting weight of 45# that I can comfortably shoot good 20yard groups with decent form.
Two years ago I didn’t think it would have happened. If it wasn’t for managing the arthritis in my hands I would probably be looking for 50# limbs, I still may.

 

A serious question…

I see nuts&bolts posts (and others’) which are filled with great information for training. But I can’t help but wonder about it.

Sort of like someone who wants to do longer distance jogging (10+ miles) and increase their average mile times. If that person approached a professional trainer perhaps that trainer might be inclined to give amazing and helpful information on how to train properly, including diet and a personalised training program. Or … that person could just go out and jog and be mindful of their physical condition to avoid injury, and they probably would do pretty well and feel good about themselves.

So, the question is, is there something different about archery that makes that level of training detail for higher poundage bows more necessary for the average archer?

 

Nuts&bolts conveys a lot of very good information about learning to shoot. But my understanding, and I could be wrong, is that he is very involved in training elite level archers. He has a very regimented approach to all aspects of shooting a bow. If you were to follow some of the training regimens he has posted you will take quite a few years to get to a 40 or 50 pound draw weight. As a matter of fact by his standards I am not even capable of shooting a 40 pound bow. Yet I do so regularly.

Joe Average archer on here is perfectly capable of preparing to increase their draw weight without such a long drawn out regimen of training. But then again if you follow his recommendations they will certainly work. People have to decide what their goals are and what level of commitment they are willing and able to give. I love my archery and I am reasonably proficient at it. But for me it is about enjoyment of the sport. I guess you could say that since I have been shooting for over fifty years that somewhere along the way I did much of the work he recommends. It just wasn't such a formal approach.

 

Lots of ideas to help and to choose from to find which helps you. All, including mine, are opinions that work for US so keep that in mind before I open my yap. This is just what works.......for ME, and the reasons I THINK it's a decent option.

First of all, WHILE NO ONE IS SLAMING SHORT DRAW LENGTHS, let me touch on that anyway.
If you're drawing 30 inches with a compound and drawing "to the corner of your mouth" with a trad bow, my half century plus of shooting with others tells me you're drawing 27.5-28.5 inches......unless you're over 6ft AND ALWAYS draw with your bow STRAIGHT to your left getting the furthest possible draw you possibly can.

I'm going to tell you right now some shooters here are going to flame me telling you that is how you're SUPPOSED TO do it and I'm going to call BS, not for HUNTING and not for EVERYONE.
People worry WAY too much about getting as much draw as they can. Find the draw length you can consistently hit at the widest amount of body angles and stay with it. Mine is 27 inches. It shrunk an inch when I got old. I almost missed that too over the years. That works great for me. Always has and I never once wished it was longer.

On going up in weight, I picked up a 100 dollar Black Hunter, two actually, but a second set of limbs is cheap and if/when done with a set you can sell them for about a 25 dollar loss.
I'm NOT familiar with ILF limbs personally but I'd be REALLY surprised if one can go through 2-3 different weight limbs for 50-75 bucks out of pocket, all said and done. Never know, you might end up STAYING with the Black Hunter, like I am. Mine's a longbow version. Big Jim sells a :"pretty version" of the recurve, if that's an issue for 40 bucks more.

FOR ME, going up in weight, 5lbs (or as close as the limbs come) I don't SHOOT the heavier pair for at least a month......but I PULL and HOLD them as much as my body tells me I can without making myself too SORE and it effecting my shooting the LIGHTER pair, negatively.
It SHOULD make your shooting the lighter pair BETTER so if you start getting WORSE, back off the heavy limbs, maybe even shooting for 3-4 days. Muscles get "torn down" somewhat so that they can build back better (no politics PLEASE! LOL)

My reasons were NOT that I was new to trad shooting. I've shot trad since the 60s but flirted with wheelies a couple times, (shot 4 deer out of 70 (ish) with longbows and recurves up to over 80 lbs......but I got old. Health went to pot. I didnt shoot AT ALL for about 8 years, then started to get back into hunting again. I was in for a shock!
I about herniated myself STRINGING my 70lb bow. I sold em all and went to 35lbs and probably should have started at 30. I was in BAD shape. Worse than I would admit. I learned and am hoping others learn from my screw up.

That said, 35lbs and I worked up to it.......slowly. I picked up a 50lb after a month and hurt myself so bad I had to stop shooting for almost a MONTH. Being old STINKS. Being old and bullheads is WORSE, LOL.
I did learn from that though and the next time I got the 40lber and started pulling and holding it, 3-5 times an hour or so before shooting the 35lb.

A week of doing that then I went to 3-5 times in the AM, again at lunch and again before bed, all the while shooting 10-20 WELL aimed arrows with the 35 during the day. I shoot to HUNT only. Whanging arrows for hours like I did when young is POINTLESS. Ten WELL aimed, ACCURATE shots a day will serve me for the rest of my life and are probably MORE than I "need" to be honest. I mean what's the most I'll shoot hunting in a day? Two or three, MAX? Most likely one unless I get REAL lucky and find some stupid deer, lol.

By the end of that month of doing that. I was up to shooting the 40lb half the 10 shots ALMOST as well as the 5 with the 35. I kept going up from there till I shoot all 10 with the 40lb, holding varying amounts of time, sometimes even letting up and starting over, shooting 10, very controlled shots, every day.

Anyway. This is what works for me. My 2 cents. My method of going forth and NOT putting craploads of money into it. Me? I don't like blowing money for no reason at all. Push comes to shove you could sell ALL the Black Hunter limbs AND the bow and not lose much. (PS.....if so , hit me up, I might want one of the sets LOL)

DO find out what your ACTUAL draw length is, with your trad bow though and do NOT let anyone tell you "that's not enough". If you hit your target and you hit that draw length comfortably and consistently........it's PERFECT.

"MORE" does not automatically mean its so much "BETTER" that it's MANDATORY. It's only better if it works........for YOU.

I've piles of dead deer from past decades that are still dead. Just making a point that short draws work just fine.

Flame me all you want gang. Three divorces = thick skin. #flameproof #noworries I need a laugh.

Be safe. Shoot straight
God Bless
Steven.

 

I’m not that concerned what my draw length is with a recurve honestly lol if I ever decide to upgrade bows I will then figure it out so I can determine what weight I want to shoot. I’m 5’10 but my wingspan is 6’1 so I’ve always had a bit of a “long” draw. As for now I will continue anchoring with my index in the corner of my mouth until something leads me to do otherwise.

 

Knowing your true draw length is helpful when choosing draw weight. That said, it can change when you're just starting out. Having a longer draw is definitely a bonus.

 

As far as what weight I would choose IF IT WERE ME, starting over in this day and age of todays superior bows and arrow materials, 50lbs is capable and legal to take any big game in every single state of the US with only A FEW requiring that much for moose (maybe elk? I forget now)
That speaks volumes.
Some will say that it's senseless to go with "the minimum" but keep in mind these "minimums" were set in the days prior to the equipment and information we have today.

The real ideal weight is what you want because 40lbs will give you the penetration to take almost anything with the right arrows and heads with proper arrow placement, less than that for deer alone.

Again, just my 2 cents. As always what others would want is almost useless information.

My opinion is just that. Mine. I'd be a huge narcissist thinking everyone else should think and do the same thing.
I've a buddy who still shoots 60lbs, just because he likes shooting 60 lbs. He cannot tell you why. He's just done it for decades and agrees others get as much penetration as he does. He just likes how 60lbs "feels" and I'll support that all my life.
It works for him. Enough said.

When you feel you're ready to go up in weight is just that. When YOU feel you're ready. If you do it too early, you're shooting will suffer and "tell you" it's too early to switch COMPLETELY. Baby steps works for me.
Your way will work for you. Trial and error is a great teacher, if you listen.
A much better one than "voices" on the web, IMHO.

God Bless

 

Thanks. Interesting discussion.