Bowhunting Fitness

It's time for the fourth installment of Bone n' Broadheads.  Let me start by saying I am not a fitness expert (unlike Ron Burgendy), but I do workout and I think there are a few things that I can share to help you this fall.

"Deep burn!"

Bowhunting fitness is a topic that gets lost in the mix of practicing for deer season and managing your hunting property; but that does not mean it is not just as important.  This blog is going to focus on what it takes to get in shape for bow season.

My friend Tom Henrich who is an avid bowhunter and fitness fanatic is going to help me out by showing us what it takes to get your muscles into shooting shape. 

Tom shot this great buck with me last year in southern Iowa at LJS Hunting Lodge.  He watched it breed and chase a doe for almost an hour before he got a shot.  Tom said the buck was breathing heavy and slobbering, and when we went to gut him, I understood why....the buck had plenty of hair rubbed off in certain areas!



Tom's 2010 Iowa Buck

Looking at the picture of Tom (below) you can see the red circles showing where it is important to build muscles for archery. 

Building muscles in your upper back, shoulders, and arms will allow you to hold steadier and use your back muscles to "pull through" the shot, resulting in better form and a suprise release.  During bow season, I do plenty of walking to get to my tree stand, so increasing my cardiovascular activity is also important when building these muscles.

Back

Lets start with back muscles.  There are many different exercises that will help you build your back muscles, especially the latissimus dorsi and trapezius (below).



Latissimus Dorsi (largest back muscle)



Trapezius



1) Lateral Pulldown



Lateral Pulldown

2) Rowing

Seated Row

There are a few different variations of rowing, but above shows the basic technique.  I like to row standing up with a barbell with added weight and start with the barbell at my waste and bring it straight up to my chin.

Shoulders

Now that you know a couple lifts to help out your back muscles, lets think about bulking up your shoulders.  The exercises below work a few other muscles, but I want to focus on the deltoid muscles in your shoulder.



Deltoids

1) Lateral Raise

Lateral Raise

2) Shoulder Press

Shoulder Press

Similar to the row exercise, the shoulder press can be done on a machine (above) or by using dumbells.

Arms

The final red circle on Tom shows his arms, more specifically his triceps and biceps.  Here are a few lifts to help those areas.

Triceps

 

Biceps



1) Tricep pushdown

Tricep Pushdown

There are other exercises to work your triceps (dips, tricep extension, etc), but this is one of my favorites.

2) Bicep Curl

Bicep Curl

Like the tricep exercise above, there are different variations of the bicep curl.

My workout routine includes all of the exercises above, plus a few extra like bench/incline press, squats, calf raises, and chest fly.  I workout 4-5 times/week, and focus either on chest, shoulders, and back one day and the other biceps/triceps and legs on the other.  I start out running 5 minutes and then do one rep of each lift.  I do this routine a total of 3 times.  I try to limit downtime between lifts to keep my heart rate up.  I recommend doing these types of lifts with free weights if possible.  Dumbells will help to strengthen your stabilizer muscles in your back and shoulders better than machines will.

I also use the Full Fitness app on my iPhone to build a workout and keep track of meals and track weight loss.  Full Fitness's website breaks down each exercise by body area, and has pictures that show proper technique for each lift.  I recommend using some sort of program to get started and create a workout to meet your needs.

The next blog is Part 1 about Food Plots and what it takes to make a good food plot!

Muddyhunter