We got the chance to sit down with youth archer and personal trainer Ben Humphries, who impressed us with his Robin Hood style tricks
By Adrian Collins
JOE got the chance to get a sneak peak at Crysis 3 as well as having the opportunity to meet Ben Humphries, who’s an archer for Great Britain and a personal trainer, seen above teaching JOE how to shoot.
He told us about the challenges of participating in a sport that doesn’t get a huge amount of funding, as well as what we should be doing in the gym. We were also able to witness him slam three arrows into about an inch of space on a target, and we were suitably impressed.
JOE: What got you into archery? We imagine you didn’t pick it up in the schoolyard…
Ben Humphries: I started when I was 8 years old shooting toy boys and arrows and aiming them at my parents. My dad found that I had a good eye for the sport, and thought why not look up the local club, which turned out to be five minutes down the road at the Hampstead Bowmen at the Royal Free Hospital. From there it kind of snowballed, and I was shooting for the club, then the county junior and senior, then England, national and international, obviously all the way up to representing Great Britain.
JOE: How much time do you get to do training every week?
BH: It used to be pretty much five to six days a week shooting 300-400 arrows, but I just qualified as a personal trainer so that takes up a lot of my time. Obviously I still get my training in, but not to the degree that I would like ideally, because obviously I need to work.
I’m working as a trainer until August and then I’m heading to university to study sports strength and conditioning, so I should have more time to train.
JOE: As a personal trainer, what would you say is a key exercise we’re not doing in the gym?
BH: People generally don’t do enough back exercises, and also you have to have a foundation; strong legs and a strong core.
Not a lot of people do enough stretching, and tend to be tight in their shoulders and their chest, so focus on your stretches, and do some good compound exercises like squats and deadlifts.
JOE: What about nutrition and diet?
BH: Most people’s diets consist of really bad sources of protein and crappy carbohydrates and trans fats, which are awful.
It tends to be that people start their day with a breakfast bar and a coffee, then for lunch they have a sandwich from a shop which is a poor source of protein, and then a dinner that’s absolutely loaded with protein, but you need to space out your protein throughout the day rather than load it all in at once.
Something with healthy fish oils like salmon is high in protein and not too expensive either, so that’s great. A good fish oil and a multivitamin is a good supplement to take too, which will be really important to that New Year’s Resolution to get fit and lose weight.
JOE: What does the future hold for you?
BH: Olympics will always be the goal, but unfortunately the bow I use isn’t allowed. It’s used in every other competition except the Olympics, and we’re hoping that for Rio 2016 it should be allowed.
The World Championships are coming up as well of the Europeans, so for now that’s the focus.
JOE: Are you a gamer?
BH: Xbox is my console, and I’d be into First Person Shooters like Crysis, especially since there’s a bow and arrow involved!
JOE: What’s your best trick shot?
BH: I do the Robin Hood; one arrow down the centre of the other. It’s a tricky shot, I’ve done it maybe three times. But it’s not one I particularly aim for though, because then it means I end up short on arrows, and they’re not cheap!
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