Building draw strength for heavy bows

[stech]

Update: Today I managed to pull back the 83 lb bow. Last time I tried it was 3 weeks ago and I wasn't able to do it. Today I did it and did it without too much difficulty - no hard straining, could pull it back multiple times, no soreness afterwards.

What I changed in the last 3 weeks was doing more chin ups/dips and a lot of trap bar deadlifts at around 75% of my 1RM. By a lot I mean 2-3 sets of 5 every day. I've also been pulling back my 70 lb bow religiously every night, usually 4 sets of 10-15 reps. My diet hasn't changed and I haven't gained any weight (actually lost about 3 lb) so it's purely a strength gain.

Now I'm going to start pulling back the 83 lb bow and try work up to 90+, but even at this level I'm happy. There's no real mystery in this I guess (lift heavier weights = get stronger) but it's a great feeling to finally break through that plateau.

 

[mrpoindexter]

We had a "fun" little activity last night in archery class. All the students got to assign somebody to do 1 burpee each time they shot an X. One of the kids in my class is really well on his way to becoming a pro archer and I was on the receiving end of all his assigned burpees. I had already shot a full vegas round with my bow at 90lbs, so I got another round with an average of 2 burpees after each 3 arrows. Total was about 20 burpees and 60 arrows shot in just over 90 minutes. I am sore today, but think if I did burpees with the shooting, it would probably have sped me up on the gain in draw weight.

I might add in burpees for every arrow I shoot that is not an X and see how I fare next time.

 

[Lbarr265]

Why does anyone need an 80 lb bow

Because I greatly enjoy digging the arrow out of the ground behind the deer it just went though. People laugh at me shooting whitetail with an 80# 31” draw length bow, but I will never worry about penetration through bone.

Last deer I got with it, 2016 season, I broke a rib on the way in and two ribs on the way out and it was still stuck three inches into the ground. Not saying this setup is for everyone or needed but it’s fun

 

[Eric Anderson]

Why does anyone need an 80 lb bow

To punch through the armor on French Knights... d’uh

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[Paolo Mauritania]

I suggest to build up your weight in max. 10# increments; to avoid muscles memory, build up to a 10# more than you plan to hunt and go back 10# it will feel a lot easier and in control. I hunt with a 65# longbow but I exercise with 75#. Important also, if you have the time, 2-3 months before hunting 25-35 arrows a day, 50% for form, 50% for aim.