Shooting a full competition puts little physical strain on a trained archer
2 studies · 10 archers measured
The summary today
Measurements taken during simulated competitions say that for a trained archer the physical cost is low, but not zero. In a sixteen-year-old elite archer, over 72 arrows at 70 metres, blood lactate stays between 1.6 and 1.9 millimoles per litre, perceived exertion barely rises, from 1 to 3 on the 0 to 10 scale, and grip strength does not fall; in a novice of the same age with nine months of practice, lactate reaches 2.9, exertion 5, and the dominant hand's grip loses almost eleven per cent. Eight archers of the Brazilian national team, over a simulated 144-arrow competition, rate the whole day as tiring as a rest day and lose no grip strength, and their lactate rises but stays below 3 millimoles. The same study, however, finds that each set of shots feels harder than the matching moment of the rest day, that blood glucose drops after the 70 metres and that cortisol rises after every distance, whether from effort or from the tension of being assessed, with no way of separating the two. The cost therefore seems to depend more on the archer's level than on the competition format. Two studies in favour, one with only two participants, and a result pointing the other way within the second: that is why the status is contested.
Also phrased as: "physical fatigue in competition"; "is archery tiring?"; "lactate in archery"; "perceived exertion in competition"; "how tiring an archery competition is"
In practice
On the range people say that archery does not tire the body, and that at the end of a competition you are tired in the head, not in the arms.
Evidence
-
2020
For Archers Published later
1 elite archer aged 16, a World Cup silver medallist, and 1 novice aged 16 with 9 months of practice, a double round at 70 m in 12 sets of 6 arrows: in the elite archer lactate stays between 1.6 and 1.9 mmol/L throughout; in the novice it rises from 1.5 at baseline to 2.9 by the second set and then stays between 2.3 and 2.8. Blood glucose stays stable in both, between 87 and 107 mg/dL, but the simulated competition took place after lunch.
Physiological demands of archery: effect of experience level · Thiago Oliveira Borges, Alexandre Moreira, Reury Frank Bacurau, Fernando Henrique Magalhães, Caroline Dario Capitani, Alexandre Nunes Martins, et al.
-
2020
For Archers Published later
Perceived exertion on the CR-10 scale: in the elite archer from 1 at baseline to 3 at the twelfth set, in the novice from 0 to 5; session exertion for the whole simulation is 3.0 for the elite archer and 4.5 for the novice. The authors conclude that the simulated competition is of low to moderate intensity for both.
Physiological demands of archery: effect of experience level · Thiago Oliveira Borges, Alexandre Moreira, Reury Frank Bacurau, Fernando Henrique Magalhães, Caroline Dario Capitani, Alexandre Nunes Martins, et al.
-
2020
Context Archers Published later
The signs of fatigue are in the novice: dominant-hand grip strength falls from 80.2 to 71.5 pounds (down 10.8 per cent), the EMG amplitude of the finger flexors rises from the sixth set to the end (up 46.2 per cent according to the authors) and the median frequency drops by 4.1 per cent. In the elite archer grip, amplitude and frequency stay stable. This is the finding that ties the cost of competition to level rather than format.
Physiological demands of archery: effect of experience level · Thiago Oliveira Borges, Alexandre Moreira, Reury Frank Bacurau, Fernando Henrique Magalhães, Caroline Dario Capitani, Alexandre Nunes Martins, et al.
-
2021
For Archers Published later
8 archers of the Brazilian national team, 4 men and 4 women, a simulated 144-arrow competition (6 sets of 6 at 90, 70, 50 and 30 m) compared with a rest day: session perceived exertion, asked 30 minutes after the end, does not differ between the two days (data not shown in the thesis); grip strength does not change at any distance; lactate rises, but without exceeding 3 mmol/L.
Caracterização das demandas fisiológicas e intervenção nutricional no Tiro com Arco · Levy Aragão de Oliveira
-
2021
Against Archers Published later
In the same study each set of shots, rated on the CR-10 scale straight afterwards, feels harder than the matching moment of the rest day (a difference shown only in a figure, with no values); lactate is significantly higher after all four distances, blood glucose drops after the 70 metres and salivary cortisol rises after every distance. The authors cannot say how much of the cortisol comes from the effort and how much from being assessed.
Caracterização das demandas fisiológicas e intervenção nutricional no Tiro com Arco · Levy Aragão de Oliveira
Status history
- 2020 Reported The first data on the question, and the first physiological data in competition, come from a comparison between an elite archer and a novice, both sixteen, over 72 arrows at 70 metres. Lactate stays low in both, between 1.6 and 1.9 millimoles in the elite archer and up to 2.9 in the novice; perceived exertion rises a little in the elite archer, from 1 to 3, and up to 5 in the novice, who also loses almost eleven per cent of grip strength. Two participants, so evidence in favour on archers but very limited: reported.
- 2021 Contested Eight archers of the Brazilian national team add the comparison with a rest day: after a simulated 144-arrow competition, perceived exertion for the whole day is the same, grip strength does not change, and lactate, though it rises, stays below 3 millimoles. But the individual sets of shots feel harder than the matching moments of the rest day, and blood glucose and cortisol shift. Alongside the two studies in favour comes the first result pointing the other way, within the second, on small samples and with no real competition: the status moves to contested.
Related
Related articles
- Fatigue in archery: when tiredness sets in, and whether it shows in the scoreWhat happens to the shoulder, the bow and the score after many arrows: what studies of fatigue in archery have measured, and where the research stops.
- 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.
- Running and aerobic fitness: what the studies on archers sayShould archers run to shoot better? How much fitness shooting asks for, whether fitter archers score more and what circuits change, from studies on archers.
Research lines
If this idea shapes your training or your coaching, look at what your own data say before you change anything.
See the programmeCite
Campagna, M. (2026). Shooting a full competition puts little physical strain on a trained archer (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/physical-load-full-competition
@misc{campagna2026_caricofisicogara,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Shooting a full competition puts little physical strain on a trained archer},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/physical-load-full-competition},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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