How to get Photo shoot lean?
Have you ever wondered how fitness models or influencers look so crazy in their photos?
How do they prepare for an upcoming photoshoot?
What kind of lighting (free lighting) is best for a photoshoot?
I used to ask myself those questions so I researched it & did it so you don’t have to.
In this article, I’m going to go over the 3 steps you need to take to get photoshoot lean & where to take the photos for the best free lighting.
You need to pick a date!
Before we hop into step one you need to pick a date for the photoshoot.
You need 7 days to prepare, so pick a date for the shoot and subtract 7 days to find your start date.
For this example, we are planning to do a photoshoot Saturday morning, so we start this prep 7 days before on the previous Saturday.
Now that you have your timeline let’s hop into step 1.
STEP ONE: Carbohydrate manipulation
The goal here is to slowly taper off carbs so your muscles become “starved” of glycogen. Then, when we reintroduce them on Friday (the day before the shoot) your muscles will super-compensate for the lack of glycogen and take in more than usual. This will give them a fuller/bigger look.
Let’s go over how you’ll do this in the 7 days leading up to the shoot:
On Saturday & Sunday, you’re going to have 75g of carbs per day.
On Monday & Tuesday, you’re going to have 50g of carbs per day.
Wednesday & Thursday, only carbs from veggies (20-30g), no fruit.
Friday (the day before the shoot & carb up day): 600-800g carbs: start w fruit to replenish liver glycogen then move on to oats & whole grain/complex carbs sources.
Keep protein to around 0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight and minimal fat.
Saturday (shoot day): Eat some fast-digesting carbs like a bag of Haribo Peaches then before you pump up for the shoot (we’ll talk about that during step 3) have 1 large snickers bar because of its fast-digesting carbs, low fat & some sodium.
If you’re confused now, keep reading, you’ll see why this all ties together after step 3.
STEP two: water manipulation
Here we are going to be chugging tons of water for 6 days and then abruptly lowering it for a day.
Your body craves homeostasis so when you chug all this water for multiple days your body is going to get rid of it even when you abruptly stop drinking water.
Doing this paired with the carb manipulation will help to achieve that skin-tight, shrink wrap look.
What that will look like:
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday: 6-7 Liters a day.
Wednesday & Thursday: 8-10 Liters a day.
Friday: 8 ounces or less.
Saturday morning shoot day: Drink only when necessary ~ 1-4 ounces max.
STEP three: depletion workouts
The last step that ties everything together.
Glycogen depletion workouts.
The whole purpose of these workouts is to deplete any remaining glycogen that your muscles are holding.
Then, when you carb up your muscles will super-compensate for the lack of glycogen.
Your workouts will be Monday, Wednesday, & Friday. F
Full body each day: (ss = superset)
Chest Press - SS - Lat Pulldown 5 x 12-20
Leg Extensions - SS - Leg Curl 5 x 12-20
Cable Pushdowns - SS - Cable Curl 5 x 12-20
Lateral Raises - SS - Rear Delt Raises 5 x 12 - 20
And then before your shoot, you’ll want to ‘pump up’ to look your best.
Make sure not to do any abdominal or leg exercises before your shoot workout as this will make them lose definition.
Saturday pump up workout:
Chest press - SS - Lateral Raises 3-5 sets x 15 - 20 reps
DB Curl - SS - Tricep Pushdowns 3-5 sets x 15 - 20 reps
Optional: add in a few sets of lat pulldowns or rows.
Lighting & Location
The best lighting is overhead.
This means you standing under a strong light source.
If you want to do a photoshoot outside you’ll want to aim for a 10 am-3 pm shoot so the sun is at a good angle.
Or you can bring a light source and shoot at night, or stand under a street light.
Although strange & I’ve never done it… it could work.
If you want to shoot inside as I did…
You’ll want to stand directly under any source of light, this could be a bulb/lamp, anything!
This will help to create contrast and strong shadows that will help make your physique look better than it is.
After that the only editing you’ll want to play around with is brightness, tweaking the brightness down can help emphasize the shadows more.
*Disclaimer: None of this will do much if you’re not already lean (have exposed abs). To get the most out of this you’ll want to go through a proper fat loss phase & then do this at the end of your cut.
Thank you for reading or watching!
I hope this has helped you and if it has…
Please let me know via email! tedgormanpt@gmail.com
Also, if you have any questions about what we talked about today…
Email me, I’d love to answer your questions and give you some advice 🤝
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Talk soon,
-Ted :)
