Keeping Fit for Wedding Photography
In a time gone mad due to coronavirus, I’m stuck inside the confines of my home and garden. I have time to reflect on the importance of keeping fit for weddings.
We, wedding photographers, are not training for sporting events, fights or marathons. But in all honesty, if you are not keeping fit for photographing weddings, then you’re missing a trick.
Why Keep Fit for Photographing Weddings?
I’ve heard it referred to as a wedding hangover. That body ache and headache often follows a long day shooting a wedding. It can ruin your family time on a Sunday if all you have the energy for is sitting on the couch.
What it really is, is your body getting a shock after a week of sitting around in the office. Our work schedule is weird. We run around for one or two days a week, then hardly move during the week when we run our business. Editing photos, managing clients, writing content, all of these things are sedentary practices.
The hangover, like a real one, is also quite often from dehydration so make sure you keep getting water (or whatever) when shooting.
So, if being more active and keeping fit helps prevent the wedding hangover, what can we do?
Ways of Keeping Fit for Weddings
Or anything really. Just, you know, keeping fit for the sake of it…
Make it a Habit
I started martial arts when I was 13, back in 1993. That was the same year I got my first real camera, a Minolta x700. I started training and since then, the longest I stopped was about 6 months. It has become a habit for me and if I don’t go training, I’m not happy.
I also train at home every day. A bit of practice, a bit of exercise.
Schedule It In
Expect to do your exercise and don’t just let it happen. If you keep a diary then put it in. I know that during this isolation period, Monday to Friday means family exercise with Joe Wicks. The workouts are fairly easy and enjoyable. I also know when I’ll be training karate with Tameside Karate or Kung Fu with Northern Dragons. I can’t get out and train with my friends but I can still train with them via Zoom. Keeping those friendships is vital.
Train With People You Like
If you train with people you get on with, it doesn’t feel like a chore. I train with people I like and socialise with them when I can. At both the martial arts schools I have mentioned I felt welcome from the start and quickly made friends. These are people you will share your training struggles with, who keep you going when you are tired and keep you coming back. If you don’t enjoy it you will give up.
Do What You Enjoy
I hate going to the gym but I love going to a martial arts class and getting stuck in, so that’s what I do. Choose an activity you like, and a club with people you click with, and training is easy.
Set Reminders
With the kids off school, I don’t need reminders to get up and move around. They find me. In normal times though, it can really help to set a recurring alarm on your phone to remind you to get up and move around. Every hour or so is fine. I know that when I am focusing on a project, I can sit in front of my PC for hours and not notice until I get up, so I need a reminder.
So, get active, do what you enjoy and make a habit of it. Sure, you can go even further and look at sensible nutrition too, but let us keep life enjoyable 🤗
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