5 Fitness Tips for Photographers

If it is physically challenging for you to move around and/or lug camera equipment on the streets or through the woods, perhaps you should think a bit about fitness.  Not Tour de France fitness - just photography fitness.  If it's easy for you to move around with your gear, great.  But these tips will help you keep that ease of movement long into your twilight years.  This article is not going to cover things like how much gear to carry, what bags and straps are best and so forth, we'll get to that another time.  Today, we focus on what we can do to get and stay in photography shape.

Back, legs/knees, hands/fingers, eyesight and balance are the key areas for photographers.  Let's examine them one by one;

1) Back.  If you've ever carried a camera bag around for more than one hour this needs little explanation - your back has explained it to you.  What to do?  Elvis has learned (back surgery is a good motivator) that the key to a strong and stable back is a strong stomach.  Not many of us like sit-ups or crunches but they are two of the best exercises for your back.  Recent science has shown that even better than doing simple stomach exercises to strengthen your back, is to focus on your "core" muscles.  A ten to fifteen minute regimen twice a week on these core muscle exercises will do wonders for you, your back and your photography.  For a good example of what to do and how to do them, go HERE.

2. Legs/Knees. You need good legs to get to those fabulous photography locations, as they are usually well off the shoulder of the highway.  Going for a 20-30 minute walk right out your front door is the best thing you can do to keep your legs and knees in good health.  Add some simple exercises as seen HERE and some stretches shown HERE and you will be in good shape.

3. Hands/Fingers.  Ever try to hold your camera over a ledge by grabbing the camera by hand and stretching your arm out?  Did you worry about dropping the camera?  Or have you ever dropped a camera or lens while changing lenses? Having strong hands and fingers can keep that camera safely under control (and stable).  Get a simple and inexpensive grip exerciser like THIS, and do some hand stretches like THESE.  Having a vice-like grip on your equipment makes you less vulnerable to thieves too.

4. Eyes.  Good eyes are critical for focusing and framing.  You also need good vision to see the tiny dials and settings on your camera and to read those many, many menus on the display screen.  Elvis isn't here to promise miracles for your aging and/or corrected eyesight, but doing a few, simple eye exercises can help prevent eyestrain, keep your eyes healthy and maybe even delay the inevitable loss of visual acuity.  Elvis does THESE every other day.

5. Balance.  You need good balance to carry your camera gear.  You need good balance to keep steady while handholding for a shot.  You really need good balance if you're out on the trails or in the wild.  A twisted ankle, dropped camera gear or fall off of a cliff will ruin your photography experience.  The concrete jungle poses the same hazards (Well, maybe not falling off of a cliff.  But falling off of a curb into oncoming traffic because you were unbalanced while fumbling with your camera bag is probably just as unpleasant).  To prevent these unfortunate scenarios from happening to you, take a few minutes three times a week to do THESE.  And don't be surprised if they're harder than they look.

For a bonus tip (and to justify the cycling photographs) you might also want to consider taking your old bike out for a spin.  It's the one activity that will improve each of the five areas of physical fitness that are key to photographers, as outlined above.  And it's fun!

There you have it.  Simple exercises that you can do at home or on the road that will help you enjoy your photography for many years, and maybe even well into your second century.