Bowhunting offers a primal escape from the digital noise of modern life, drawing hunters to the backcountry as seasons lengthen and wild spaces shrink. While advanced gear enhances the hunt, your physical fitness is the true cornerstone of success. To excel in the rugged demands of bowhunting, you need strength, stamina and resilience.
This guide shows you how to build a fitness routine that maximizes performance and prevents injuries, with MTNTOUGH’s Pre-Season Prep Programs and In-Season Training as your essential tools for peak readiness.
How To Keep Up With Bowhunting’s Physical Demands
Bowhunting tests your body in unique ways. Your legs must carry 50 to 100 pounds or more of gear or game across miles of rough terrain. Your arms and shoulders need precision and strength to draw and aim your bow. Packing out heavy game, like an elk, demands immense power and endurance. You also need cardiovascular stamina for multi-day hunts and flexibility to navigate obstacles like rocks or fallen logs.
Research shows that athletes who prioritize strength training are less likely to get hurt, as stronger muscles, tendons and ligaments better handle stress. A well-conditioned body elevates your hunt, boosting performance and slashing injury risk. Strength training empowers you to conquer steep trails and heavy loads, while endurance sustains you through long days.
Start with MTNTOUGH’s Pre-Season Prep Programs (PSPP), crafted to build these skills with a focus on injury prevention, including specific shoulder health for bowhunters.
The PSPPs prepare you for hiking, shooting and enduring long days outdoors, incorporating injury-prevention strategies including targeted shoulder health exercises to keep your bow arm strong and stable. Next up, maintain your edge with the In-Season Training (IST) to stay hunt-ready. IST maintains your fitness with sport-specific workouts that preserve strength and agility during the hunt.
Injury Prevention
Your training should strengthen your body, not strain it. Focus on fortifying high-risk areas like shoulders, lower back and neck, while maintaining flexibility to avoid overuse injuries. Bowhunters face specific injury risks due to the sport’s physical demands.
Shoulders are especially vulnerable, powering the draw and stabilizing the bow. Neck and back injuries often stem from heavy packs or uneven terrain. MTNTOUGH’s programs address these risks head-on, helping you train smarter to stay injury-free.
Shoulder Work
Drawing a bow engages both shoulders dynamically. The pulling arm uses the rear deltoid, while the bow-holding arm relies on the front and middle deltoids for stability. Your upper back, biceps and triceps also activate to control the shot. Weak or imbalanced shoulders can overstress the rotator cuff, leading to strains, impingement or bicep tendon issues.
MTNTOUGH’s PSPPs include targeted shoulder health exercises to build strength and resilience, reducing these risks, while IST maintains shoulder mobility and stability, keeping you shooting pain-free.
Neck and Back
Carrying a heavy pack or lifting game, like an elk head, can strain your lower back, causing pain that radiates to the hips or legs. Neck injuries, often from poor posture while drawing or improper lifting, can limit mobility and hinder shooting.
In the gym, sloppy form during exercises like deadlifts can worsen these risks. Even sleeping awkwardly while camping can cause issues. MTNTOUGH’s PSPPs strengthen your core and back to prevent these injuries, while IST keeps you limber and strong in the field.
Injury Prevention Strategies
Prevent injuries with proper form and consistent training. Ensure your pack fits snugly to avoid strain, and rely on MTNTOUGH’s PSPs to build strength safely, with a focus on shoulder health to protect your bow-drawing muscles. Year-round consistency is key — MTNTOUGH’s programs make it easy to stay on track.
Combine strength and flexibility to thrive in the backcountry. MTNTOUGH’s programs include exercises that mirror bowhunting’s demands. Here are some examples.
Handling Injuries In the Field
If you’re injured while hunting, act fast. For minor issues, use the RICE method (rest, ice, compression, elevation) with supplies from a first aid kit. If ice isn’t available, elevate the area to reduce swelling.
For severe injuries, stop immediately and use an emergency beacon if you’re out of cell range. Pushing through pain can worsen the injury and extend recovery. Lighten your pack or get help from your group to exit the backcountry safely.
