Business Babies Series: 6 Tips for Fitness Photo Shoot Prep
We are thrilled to be featuring a “Business Babies Series” on our blog. Read these 6 Tips for Fitness Photo Shoot Prep from Kate Horney of BeyondFit Physiques (www.beyondfitphysiques.com).
Read more about the business inspiration behind Kate’s BeyondFit Physiques here: http://beyondfitphysiques.com/about/
I created BeyondFit because I wanted to be able to get the message of fun, sustainable fat loss out there to a larger audience. I am extremely passionate about effective and EFFICIENT fat loss techniques for women. As a new mom, I had zero time to exercise, prep food for hours and dedicate the whole day to healthy living, like I did as a young fitness pro. Yet, I wanted to look and feel healthy, lean & functional for my newborn and to be a great mom.
I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science and am also a Metabolic Effect certified Level III Hormonal Nutrition Consultant. I specialize in female specific fat loss, using proven techniques to offer body change and coaching services to women both online and locally. I started my “other baby” BeyondFit Physiques in 2012, and since then, it’s grown by leaps and bounds with women who want more out of their fitness program. (It’s a 30 minute workout, designed for fat loss. PERFECT for us moms and young women who are trying to fit it all in!)
Through BeyondFit Physiques, myself and the other BeyondFit trainers are able to offer training, nutrition, and educational services that are strategically designed to give women the tools they need to reach their goals, create lasting body change, and live the fat loss lifestyle.
In the beginning, when starting my business, one of the first things I needed were professional photos…. And if you’re a momprenuer who is starting her own business, one of the first thing you’ll need to consider is having some professional images taken for use on your website and social media. (Nope, I’m not talking about selifes with your iphone). 
If you’re getting ready for a fitness photos shoot, here are some things to keep in mind.
6 Tips for Fitness Photo Shoot Prep
1. Nutrition: 5 Days Out
Beginning 5 days before your shoot, keep your carbohydrates at aprox. 50g a day. This will likely involve no direct carb intake, as it is really easy to get 50g of “tag-a-long” carbs with your protein & veggies.
This is going to cause your muscle to use up the carbs it has stored locally, known as glycogen. Glycogen depletion will result in the muscle looking less full and round, which is fine for the days before hand. When you re introduce carbs, glycogen super compensation will bring it back in a big way.
2. Nutrition: 1 Day Out
On the day before the photo shoot, ramp carbs up to about 300-350 grams spread evenly throughout the day. These should be dry, starchy carbs (e.g bagels, pasta, rice, etc) they should not have a bunch of refined sugar or too much water, you’ll have to start controlling fluid intake soon. The day of the event should consist of more of the same, roughly even (40% pro/40% carb/20% fat) meals.
3. What to Wear for Your Shoot
Photographers get frustrated when a model doesn’t bring enough options. Plan to wear ONE outfit during your shoot, but bring at least two additional options as back up.
Here are some basic tips for photoshoot wardrobe prep:
- No stripes, plaid, or random patterns –solids photograph much better
- Avoid large bold brand names
- Bring various colored undershirts and undergarments
- Plan outfits completely head to toe with all accessories
- Have clothes on hangars and/or covered with a bag and grouped with accessories and shoes
- Make sure your clothing flatters you. For example, a baby doll style almost never photographs well.
- If you’re wondering whether an outfit is appropriate, bring it, but also bring other options to shoot if it doesn’t work out.
- Black outfits look great in black and white images, if you want that dramatic look, make sure to bring that as an option.
4. Peak Photo Shoot Condition
You want to make sure your body is in tip-top shape for your photoshoot- this is your time to show off all your hard work.
Follow your regular workouts + targeted core training workouts 3 per week. Sprints are amazing for developing your abs, so make sure you get in one 10 minute sprint workout per week as well.
Your nutrition regimen must be in check, especially around the time of a photoshoot.
Begin your Photo Shoot meal plan 2 weeks out. Stay clean by tightening the reigns. Consume high protein meals and drink lots of water (1/2 your body weight in ounces). Stay away from sugar and alcohol as you approach your big day.
Rest is also very important. Though you may be excited the day before your shoot, you will need to go to bed early and get a good night’s rest. Who wants bags beneath their eyes, so aim for seven to nine hours of sleep. This way, you will look fresh and be alert.
5.Water Manipulation
You would think that manipulating water intake would affect the amount of water in your body pretty significantly right? As it turns out, not really. That’s because the amount of water you have around needs to be kept in a very tight range for everything to run smoothly in your body. So we’re really only going to be reducing water intake on the day before and the day of the event. At one day out, at the meal before your last meal of the day, begin taking in small sips of water. You will no longer aim for 1/2 your body weight in ounces. Why?
Remember glycogen from earlier? Glycogen is sugar + water in muscle tissue. When you start introducing all these carbs, they have to take water with them into the muscle (about 3g water per 1g of carbohydrate), so if there is no water around, they’ll take the water floating around under your skin and in your fat. Water should be sipped only as needed through photo shoot day.
6. Waxing & Tanning
If you have unwanted hair that you don’t want showing in your pictures, you will need to get rid of it. Razor bumps will show in pictures, so you may want to skip shaving. Instead, use wax. If you’re not use to doing it yourself, you can have it done at your local salon. Call ahead of time to make your appointment. You may want to do this a few days ahead of your photoshoot as you don’t want to have any redness or irritation.
You also want to give your complexion a healthy glow, which also helps your muscles “pop” in photos. Therefore, self-tanning cream and moisturizer can be used to get that glow. If you have fair skin, you may want to begin a week ahead of time. Others may only need one application the night before the shoot. To get an even glow, you may want to exfoliate before self-tanning.
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