How to prepare and look lean for a fitness photoshoot.
Let me ask you something:
Do you aspire to do a fitness photoshoot? But maybe you’re reluctant because you don’t know how to prepare for one?
Don’t worry - that’s completely normal. To help you out, I’ve put together this quick guide. Below, we’ll go over how to get into shoot-ready conditioning and what to do in the days leading up to the session for an effective peak.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Phase 1: The Long-Term Preparation
The goal of this phase is to establish a foundation for the photoshoot. In other words, this is where the majority of your results will come from. You will need to pay attention to three things: training, nutrition, and clear goals.
The most obvious goal here is to get photoshoot-ready conditioning. Meaning, you need to drop your body fat percentage at or below ten percent. For women, the percentage could be around 13 to 16.
Depending on your current conditioning, getting to that level of leanness can take as little as six weeks or more than twenty. Be objective and set aside enough time.
Nutrition
First, the calorie deficit. You need to eat fewer calories than you burn, thus forcing your body to start burning fat. A deficit of around 500 calories per day seems to be the sweet spot between quick results and maintaining muscle mass.
Next, we have protein. This nutrient will play a vital role in helping you keep your hard-earned muscle. General guidelines recommend having around 0.8 to one gram per pound of body weight.
You should also pay attention to your nutrition’s quality and aim to consume mostly whole and minimally-processed foods. Treat yourself occasionally, but don’t make junk foods the foundation of your nutrition.
Training
Next to nutrition, your training will be the second most crucial factor. Specifically, you should emphasize resistance training and make sure to do enough work each week. This will help you retain your muscle mass and strength.
Coupled with a calorie-restricted, high-protein diet, you’ll be able to shed fat and maintain most of your muscle mass.
Aim for three to four weekly sessions, each no longer than an hour. Do around 10 to 12 sets for the larger muscles (your chest, back, and legs), and between 5 and 10 for the smaller ones - biceps, triceps, shoulders, and calves.
It’s also a good idea to include some abdominal training. This will help develop the muscles in the area better and make them more prominent, especially as you lean down.
Goals
In general, you should aim for the following:
Get below ten percent body fat - this will allow your muscles to look at their best for the photo shoot.
Aim for gradual fat loss - no more than one to 1.5 pounds per week. Any quicker and you risk losing too much muscle and strength.
Maintain (and possibly improve) your performance in the gym.
Phase 2: The Fine-Tuning
First time doing a Photoshoot? Not sure how to pose or what to do?
Download a FREE guide the takes you step by step on the process
Once you’ve gone through the long-term preparation, this phase will help you elevate your physique and peak for shoot day. You have to pay a lot more attention to details and timing here. Specifically:
‘Dryness’
One way to maximize the lean appearance is to remove as much subcutaneous water as possible. To achieve this, you first need to load up tons of water for several days. Some resources recommend up to two or three gallons per day.
In doing so, your body adjusts to eliminating water frequently. Then, around 18 to 20 hours before the shoot, cut out the water entirely. Thanks to the previous water load, you can take advantage of your body’s momentum to eliminate water, and you will continue to lose it even if you’re no longer drinking any.
Fullness
Glycogen is the complex form of carbs we store in our muscles. It’s vital to deplete the glycogen in the days leading up to the photoshoot and then load up on carbs to maximize muscle size and fullness. This will temporarily ‘overfill’ the muscles with glycogen and make them appear larger.
To achieve this, you need to perform two or three glycogen-depleting workouts several days before the photoshoot. To keep this simple, these workouts are best achieved by taking relatively simple exercises (like bicep curls, chest flyes, and dumbbell rows) and doing lots of sets and reps.
Several hours before the shoot, begin the gradual intake of carbs. The exact amounts will vary from person to person, so it’s good to experiment.
By the time of the photoshoot, glycogen will have pulled most of the remaining subcutaneous water (since a gram of glycogen pulls around three grams of water), and you will be even drier. At the same time, your muscles will also appear larger and fuller, making for impeccable photoshoot-ready conditioning.
Thank you and looking forward do working with you in the future!
Mak Freeman