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Antiochus comments on How can I spend money to improve my life? - Less Wrong Discussion

15 Post author: jpaulson 02 February 2014 10:16AM

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Comment author: Antiochus 03 February 2014 03:43:00PM 0 points [-]

Are you sure? Archery requires a lot of strength and full-body coordination. Archers that I know have to do strength training for it. I'm not going to make any claims about how optimal it is, but that seems untrue on its face.

Comment author: ChristianKl 03 February 2014 10:02:23PM *  0 points [-]

Archers that I know have to do strength training for it.

Exactly. Archery doesn't provide strength training if you have to do strength training to do archery. If it would be good at strength training than archers wouldn't need separate strength training.

Yes, there might be some effects but if your goal is strength training I would guess that there are better ways.

As far as full-body coordination goes, archery forces you into being still in a quite unnatural position. I don't think that's what you want to train. A good martial arts or a good dance class provides you with better training.

Comment author: ephion 05 February 2014 03:00:08PM *  6 points [-]

Exactly. Archery doesn't provide strength training if you have to do strength training to do archery. If it would be good at strength training than archers wouldn't need separate strength training.

That's incorrect. Every sport requires additional strength training in order to perform at a high level. Even in strength sports, supplemental strength training is required beyond practicing the sport itself. This doesn't mean that the sport itself doesn't provide a strength adaptation response. Yoga counts as strength training for the sufficiently weak.

In Olympic weightlifting, the contested lifts are the snatch and the clean and jerk. Even minimalistic weightlifting programming involves squatting, and most programs include pressing, rows, deadlifting, and other strength work as well.

Powerlifting is a much simpler sport, testing only the squat, bench press, and deadlift for one repetition. Just practicing the sport would involve doing single reps with squats, bench presses, and deadlifts. Virtually no successful powerlifters train this way. Basically all of them do multiple repetitions on the main lifts, and the majority do other exercises as well.

Comment author: Antiochus 04 February 2014 03:46:50PM *  1 point [-]

That still doesn't seem right to me, but I should point out that a good motivation to do a thing is as valuable as the thing itself, if otherwise you wouldn't.

Comment author: ChristianKl 04 February 2014 09:44:29PM 1 point [-]

Taking a hobby costs a lot of time.

For me I don't see any reason to prefer archery over a martial art. The martial art does provide a bunch of secondary benefits.

Comment author: JacekLach 06 February 2014 01:01:40PM 1 point [-]

For me I don't see any reason to prefer archery over a martial art.

And there might not be any reason to do it for you, but other people might be uncomfortable with hitting other people, concerned about their hands (much easier to break a finger or twist your wrist if you're doing martial arts than archery, I imagine), be looking for a relaxing rather than exciting hobby, etc.