Going for a big lift? Looking especially ripped? If you're like a lot
of folks you're probably handing off your cell phone to a buddy to grab
a video clip for social media. Here are a couple of tips that will help
you look better.
1. ANGLES, ANGLES, ANGLES. It isn't just about the
angle you're working the muscle with; it's about the angle of your
camera in relation to the muscle. Every exercise has certain angles that
just seem to work better. Think of the direction the muscle is facing,
and shoot down (or up) from the opposite. For example, if somebody is
doing dumbbell presses on an incline bench, hold the camera up high and
shoot down towards them. If they're doing cable flyes don't shoot
straight on, get a bit lower and shoot with a slightly upward angle.
Triceps exercises? Behind them and slightly to one side, depending on
what exercise and which arm they're using. Make sense? Good.
2. LIGHTING. Of course you're not bringing lights
into the gym. In fact, I VERY rarely ever use anything other than
natural light in the gym because once you do the actual workout becomes,
well, unnatural. If your gym is like most there are certain spots that have
better lighting. Look up at the ceiling, find the lights, and almost
directly underneath them is going to be the best. Obviously if you're
using fixed equipment that doesn't help, but try it for dumbbell and
barbell work.
3. STABILITY. Of course you don't have a tripod with
you, and if you DO you probably are beyond the scope of these
suggestions. But don't worry; you can still stabilize the camera (or
camera phone) pretty easily in a lot of situations. Have your buddy
holding your camera hold the phone against a hard surface, if possible.
You can use a dumbbell, the side of a rack, anything. That won't work?
Have him rest his arm on something, even if it's a barbell sitting in a
rack, or resting his arm on the rack itself. Still not possible? Simply
by leaning your whole body against something you can stabilize your arm,
at least a little bit.
4. VIDEO LENGTH. If you're going to instagram then
you're doing :15 but just because YouTube and Facebook give you
basically as much time as you want doesn't mean you should use it. Don't
shoot your warm ups. Don't shoot stretching. If you're just trying to
show people how ripped you are, don't even shoot a full set. Start the
camera when the big set starts, and end it when it's done. Boom. People
don't have attention spans like they used to!
5. DISTANCE. Nearly everyone has a tendency to shoot
FULL BODY. It's not always necessary to do that though. If you're doing
some heavy bicep curls, have your friend stand close enough that he's
getting just above your head to just below your waist in the shot. We
don't need to see your legs. For bench press, DB press, etc, just shoot
waist-up. Delts? Even less than that. You want to capture the whole
movement but not much more than that. There are lots of exceptions of
course, and exercises like deadlifts and squats don't apply, but just as
a general rule, try shooting a lot closer than you probably have been.
Plus then you'll get the extra bonus of much better sound (because of
course the microphone will be much closer to you).
When you're looking good or lifting heavy and want to capture the
moment, these few quick tips will help you look even better when you're
showing off on social. Remember — just because it's shot on a camera
phone doesn't mean it has to look like it was!
No comments:
Post a Comment