At rest young archers have normal cardiorespiratory values

The summary today

The data are all descriptive, and no study places archers next to peers who do not shoot. In thirty-two young Malaysian archers aged thirteen to twenty-four, resting heart rate taken before the warm-up is 84 beats per minute, breathing rate 19.6 breaths and blood pressure 119 over 75: values within the ranges commonly used, but far from those of an endurance athlete, and with wide differences from one young archer to the next (from 61 to 101 beats, lung function varying two- or threefold). In thirty-two archers at a residential sports institute in India, twenty-two years old on average, heart rate measured seated at rest drops to 59, just below the usual threshold of 60, as often happens in trained athletes, and blood pressure is 115 over 64, with body fat at 11 per cent. In children aged nine to twelve there are lung volumes, flows and respiratory muscle strength with no differences between boys and girls, and in top-level archers maximal oxygen uptake is 47.9 millilitres per kilogram per minute in men and 40.9 in women, the values of trained athletes but not of an endurance sport. The picture holds as a description: none of these values is out of the ordinary for a young athlete. Much of the gap between 84 and 59 beats comes from the measurement, though: in the same Indian archers heart rate taken before the warm-up, the same moment as the Malaysian figure, is 89. What remains may come from the general training regime of those groups rather than from shooting, and without a comparison group it cannot be said whether archery shifts these values one way or the other.

Also phrased as: "resting heart rate in archers"; "blood pressure in young archers"; "lung function and archery"; "does archery train the heart"; "an archer's aerobic capacity"

Evidence

• 2015
  Context Archers Published later

  160 Indian university archers aged 18 to 25 at an inter-university championship: mean peak expiratory flow between 492 and 508 litres per minute. The author describes it as normal, but the comparison with the general population is not backed by data, and the journal has questionable editorial standards.

  Comparative study of peak expiratory flow rate of archery players participated in all India inter university archery competition Questionable venue · Vishwajit Thakare

• 2015
  Context Archers Published later

  5 Xibo archers aged 15 to 17 against 18 footballers and 7 judoka: vital capacity 4,772 ± 702 mL, or 74.35 ± 7.68 mL per kilogram against 79.36 in the footballers and 81.54 in the judoka (differences reported as significant, with t values that do not support it); Harvard index 93.8 and estimated maximal oxygen uptake around 3 litres per minute. Conference proceedings with questionable editorial standards.

  Physique Characteristics of Ethnic Archers Based on R-cluster Matrix Questionable venue · Yunfeng Wang, Yinan Ma

• 2017
  For Archers Published later

  32 young Malaysian archers: resting heart rate, measured with a wrist sensor before the warm-up and before shooting, 84.0 ± 11.0 beats per minute, from a minimum of 61 to a maximum of 101.

  Analysis of biological and mechanical related performance parameters of Malaysian senior youth archers · Zahari Taha, Mainul Haque, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Siti Musliha Mat-Rashid, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Aleesha Adnan

• 2018
  For Archers Published later

  The same 32 young Malaysian archers (24 male and 8 female, aged 13 to 24): breathing rate 19.56 ± 5.02 breaths per minute, systolic pressure 118.81 ± 12.97 mmHg (95 to 144) and diastolic 75.13 ± 8.66 (57 to 94), heart rate 84.0 ± 10.97.

  A Multivariate Analysis of Cardiopulmonary Parameters in Archery Performance · Vijayamurugan Eswaramoorthi, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Naresh Bhaskar Raj, et al.

• 2018
  Context Archers Published later

  50 young Malaysian archers, 37 boys and 13 girls aged 13 to 20, split by an algorithm into a high-potential and a low-potential group: according to the plots the stronger group has higher resting heart rate, systolic pressure and breathing rate, but not diastolic pressure. There are no mean values and no tests, and the grouping uses the same measures it then compares; in the discussion the authors write instead that heart rate and blood pressure do not separate the levels. It says something about the link with score, not about reference values.

  The employment of Support Vector Machine to classify high and low performance archers based on bio-physiological variables · Zahari Taha, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Anwar P P Abdul Majeed, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Muhammad Amirul Abdullah, Mohd Hasnun Arif Hassan, Zubair Khalil

• 2018
  Context Archers Published later

  Fifty young Malaysian archers with the same characteristics, split into three potential groups by a cluster analysis on score and resting measures: the best group has higher breathing rate and calorie intake, while resting heart rate and blood pressure do not separate the groups. Again only a plot, with no mean values and no number of archers per group.

  Classification of High Performance Archers by Means of Bio-physiological Performance Variables via k-Nearest Neighbour Classification Model · Zahari Taha, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Anwar P. P. Abdul Majeed, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Ahmad Fakhri Ab. Nasir, Mohd Hasnun Arif Hassan

• 2018
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same sample lung function varies two- or threefold from one athlete to the next: forced vital capacity 3.79 ± 0.79 (2.07 to 5.19), maximal voluntary ventilation 96.32 ± 24.93 (47.50 to 150.90), peak expiratory flow 7.41 ± 1.69 litres per second (3.70 to 11.07).

  A Multivariate Analysis of Cardiopulmonary Parameters in Archery Performance · Vijayamurugan Eswaramoorthi, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Naresh Bhaskar Raj, et al.

• 2021
  Context Archers Published later

  42 recurve archers aged 9 to 12 with 2.3 years of practice on average, 31 boys and 11 girls: forced vital capacity 2.22 and 2.13 litres, FEV1/FVC ratio 93.9 and 96.7 per cent, maximal voluntary ventilation 76.0 and 72.8 litres per minute, maximal inspiratory pressure 76.9 and 75.4 cmH2O, expiratory 97.0 and 85.0. No differences between boys and girls (all p > 0.05), no comparison with reference values or with peers.

  The relationship between shooting performance and respiratory muscle strength in archers aged 9-12 · Ozgur Bostanci, Menderes Kabadayi, Muhammet Hakan Mayda, Ali Kerim Yilmaz, Coskun Yilmaz

• 2025
  For Archers Published later

  32 male archers at a residential sports institute in India, aged 21.8 ± 5.6, 15 elite and 17 not: resting heart rate 58.8 ± 7.6 beats per minute and 88.9 ± 10.6 before the warm-up, blood pressure 114.5 ± 9.2 over 64.4 ± 7.3 mmHg, body fat 10.9 ± 2.9 per cent, best competition score 660.4 out of 720.

  Can we predict archery performance using shooting heart rate and other biophysical parameters? A machine learning approach · Chandra Sekara Guru, Uma Mahajan, Anup Krishnan, Karuna Datta, Deep Sharma

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  8 Turkish national team archers, 4 of them Olympic-level or medallists: maximal oxygen uptake 47.9 ± 2.7 mL per kilogram per minute in the men (aged 21, body fat 8.7 per cent) and 40.9 ± 2.9 in the women (aged 19, body fat 26 per cent). It is a maximal measurement, not a resting one: it shows they are not endurance athletes.

  Sex differences in energy intake, sweat rate, and electrolyte loss among world-class archers during competition · Ozcan Esen, Stuart Goodall

Status history

1. 2015 Not studied The first figures appear, but they do not yet answer the question. In 160 Indian university archers peak expiratory flow is around 500 litres per minute, and the author calls it normal without showing the comparison; in five young Chinese archers vital capacity per kilogram comes out lower than in footballers and judoka. Both studies appear in journals with questionable editorial standards and neither compares the values with reference ranges: the question remains open.
2. 2017 Reported The first resting measurement on young archers in a journal with no editorial concerns: in thirty-two Malaysian archers resting heart rate is 84 beats per minute, ranging from 61 to 101 between individuals. It is a value within the range commonly used, but it was taken at the wrist before the warm-up, on the day of shooting, and does not say how low the heart rate goes at full rest. A single descriptive sample, with no comparison group: reported.
3. 2018 Reported For the same thirty-two Malaysian archers the rest of the values arrive: breathing rate 19.6 breaths per minute and blood pressure 119 over 75, normal or just above, and lung function that varies two- or threefold from one athlete to the next. It is the same sample as the year before, so it is not a replication: the picture fills out but the status stays reported. In the same year two papers on fifty young Malaysian archers link the resting measures to shooting level, with plots only and readings that differ from one paper to the other: they do not say whether the values are normal and remain context.
4. 2021 Reported A new sample, forty-two recurve archers aged nine to twelve with at least a year of practice, adds complete values for lung volumes, flows and respiratory muscle strength, with no differences between boys and girls. It remains a descriptive picture with no non-shooting peers: the status does not move.
5. 2025 Reported Two new measurements. In thirty-two archers at a residential sports institute in India resting heart rate is 59 per minute, just below the usual threshold of 60 as in trained athletes, and blood pressure 115 over 64, but before the warm-up the same archers reach 89, close to the 84 the Malaysian sample gave at the same moment, so much of the gap comes from when the measurement is taken; in eight Turkish national team archers maximal oxygen uptake is 47.9 millilitres per kilogram per minute in men and 40.9 in women, the values of trained athletes but not of an endurance sport. The claim holds as a description, but with descriptive data only and no comparison group the status stays reported.

Related

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Research lines

• 9 studiesBreathing and lung function in archers
• 48 studiesWhat predicts the score, and how talent selection tried to use it

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