Q: Is there a good basic warm up routine to do before archery?
Looking for a good basic warm up routine to do before shooting? Patrick Huston reveals his top moves.
A: First off, I would recommend having a look on the World Archery YouTube channel where you will be able to find Olympian Naomi Folkard showing the official Archery GB warm up in a full demonstration.
See Naomi’s routine here:
In terms of what you need to do, the main reason for warming up is to get blood flowing to the muscles you are going to be using in your shot, namely the deltoid around your shoulder joint and the muscles in your back. There are two exercises I used to do before coming on squad, which I find worked pretty well. First, do intense circles with your arms extended sideways from your body. When you do this you want to be forcefully changing direction with your arms the entire time. This puts physical strain on your shoulders, which gets the blood flowing to them. Do this for about 60 seconds each direction.
Next, bend over at the waist. Have your arms in front of you, pointing to the ground, with your thumbs pointing towards your calves. Move your arms up sideways past your shoulders as far as you can while rotating your wrists outwards so your thumbs point away from your back at the top. Do this for about 90 seconds. Yes, you will look a bit like a goose flapping!
This article originally appeared in the issue 118 of Bow International magazine. For more great content like this, subscribe today at our secure online storewww.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk