Health and Wellness FITNESS
way to strengthen muscles for bowling is to bowl. It’s hard to argue with that since you will work out ev- ery muscle you need
ARM YOURSELF T
Build Your Arm and Upper-Body Strength
here is a school of thought that says the best
for bowling when you bowl. Of course, that’s sort of like saying you can get in shape to run a marathon by run- ning a marathon. The best way to strengthen your bowl- ing muscles is to
supplement bowling with exercises targeted to toning and building those same muscles.
Strong Arm Tactics
One misconception of bowling is that you
need a lot of arm strength to throw the heavy balls. That’s not necessarily true. To be comfortable with a 15- or 16-pound ball, you will need some overall power, but your arm should act mostly as a pendulum, allowing the ball to smoothly swing forward from your backswing. Arm strength still comes into play in both your backswing and release. You need to be aware of whether you’re muscling the ball or not and adjust. More powerful arm strength will actually improve your ability to control how smooth your swing will be.
POWER PLAY: Click on the play button (above left) for workout tips from USBC Coaching Specialist Nick Bohanon and Team USA’s Shannon O’Keefe.
Shoulder the Load Your shoulders and upper back muscles are also very impor- tant for overall power in bowling. They help balance out the natural stresses of bowling and prevent injury if
16 USBOWLER MARCH 2011
FOREARM TENDINITIS While many bowlers may experience tendi-
nitis in the wrist and hand, many others suf- fer from tendinitis in the forearm. Forearm tendinitis can occur as a result of injury, overuse or because of improper ball fit. The best way to reduce the pain and inflam- mation is to follow the “R.I.C.E” formula:
REST: Give the forearm rest. ICE: Apply for 20 minutes at a time. COMPRESSION: Apply light pressure. ELEVATION: This will help reduce pain.
you’re keeping them in shape. Additionally, your shoulders are key to rotating your arm during your shot. Consider a regimen of one-armed rows. Rowing exercises are a great way to target the muscles in your upper back and shoul- ders. Make sure you draw the arm back to a position that has the elbow aligned with the shoulder. Check
out Team USA mem- ber Shannon O’Keefe demonstrating the one-arm row in the ac- companying video. You may only be interested in power- ing up the muscles on your throwing hand side, but it’s very im- portant that you work out both sides of your body equally. Oth- erwise you will risk throwing yourself off balance.
FITNESS, HEALTH AND NUTRITION TIPS TO MAKE YOU A BETTER BOWLER
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