Working out and shooting bows-dismayed

[VTbowman]

On March 1st I stepped on the scale and in my dismay I saw a hefty 240 lbs come up.

No good at only 5' 7".

I started doing some serious working out.

Cardio and strength training geared toward bow hunters.

Its a '2 on 1 off' type of schedule with alternating work outs for upper body (front and back)and middle section.

Cardio/Abs every day.

Well I started shooting and man I tell ya its tough.

I was amazed on how hard it was for me to draw back! I was upset and confused, thats how hard it was.

Then I realized I was working out the muscles so hard that on the days I choose to shoot my body was in a very fatigued state. Basically I was trying to shoot on the days my body was meant to recover.

I shot well, better then I expected, but only about 6 to 8 shots and I was done vs the 2 or 3 dozen shots I normally would do.

Has anyone else encountered this?

What did you do to change your work out routine to be able to shoot?

Thanks.

Oh BTW I have lost 29 lbs since March 1st!!!

Still got about 30 more though...

D-oh!

[Tominator]

I've noticed that.

I've also noticed the older you get, the longer it takes for the body to recover. (Mine anyway). I went to 1 in 3 or even 1 in 4 work out schedule. One day of lifting to 3 or 4 days of recovery. Seemed to work for me, just too bad summer doesn't last all year.

[wtnhunt]

Congratulations on losing what you have lost so far, and good luck with the rest of it. Honestly I am unable to stick with working out. I will get into it and stick with it for maybe amonth or two and then things in life happen and I end up slacking. Chris is right too, the older you get the more time it takes to recover. Far as noticing ease or rather difficulty in shooting after working out, I really never noticed any significant problems myself, other than being a little sore and maybe fatigued feeling.

[BuckNrut]

It sounds like your body is telling you the truth - you're working out too much. Maybe you can let off some weight on your bow 'til you get stronger?

I only work a muscle group once a week (two groups per session), and do cardio three times a week alternating between fat burning and strength building cardio. As the season nears, the extra archery practice substitutes for the back workout.

This year I want to increase my draw weight so my plan is to work from my current 60Lbs up to 68, then drop back to 65 a couple of weeks before the season opens.

Good luck with your training program!

[VTbowman]

I will be 40 this August so I may be starting to feel the effects of getting older.

I also leave my bow at 70 lbs hunting weight year round.

I have never had an issue like this before.

Yea It would be a bit tough at 1st after blowing the dust off and drawing back the 1st few time in early spring, but within a day or two I would be good to go for regular shooting daily.

Some days only a dozen or so shots.

Other days it seemed like 5 or 6 dozen throughout the day.

I may have to back off on some of the "off season" strength training exercizes to incorporate the bow into my work out routine.

My workouts are mainly geared towards loosing weight but I also wanted increased upper body strength to aid in slow drawing of my bow at the 70 lbs weight.

At 80% let off its not much.

Its that dang peak weight before let off thats getting me. LOL

[Tom2008]

I've noticed it, but I just shoot to build up my muscles and do different stretches for my arms. I can shoot atleast 60 arrows within 2 hours consistently now.

[VTbowman]

I went out later today, approx 6 hours after my work out, and shot.

I did very well and was able to "loosen up" and settle in after my 1st few shots.

Did some arrow slapping at 30 and 40.

I am also shooting for the 1st time with my new glasses, (God I hate getting old) which is somewhat weird but I seem to be spot on so I am going with it as is.

[Rayzorp]

First, congradlations on what you lost, geat job!! I myself was pretty much in same boat, except I went the weight watchers way. Lost almost 75lbs. When pre-bow season came around, dusted off the bow, reset it for 65lb draw. Let me tell you I almost ripped my right shoulder. I spoke to a trainer, he claims sometimes many people focus on losing weight by combination if diet and cardio, leaving out the other muscles. The result is you can lose almost %50 of your upper muscle mass. After a about two weeks hard on the bowflex, I was able to get my strength back.

I hear you about the glasses, it's a pain, but tolerable..

Good luck

Ray

[BKE]

Ordinarily we would say, "sorry to hear about your loss" but in this case "congrats"!

As for the bow difficulty I really think it will take care of itself as your muscles get toned to a certain point. Basically, it sounds as if you just started working out and it hasn't even been 2 full months so you really are still in the beginning stages. Once you get to the level of weight and muscle fitness you want you'll probably find yourself drawing more Lbs.(if you want) or drawing your existing weight easier. Definately incorperate into your workout something for the lats, shoulders and biseps. Good luck.

[Jeramie]

You're muscles will adjust, eventually. On thing you can consider is some sort of supplement. Creatine would help here for quicker muscle recovery. Protein wouldn't be a bad idea but stick with the cardio or you'll put weight back on.

It natural for your muscles to fatigue. Eventually your body will build a Stamina and you'll feel strong on the off days. How long that takes is determined by your body type and that cant be changed much. Stick with it, rest, and give it time. Granted it stinks now but it will get much better.

Also, one thing to think about. You have stabilizer muscles you work in different ways. Thats one reason free weights are so much harder than machines (such as the Smith Machine). Pulling your bow back is no different. You can do all of your core exercises, heck you can even work your core but certain stabilizer muscles cant be impacted the same way they are when you pull back your bow. Now that your muscles are fatigued you're depending on those stabilizers much more. Eventually the larger will catch up and you'll be good to go and feeling better than ever.

[VermontHunter]

I seem to be on the other side of the table with this one Shawn ....

As you might know I shoot year round ,, so there's really no adjustment to shooting my bow... It's been over a year now since I've quit smoking so I've gained the weight... a heafty 48lbs. worth .. :eek:

NO glasses for as of yet,, but the eye doctor appointment is nearing...

And I know your shooting capabitlity's and I wouldn't want to have to shoot against ya....

CONGRATS on the weight loss ...

[Guest mikemcd]

rest is by far the most important issue. a "rest" day needs to be just that- rest. this is especially true if your job involves physical exertion.

you'll probably need 4 months to start feeling right.

don't forget that diet is also extremely important. i'd suggest you jack up your protein intake to at least 1 gram per pound of bodyweight per day. soy protein powder is great for that. if your muscles do not have protein, they simply will not heal. no way around that one.

if you are worried about gaining weight getting that much protein, just really hammer the cardio (without over exertion, of course) and realize that in the short term your loss may slow down but in the long term it will be easier to keep the weight off as muscle burns fat, even resting.

hope that helps. if you have any specific questions, please pm me. i've been fighting the health battle for a while so i have some experience with the many woes involved. doesn't hurt that i'm married to a clinical exercise physiologist either

mike

[muggs]

Can you shoot before you workout? In other words, say you plan on working on tomorrow, why don't you shoot you bow at 5pm and workout at 6pm (or whatever time)?

Also, I feel 70 lbs. is more than enough poundage (most guys don't feel the same, I know) so you could also consider going down 5 or 10 lbs to avoid injury.

I just think that after you've lost so much weight in a such a short period of time, you shouldn't workout any less than you are already. And since you want to lose another 40 lbs, you should definitely adjust your bow shooting routine to accomodate your workout program, not the other way around. Just my 2 cents.