Bow-Fitness. Bowhunters Staying Fit
 Tim Dickerson |
Give it a Rest!
by Tim Dickerson |
Tim
Dickerson
Age
44
Home:
West Lafayette, Ohio
Aerobics
& Fitness Association of America Certified Trainer
10
years weight training experience
Trained
by professional for 3 years
Tim is a member of:
Ohio
Bowhunters Association
|
|
“Let’s give it a rest!” he said, “You’ll have to stop shooting your bow.” That’s the last thing someone wants to hear who loves to shoot his or her bow as much as I do. But, because of the nagging pain in my right shoulder, I decided to heed the orthopedic surgeon’s advice and lay out a couple of weeks and see if I couldn’t get things to settle down. Let me tell you the story . Last summer I decided to crank the limb bolts down, twist the bowstring a bit and start shooting at 70-lb. draw weight. I wanted to make sure speed and arrow penetration was optimized for the upcoming hunting season. The year before I had an unfavorable experience with a different bow while shooting at 60 lb. draw weight. A big bodied six point walked under my stand and at 20 yards the shot didn’t penetrate well. We didn’t find the animal until the next day and because the weather was warm, I thought it too risky to process the meat. I vowed that wouldn’t happen again. At least not because of shooting a lighter draw weight anyway. So, that’s why I went to 70-lb. draw weight with my new bow. The heavier draw weight, however, brought on a whole new set of problems and, as I have since discovered, there were other things I could do to optimize arrow penetration besides going to a heavier draw. I was shooting an average of ten hours per week, going out most evenings to our club’s 3D range and making as many tournament shoots as possible. The hours of practice greatly improved my accuracy but my shoulder began to ache tremendously. So much, in fact, that I decided to have a MRI, (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) done to evaluate the problem. My doctor discovered the issue was two-fold. The under side of my rotator cuff was developing a tear and I had tendonitis of the biceps tendon. The rotator cuff is a group of flat tendons which fuse together and surround the front, back and top of the shoulder joint like a cuff on a shirt sleeve. The biceps tendon attaches the biceps muscle to the head of the humerous (the bone we normally call the shoulder). I wanted to show the images of my MRI and I actually called the company that services our local hospital’s MRI machine to get my images but they wouldn’t send them to me. Even though my injury wasn’t anything like the one in Fig. 2, I wanted to give you an idea of what was going on so I found these images on the Internet.
Before I actually took time off from shooting, I went through a regiment of physical, ultra-sound and electric impulse therapy (TENS Unit), but it didn’t seem to be helping much. |
After a few weeks of pretty much getting nowhere, my M.D., also a person I work out with in the weight room every week, sent me to the orthopedic surgeon. He put me out of commission for a couple of weeks. Let me tell you, that was just about as painful as the shooting. I hate not being able to shoot my bow but at the same time I knew if I didn’t do something the pain wasn’t going to leave. After two weeks of taking it easy and applying a TENS Unit to the afflicted area at home, I began to feel much better and decided to try shooting once again. The first order of business was to lower my bow’s draw weight to 60 lb. The second thing I did was begin doing some research on different exercises to strengthen the muscles around my shoulder because I don’t want to go through this again if at all possible. I want to share some those exercises with you but first, if you’re shooting too heavy a draw weight and it’s hurting your shoulder, lighten up! It isn’t worth it. I was originally shooting at 65-lb. draw weight. My accuracy was fine and there wasn’t any pain. Those five extra pounds did nothing but cause problems and a 60 to 65 lb. draw weight is plenty for hunting whitetail deer and it’s a lot easier on the body. The first exercise I’ll share was recommended by my physical therapist and is performed on an incline bench lying face down. Using an adjustable incline (I suggest somewhere between 45 and 60 degrees), start out with 5 lb., 8 lb., or maybe 10 lb. dumbbells. You’ll find out quickly which weights to use, as this exercise will be more strenuous than it first appears. You’ll want to do three sets, back to back, six repetitions each set. The first set of six reps is with palms facing down. Raise your arms to a parallel position and lower slowly. The second set of six reps is done with the thumbs pointing toward the floor. The third set of six reps is done with the thumbs pointing upward. This exercise will strengthen many of the muscles shown in Fig. 3.
If you are experiencing shoulder pain you should immediately consult your physician. Don’t wait. If you think it will get better with time just think about how much time has passed already and your shoulder isn’t getting better. The link below will help give you a greater understanding of why you are experiencing pain. http://www.scoi.com/cuffdise.htm
|
Please consult your healthcare professional before beginning
any exercise program.
Back to Home | Back to Bow-Fitness Home
Coronal T2-weighted MR image of the shoulder demonstrates a normal supraspinatus (rotator cuff) muscle and tendon.
Coronal T2-weighted MR image of the shoulder demonstrates a focal full-thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon at its insertion into the
humerus.