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Bow Shoulder Fatigue in Archery

If you have been shooting for a long time and start getting tired you will start to experience fatigue in your bow shoulder which will cause inconsistent shots.

When your shoulder gets tired your arrows will start making lines on the target - often perfectly straight diagonal lines like the image below.  The shots below were performed by a student on June 2nd and I felt it was such a perfect example of shoulder fatigue that it deserved a photo.


What is happening in the photo above is the person is making almost no mistakes and the only problem they are experiencing is shoulder fatigue - and possibly inconsistent full draw.

This means the way to correct this problem is two fold:

#1. Take a break and relax. Your shoulder needs some time to recuperate.

#2. When shooting try to perfect your full draw so you are using more back muscles on your upper back (rhomboids) and less shoulder muscles (deltoids). Your back muscles should be tense and your bow shoulder should be relatively relaxed. (If you are unclear about the anatomical terms for muscles see Anatomical Terms for Athletes.)

Having stronger shoulder muscles does help, but it is not a cure. Ideally you need to be using your back muscles to be pulling the bow and stronger back muscles will do the most to help steady the bow. Thus if you are encountering this problem regularly you may want to consider regular exercises designed to make your rhomboids stronger (and to a lesser extent, stronger deltoids).

Pushups are a good example of an exercise that will target both your rhomboids and deltoids (and as a bonus, your triceps and pecs).

If you have dumbbells handy you can also do the exercise below to help strengthen the appropriate muscles. Like pushups, the exercise below will also target your rhomboids, deltoids and triceps. Because you are leaning forward it will also target your lower back too (traps).


If you are making no mistakes at all, you are not fatigued, and the wind is not a factor (low and steady wind) then you should be getting super tight clusters of arrows. Or even better, split your own arrow.

Want to perfect your archery form? Sign up for archery lessons in Toronto. Or keep reading my free archery tips.


Archery Clusters and Targets

I shot the cluster of arrows below on June 3rd while doing some personal archery practice. The target butt was so soft the arrows were penetrating right out the back of the target butt in a nicely grouped cluster roughly the size of a Canadian quarter.


Evidently I should be shooting at a different location of the target to avoid having my arrows penetrating so deep, but there was a target at that location on the opposite side of the target butt that was "just begging to be shot".

In the background on the 2nd target butt you can see an empty water bottle dangling from a string tied to a broken arrow. If you are familiar with my practice of shooting at moving targets then you may have read my previous post from August 2014 wherein I Robin Hooded (split) an arrow on a moving target. See Robin Hooding a Moving Target.

Hot Tip for Shooting at Moving Targets - Learn how to Gap Shoot.

If you don't know how to gap shoot, sign up for archery lessons in Toronto.

5 Tips for New Archers

If you are new to archery then chances are likely you are making lots of mistakes that you don't know about. Below are five tips to help you shoot better. Want more tips? Sign up for archery lessons in Toronto.

#1. Make sure you are using your dominant eye for aiming.

Check by reading Dominant Eye for Archery. Using the wrong eye is very often a reason for people to be shooting improperly. Just because you are right handed does not mean you are right eye dominant.

#2. Get a bow you can actually pull properly.

If you cannot pull the bow properly then it is obviously too hard for you. Get a bow you can pull easily and hold steady for at least 10 seconds.

#3. Pull with your forearm in line with the arrow.

If you pull with your forearm in a straight line with the arrow you are using your muscles more efficiently. You will be able to pull more because your back muscles (rhomboids) will be doing most of the work. If you are pulling with your forearm on an angle then your arm is going to shake like crazy.

#4. Don't squeeze the bow with your bow hand.

Squeezing the bow is completely unnecessary and will only cause you to torque your hand during shots - often causing the arrow to go off to the side. Learn to relax your hand completely. Squeezing the bow handle too much is a very common beginners mistake, but if you learn to just relax your fingers and thumb you will have much more accurate shots. Some archers also wear a strap on their hand or wrist to prevent themselves from accidentally dropping the bow while relaxing their hand.


#5. Stand up straight.

Bad posture is going to make for lots of bad shots during archery practice. Practice standing up straight while shooting. Also practice proper posture when standing, sitting and other activities too so your posture improves even when you are not doing archery.

Want to learn lots more? If you live in Toronto you can sign up for archery lessons, or if you do not live in the GTA please read more of the archery tips available on CardioTrek.ca for free.

10 Exercises to do with your Pets this Summer in Toronto

#1. Take your dog jogging!

#2. Take your dog to the beach - go swimming and play frisbee!

#3. Doggie Weightlifting - this is you lifting your dog up in an affectionate manner and rubbing their belly, then setting them back down, and repeat. You dog will think it is a game.

#4. Take your dog cycling in High Park.



#5. Join a Meetup Group for people who enjoy dog-related activities. Learn more by browsing the different meetup groups for Toronto dog owners.

#6. Competitive Dog Jogging. (Yes, that is a real thing.)

#7. Mountain Hiking with your Dog.

#8. Canoeing or Kayaking with your Dog. (Get your dog a special canine life jacket.)


#9. Dog and Owner Hurdles.



#10. Play a Classic Game of Fetch with your Dog. (Even more fun with water.)


BONUS

Dog Yoga in the Park


1,000,000 Visitors to Cardio Trek

June 1st 2015

Sometime in the next 3 days Cardio Trek will have its 1 millionth visitor to CardioTrek.ca. On Sunday May 31st the website surpassed 995,000 visitors and judging by the May average of 1765 visitors per day CardioTrek.ca should break the 1,000,000 mark sometime on June 3rd.

Not bad for a company that has only been around since December 2011.

Now you might ask why do we have so many visitors?

Well there is multiple answers to that question, so here goes:

#1. Cardio Trek has over 550 pages of unique content providing advice on topics ranging from weight loss, muscle growth / weight lifting, cardio exercises, as well as sports advice on topics ranging from swimming to boxing to archery, and lastly dietary / nutritional advice. And all of the advice located on CardioTrek.ca is FREE to access.

#2. Cardio Trek is home to Toronto's "best archery instructor" according to the testimonials of archery students - and archery's popularity is growing so fast we are in constant demand for archery lessons in Toronto.

#3. Cardio Trek also offers a number of unique / bizarre exercises and tips that only a handful of other websites talk about - including nose exercises for people who have suffered nose injuries or simply want to change the appearance of their nose, and also advice on how to reduce saggy skin after extreme weight loss / pregnancy. Those two topics are two of the most popular topics on CardioTrek.ca.

#4. If you Google 'cardio personal trainer toronto' then CardioTrek.ca is the #1 personal training website that comes up in the results. CardioTrek.ca is also #2 too. CardioTrek.ca is #1 or in the top 10 for a variety of different topics. So kudos to the quality of our website and our marketing efforts. (Although truth be told we don't really advertise much any more. We get most of our advertising from word of mouth.) Some topics we are not so hot at (eg. CardioTrek.ca is #27 if you Google 'weight lifting personal trainer toronto'), but that just means we need to work harder on those topics.

#5. We make a special effort to make Cardio Trek fun to read - whether it be via personal insights, the occasional joke, or the hundreds of inspirational quotes we have posted in the hopes of inspiring people who are looking for a little extra motivation to eat healthy, exercise harder, and have fun while doing so.

So in other words we have great FREE information, an amazing personal trainer / sports trainer, unique articles that are both interesting and fun to read, and a healthy dose of quality writing. Huzzah!

Here is a virtual toast* to the next million visitors!

* With a strawberry smoothie in a wine glass.

Looking to sign up for archery lessons, boxing lessons, swimming lessons, ice skating lessons or personal training sessions? Start by emailing cardiotrek@gmail.com and lets talk fitness!

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