Archery Fitness Basics That Every Archer Must Know About

Archery is one among those sports which when played properly can help you boost your body's strength and improve your ability to repeat the motions frequently. The best archers have a perfectly fit body. Hence, it is really essential to have a properly balanced workout which incorporates strength training, cardio, and stretching.

Here are a few tips that would help you achieve that perfectly toned body!

• Muscle magic!

Muscles work wonders in Archery. Almost all good archers have well-toned and strong muscles. If you are shooting a bow for archery, you must be flexible enough and your big muscles must be strong enough. For instance, the lower trapezius is responsible for doing all heavy lifting while drawing the bow for archery. The lattisimus dorsi and your abdominals work on maintaining your stability and ensure that the shoulders are relaxed while you raise the bow. So how do you do that?

To begin with, you must opt for getting yourself a ball for stability. It will not only aid you in offering a good workout but will also make your time of exercise challenging and fun. You can do this with the help of an archery set which will promote your body's stability. This set includes a ball, foam stick, balance disks and other things.

• Cardio is essential as well!

Archery is comparatively a stationary game. But this doesn't really mean you can neglect cardio altogether. The fact however is, archers with less resting heart rate perform better than others in the competition. Though you could be a backyard archer or someone who is strictly taking part only in local tournaments, you will likely experience the same excitement and the thrill to hit that bull's eye on the archery’s target.

If you are training yourself for the family meet which is going to happen in your backyard or for winning the title of a state championship, cardio is something very essential for management of your nerves and to help you in feeling stronger whereas the archers who are less fit will start to experience fatigue. Half an hour of cardio which includes aerobics, swimming jogging or even walking for about 5 days in a week can help you in decreasing your heart rate while the pressure of the sport would be on.

• Stretch more and more

Stretching is the key aspect in Archery as you would be substantially pulling and lifting weights to draw string of the bow for archery. Even a compound hunting bow of 20 pounds when drawn back could make you prone to injuries or may cause soreness to say the least. You can begin by buying a stretch band which is also known as therapy bands or stretch tubing which is available in medical stores and archery shops.

Make use of band which is light weighted and comes with a little resistance. Fasten it at the probable length to which you can draw and use the band for practicing your shots. For extra benefits, shoot using the stretch band by standing in front of your mirror. It will aid you in stretching the muscles and strengthen your techniques for archery.