In order to obtain certain basic data to he used in planning a physical training program for archers, we carried out physical constitution and fitness tests on six male members of a university archery club (20 to 21 years), after checking the actual bow weights they usually used. Parallel to these examinations we made the subjects launch three shots and run a distance of 30 meters to and fro to recover the arrows. Their energy consumption during this training and at rest was measured to clarify the intensity of archery training. The results are as follows :
1) In body height and body weight there was no difference between our subjects and the Olympic candidates in a training session, however, it was evident that the former had a smaller girth of chest than the latter did.
2) As to physical strength, there was no difference between our subjects and the Olympic candidates, in other factors except in shoulder-arm muscles strength which the subjects were slightly weaker than the Olympic candidates.
3) A positive correlation was found between the actual bow weight and shoulderarm muscle strength of archers, and the correlation coefficient was +0.73 in push and +0.50 in pull.
4) As a result of a basal metabolism test, the mean value was 38.3 kcal/m2/hr, which corresponds approximately with the mean value calculated from the standard basal metabolic rate.
5) A positive correlation was found between the total energy consumption and body weight or surface area of archers, and the correlation coefficient was +0.73 in body weight and +0.76 in surface area. A negative correlation was found between the total energy consumption and a year of experience, obtaining correlation coefficient of -0.68.
6) A relative metabolic rate was obtained from the caloric consumption during training ; the highest value was 2.7 and the lowest 1.9, while the mean was 2.2.