I was staring at a whitetail buck like a predator.
I steady my sights and drew my bow.
Then suddenly an intense jolt of pain shot through my elbows. I let out a small cry, the arrow sputtered off and I collapsed.
This spooked the white tail and it ran off.
I began my archery journey at an older age. I was pretty bad, as my form was always off. To top it off, I used a traditional recurve bow, which put more strain on my body.
But hey, better late than never. I don’t buy the “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” mindset.
So through sheer stubbornness and practice, I improved my form. But my former bad habits haunted me.
How?
Poor form plus old age equals joint pain hell.
When I experienced pain, I endured it. Much to my detriment.
You know what happened of course. It finally hit me when I tried to shoot that white tail.
Archers usually suffer from RSI (Repeated Strain Injury) such as “Archer’s Elbows” and rotator cuff issues. In my case, it was an elbow injury.
I tried “restarting” archery when the pain was manageable again. Even with lighter draw weights. But it would return with a vengeance. Usually when I stupidly up the draw weight.
I almost gave up archery.
It also affected my everyday life. I dreaded the mere acts of dressing up, cooking and driving. I couldn’t even walk my dog anymore!
When I went shopping, I needed my wife or young son to lift things for me. There were things I could handle before the injury. I hated being so dependent.
Here’s an ugly biological fact. As you age, your body declines.
How so?
But I don’t have to cite anymore studies. If you’re an older person, you feel it already.
The less active you are, the greater the decline.
Even active people deal with this.
If you’re older, it takes longer to recover, and this has a cascading effect.
Lifters have this saying: use it or lose it.
You lose strength and muscle mass if you don’t train at least every 2 weeks. Now imagine if you’re sidelined for a few months!
Even if you get enough food and sleep, it won’t be enough. You might recover from an injury, but good luck returning to shape.
Your body and skills deteriorate.
If you try to restart training too soon, you might prematurely re-injure yourself.
These injuries demoralize people and they give up on a sport or hobby. Especially when they get older.
You can optimize your sleep and nutrition with incredible efficiency.
And I tried to do this, and it overwhelmed me.
How?
There is a huge literature on joint pain and nutrition. I didn’t know what studies were outdated or not. I didn’t know what information was bad.
Where would I get the right supplements? Are these cheap supplements with poor quality control and have cross contamination?
Can I afford to learn and cook new food?
Time is precious too. You need to workout, practice, sleep and balance your day-to-day life too.
You could hire a sports nutritionist and a physiotherapist, but it’s expensive. I’m just a normal guy with a 9-5 job. Archery was a side thing.
That’s when I tried ProJoint by Aimcise on a friend’s recommendation.
Archers designed ProJoint for Archers with joint problems. It’s like a joint specialist in a bottle without the crazy price tag.
Within 2-3 months of starting ProJoint, I got some of my joint mobility and flexibility back, and the pain subsided.
I knew something was up because I noticed my range of motion improved with my resistance band workouts.
It’s subtle, but I didn’t feel this difference in years.
When my joint pain subsided, I tried more body weight exercises and kettlebells.
Did the kettlebells weigh as much from 5 to 10 years ago? No. But I hadn’t entertained kettlebells for a few years until now.
It was at the 2-3 month mark I felt confident enough to draw a bow again, because I felt no elbow pain.
I took it easy and drew a lighter weight. Over the months, I increased the draw weight. A year later, I can draw a 150lb war bow.
And yea, I’ve managed to hit a few white tails bucks too.
I’ve continued taking ProJoint ever since.
ProJoint uses legal ingredients and follows WADA guidelines (World Anti-Doping Agency). This means you won’t be disqualified for using it.
Unlike prescription drugs, you don’t have to worry about side-effects. Such as addiction issues, as ProJoint doesn’t use any opioids like pain killers.
It’s also far less invasive and less expensive to surgery too. Surgery should be a last resort anyway.
You also don’t have to worry about chiropractic screw ups too.
Here are some testimonials from champion archers: