by Michael Plank
When people come to us with a body composition goal (probably 95% of the people we talk to) – either losing body fat or gaining muscle – we encourage them to take progress pictures. Not with us… just privately, for themselves.
Very few people are excited about doing that. Which I get. If you’re looking to change body composition, it’s probably because you’re unhappy with what it’s like right now. And so very few people actually take those pictures.
And that’s fine. You don’t need to take pictures for training to work. And while progress pictures can be a great tool, just like anything, they’re not for everyone. And occasionally, they may even feel counter-productive. If you think pictures will put you in a bad headspace, then by all means, skip them.
But I will say that I can’t tell you how many times I hear someone say: “I wish I had a picture from when I started!”
You don’t ever have to show progress pictures to anyone. But here’s what I think are best practices for progress pictures…
- Wear the same clothes every time. Wear as little as you’re comfortable with, knowing that this picture will exist in a digital universe.
- Get consistent lighting. Daylight pictures, nighttime pictures, lights on, lights off, all will look different.
- Stand in the same place and have your camera in the same place.
- Position your camera so it’s directly facing you. Right about belly button height from 4-8 feet away tends to be close to ideal.
- Keep your body position the same. If you’re relaxed, be relaxed every time. If you’re flexing, flex every time.
- Get front, side, and rear angles
- Tag the photos with the date, or upload them into a tracking app
Then, like I said, don’t ever show them to a soul if you don’t want to. But as the scale changes or the measurements change or the biometric scan changes or the clothes fit differently, take some new pictures and compare. You’re not looking for perfection, you’re looking at how far you’ve come.
And there’s something about the visual side-by-side that can be pretty dang fun to see.