I train myself, so I have been on both sides of this. A fitness shoot rewards preparation more than most sessions, but the preparation people usually do is the wrong kind and often makes things worse.
The week before
Keep training normally. This is not the week to add volume or try a new programme. Soreness changes how you move and it visibly affects your range on camera. Train the way you have been training.
Sleep is the single biggest variable and almost nobody takes it seriously. Three good nights in a row does more for how you photograph than anything you do in the gym that week.
The day before
- No heavy session, especially not legs if legs are in the shot
- Keep water normal, do not start manipulating it unless you have a coach guiding you
- Avoid anything unusually salty or a meal you have never eaten before
- Lay out every outfit and pack the bag so the morning is not chaos
- Get to bed early, this is the one that actually shows
Shoot day timing
Eat a normal breakfast. Arriving flat and empty does not make you look leaner, it makes you look tired and it kills the energy you need for a session that involves genuine physical effort.
Plan to pump about thirty to sixty minutes before we start. Light weight, high reps, controlled. Enough to fill the muscle, nowhere near enough to fatigue your form. A pumped muscle photographs noticeably better than a cold one.
What to bring
- Two or three outfits, including at least one fitted and one loose
- Both training shoes and something clean for lifestyle frames
- A towel and a resistance band for pumping between setups
- Water and something quick to eat
- Chalk if you use it, it looks great in frame
During the shoot
We shoot in bursts through the working part of each rep, because every movement has one frame where the muscle is properly loaded and the body reads at its best. Half a second either side and the same lift looks weak. That is why we repeat sets, not because anything went wrong.
Expect to actually work. A good fitness shoot is a training session with a camera in it. Pace yourself and tell me when you need a minute.
Skin and grooming
Keep it simple. Trim rather than shave the morning of, since fresh shaving irritation shows under hard light. A light matte moisturiser controls shine. Skip heavy tanning products unless you have used that exact product before and know how it photographs.
