A competition day loads the archer more than a training day
3 studies · 30 archers measured
The summary today
Nobody has yet made a proper comparison between a competition day and a training day. The only study that measures the same archers in both situations, sixteen qualified Ukrainian archers followed for work on psychological autogenic training, uses urinary lactate and does not reach an answer: its results say that at the official competition values exceed the upper limit of the reference range, its discussion that in competition and in training they stay within it, and the two situations are never compared with a test. Even in training, lactate rises by 14.4 per cent on average after the load, and urea is above the reference range at every stage. Around it sit descriptions of the competition load: at a European Grand Prix 38 to 180 arrows a day and 27 to 335 minutes of competition, at a World Cup stage 178 arrows in two hours and more than five kilometres walked on the first day, with a load that then falls day by day to 97 arrows. These are large numbers, but nobody has set them beside those of a training day for the same archers. Without that comparison the question stays open: not studied.
Also phrased as: "competition more tiring than training"; "competition day load"; "fatigue in competition versus training"; "how demanding qualification is"; "lactate at competitions"
In practice
On the range it is said that a competition day is more tiring than any training session, between waiting, tension and arrows, and that qualification day is the heaviest of the tournament.
Evidence
-
2024
Context Archers Published later
6 world-class male recurve archers of the Turkish national team, four days of a European Grand Prix in 2023: from 38 ± 5 to 180 ± 6 arrows a day, from 27 ± 3 to 335 ± 22 minutes from the official start to the end of each archer's competition, waiting included, and from 1,260 to 4,200 metres walked between the shooting line and the target. It describes the competition load without comparing it with training.
Energy intake, hydration status, and sleep of world-class male archers during competition · Ozcan Esen, Ian Walshe, Stuart Goodall
-
2025
Context Archers Published later
16 qualified Ukrainian male archers, aged 19 to 22, randomly split between two months of psychological autogenic training and a control group, with urinary lactate and urea before and after the load in training and at an official competition. In training, lactate before the load averages 1.0 to 1.2 mmol/L and rises by 14.4 ± 0.9 per cent afterwards, enough to approach or pass the 1.2 mmol/L upper limit the authors use. Their results say that at the official competition values exceed that limit in both groups, their discussion that in training and in competition the concentrations stay within the reference range; competition and training are never compared with a test, and urea comes out above the reference range at every stage. The study does not allow the conclusion that competition loads the archer more than training.
Biochemical Marker of the Monitoring of the Archer's Psychological Auto-Training · Mariya Sybil, Bohdan Vynogradskyi, Fedir Zahura, Marta Bura, Tetiana Matviichuk, Liliia Hula, Olha Pazychuk
-
2025
Context Archers Published later
8 elite archers of the Turkish national team, 4 men and 4 women, a World Cup stage in May 2023: on day one 178 ± 3 arrows in 119 ± 6 minutes and 5,119 ± 169 metres walked; then 123 arrows in 88 minutes, 101 in 57 and 97 in 53 on the last day, with 2,260 metres. The heaviest day is the first, but the study does not compare it with a training day.
Sex differences in energy intake, sweat rate, and electrolyte loss among world-class archers during competition · Ozcan Esen, Stuart Goodall
Status history
- 2024 Not studied The first description of what a tournament day weighs arrives: six world-class archers at a European Grand Prix shoot between 38 and 180 arrows a day, spend 27 to 335 minutes in competition and walk 1,260 to 4,200 metres. Nobody measures a training day for the same archers, though, so the comparison the claim asks for does not exist yet: not studied.
- 2025 Not studied The first study to measure the same archers in competition and in training arrives, sixteen qualified Ukrainian archers with urinary lactate before and after the load, but it gives no answer: in the results the authors write that at the official competition lactate exceeds the upper limit of the reference range, in the discussion that in competition and in training it stays within it, and the two situations are not compared with a test. In the same year eight top archers at a World Cup stage shoot 178 arrows in two hours on the first day and walk more than five kilometres, again with no comparison with training. The comparison the claim asks for is still to be made: not studied.
Related
Related articles
- How many calories does archery burn, from one arrow to a competition dayWhat one arrow costs at different draw weights, what a tournament day costs, and what the studies say about the intensity of shooting and body weight.
- Hydration and nutrition on competition day in archery: a practical guideHow much to drink and what to eat on competition day in archery: what the day costs, what dehydration changes and what studies on archers have measured.
- What happens in the body on competition day: saliva, blood, urine, food and fluidsCortisol, salivary IgA, blood glucose, urinary lactate, food and fluids: what changes in an archer's body on competition day, according to the measurements.
Research lines
Where there are no studies on archers, every decision starts from a written hypothesis and is checked against the data over time.
See the programmeCite
Campagna, M. (2026). A competition day loads the archer more than a training day (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/competition-day-load-versus-training
@misc{campagna2026_caricofisicogiornatadigara,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {A competition day loads the archer more than a training day},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/competition-day-load-versus-training},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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