Recovering and Rebuilding
Post-injury recovery requires a plan. Start with gentle rehab exercises to restore mobility and ease pain. As you heal, incorporate prehab workouts that blend recovery with fitness to rebuild strength. Gradually ramp up intensity to regain hunting-ready conditioning, focusing on preventing re-injury. Consult a medical professional for tailored advice, especially for serious injuries like rotator cuff tears or disc issues.
Hunt Strong, Stay Safe: Bowhunting demands physical and mental grit, but ignoring pain is a mistake. Train smart and prioritize injury prevention and shoulder health to keep you drawing your bow with confidence. A strong, healthy body lets you focus on the thrill of the chase—tracking game, landing your shot and navigating the wild with ease. Commit to MTNTOUGH and make every hunt a triumph.
Here are some archery hunting exercises to keep you in the game and away from injury:
Chest and Shoulder Mobility Stretch
Purpose: Opens the chest and front of the shoulder to improve mobility for better bow draw mechanics.
Equipment: Two 2.5- or 5-pound weight plates (or a foam roller for increased challenge).
Instructions:
- Lie on your back, holding a weight plate in each hand.
- Bend elbows to 90 degrees, letting the weights gently pull your arms back to stretch the front of the shoulders and chest.
- Slowly press the weights overhead to feel a stretch in the chest, then return to the starting position.
- For added intensity, perform this lying on a foam roller to elevate your chest.
Rotator Cuff Eccentric Exercise
Purpose: Strengthens the posterior rotator cuff, crucial for controlling the bow during draw and release.
Equipment: A 5-pound weight plate.
Instructions:
- Kneel or sit, resting one elbow on your knee, holding the weight plate in that hand.
- Keep the elbow in front of your body and slowly lower the weight by rotating your arm downward (eccentric motion).
- Return to the starting position and repeat, focusing on controlled movement to engage the back of the shoulder.
Mid-Back Stabilization Pull
Purpose: Strengthens mid-back muscles and stabilizes the shoulder blade for better posture during bow draw.
Equipment: Light resistance band (e.g., yellow band) attached at shoulder height to a stable anchor.
Instructions:
- Stand facing the anchor, holding the band with one hand at 90° elbow bend.
- Retract your shoulder blade to initiate the movement, then pull your elbow back while rotating your palm upward.
- Press the hand overhead, keeping the shoulder blade retracted, then reverse the motion slowly to return to the starting position.
- Maintain a stable shoulder blade throughout, except during the overhead press.
Banded Bow Pull
Purpose: Mimics the bow draw to build shoulder strength, endurance and proper positioning.
Equipment: Heavy resistance band (or lighter band doubled up for increased resistance).
Instructions:
- Secure the band at a height mimicking a bowstring.
- Assume a bow-drawing stance, holding the band with one hand (stabilizing hand) and pulling with the other.
- Initiate the pull from the shoulder blade, drawing the band back to a full draw position.
- Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds (or up to a minute for advanced endurance), focusing on maintaining proper shoulder blade engagement.
Single-Arm Bent Over Row
Purpose: Builds shoulder, arm and back strength for drawing the bow, using a bench for stability to focus on unilateral strength.
Equipment: A dumbbell (select a weight that challenges but allows proper form) and a bench.
Instructions:
- Place one knee and the same-side hand on a bench for support, keeping your back straight and parallel to the ground.
- Hold a dumbbell in the opposite hand, letting it hang straight down with your arm extended.
- Pull the dumbbell toward your hip, squeezing your shoulder blade back and keeping your elbow close to your body.
- Lower the dumbbell slowly back to the starting position while maintaining control in order to engage the back, shoulder and arm muscles.
Bonus: Backcountry Leg Exercises
Side-Step Lunges
With a weighted pack, step sideways and bend your stepping leg to engage hip flexors, quads, hamstrings and glutes, all needed for lateral strength in uneven steep terrain.
Weighted Pack Lunges
Put weight in your pack and perform stable and deliberate lunges, slowly touching the knee to the ground, then, with good posture, stand up, step forward with the other foot and repeat.
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