Workout to Improve Your Landscape Photography
If you’ve spent time photographing landscapes, chances are that you’ve been lured up into the mountains, enticed by grand vistas, requiring you to haul your gear over miles and up elevation to make your photographs. If you’ve found yourself up in thinner air before, chances are that you’ve also found yourself utterly spent by the time you’ve reached your location, with the physical drain threatening to put a real damper on your creative abilities. This can chip away at enthusiasm, and increase the number of distractions for making art, yielding less results in your photographs.
Sure, the effort of getting up there in and of itself can help you build your strength up better for the next time, but this only goes so far, and isn’t something that most people do in enough frequency to continue seeing performance (endurance, strength) increases past the short term.
Whether you are looking to get out into more effortful to reach locations for the first time, or are looking to push your boundaries further, I’d like to share two recommendations for physical fitness to train yourself. The potential results being that you can weather more physically demanding hikes to locations, having enough strength in reserve to not be destroyed (or at least to bounce back more easily), and therefore still have energy to more comfortably enter a creative state, and create better photographs.
These can be trained without anything else, or added to a larger training program if you have additional goals. If you’re unsure of how to program your training, I recommend working with a personal trainer to gain experience. These recommendations are generalized, but you may have unique restrictions and needs. Consult the advice of your doctor or a relevant professional.
Bulgarian Split Squats
It should be no surprise that leg strength should be top of mind, and Bulgarian split squats are an excellent, if not ruthless, way of building your legs. I’ve heard this move also commonly called the “rear foot elevated split squat” or the RFESS. Here’s a look at this movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh6JRbQs-4I (and here’s a bit more commentary on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLEyaXRMv8o )
These squats have a lot going for them:
In terms of movement specificity, they have a lot of potential carryover to the physical action of hiking up (and down) rugged terrain
Due to the high range of motion at both the hip and the knee, they can hammer both your glutes and your quads
They don’t require much specialized equipment, and are quick to setup
They can be easily progressed (or regressed) adding or subtracting weight using dumbbells
Because they isolate one leg at a time, they can help balance out any strength or stability differences between your legs
They also really isolate just your front leg, making it difficult to “cheat” through the moment by overly assisting with your back leg
The downside of these is that they can be brutal, and deliciously painful (is that a downside?). They can be a lot if you aren’t used to training your legs, even without weights. If you’re struggling, you can try some break outs for a while to lead up to the Bulgarians. Two options to consider might be:
Positioning yourself near a squat rack, rig, or any sturdy upright where you can anchor a resistance band or TRX band in front/above you so that you can use your arms to pull on the band, reducing the intensity of the squat. You could also do this by positioning yourself next to a table or a similar raised, sturdy surface so you can press on it with a hand/arm when you need an assist.
Working up your strength first, using the benefit of both legs, on movements like the box squat and goblet squat
With any strength training, here are some general tips to keep in mind
Intensity - It can be helpful to consider how much weight you expect when lugging your gear around. However much weight is typically in your pack… 20 Lb... 30 Lb… 40 Lb… you should aim to build up to and train above and beyond that weight when loading your split squats so that you can more easily handle the intensity of your pack weight for longer periods of time.
Progressive Overload - This is the concept that your body will adapt to stress (exercise) by growing stronger in response, which will require you to train with some mixture of higher volume and intensity in order to continue seeing results. Keep at least a general sense of how many sets, reps, and at what intensities you’re performing your exercises.
Frequency - Working out a body part or set of muscles once a week may provide results for a period of time, but at some point, as you increase your volume as part of your progressive overload, it can become advantageous to train those parts or muscles twice a week so that you can keep a realistic volume for a single workout (so you’re not cramming 8 sets of split squats into a single workout, for example, which would not likely be high quality sets due to the fatigue).
Sleep and nutrition - Proper amounts and quality of sleep and calories go a long way to ensure you continue seeing results from your training. Without these, you are likely to see less or stalled out results, and more injuries.
Weighted Walks
I think an important element of bearing a bunch of camera gear around is just simply becoming more resilient to the pack itself, its diminishing effects on different parts of your body as you wear it for miles at a time. It can be a brutal strain on aspects of your body like your feet, your joint stability, and your general endurance. In terms of training specificity, if you are trying to increase your performance for packing weight around, well, training by packing weight around can be very impactful.
Most photographers that are going on hikes to reach photographic locations likely don’t have the schedule flexibility to be hiking in enough frequency for that alone to provide the progressive overload (just like with split squats) to see continued results for their endurance beyond the short term. But many photographers, perhaps you, and certainly myself (thanks to having two dogs in my family that force me routinely out of the house) have the opportunity to go on walks closer to home during the week, or even sneak away for short hikes at times. Between your bigger planned hikes and trips, you can amp up these more routine walks so that they better help to prepare you.
Whether you’re walking around your neighborhood, or a local park, try weighting yourself down to increase the intensity, and then over time (per the concept of progressive overload) increase your mileage, your weight, or both. A couple ways you can do this are:
Dumbbells/weights in a backpack – if you have some home fitness equipment, like dumbbells or don’t mind absconding with a couple weights from your local gym then you can load those into a backpack to wear while you’re on your walks. If you don’t have dumbbells, you could find anything in your house that offers some weight and would be safe to pack. It’s good to keep track of how much weight you’re using, so if you aren’t using something standardized like a dumbbell or weight plate, then (if you have one) weigh the objects your using on a scale so you can get an idea. Also try stuffing some towels below and around your chosen weights in your backpack to not only reduce the wear and tear on the fabric in your pack, but to also keep the weights from prodding you in the back or hips. If you are looking for something fancier, you can also consider some of the dedicated weight plate solutions meant for weighing down packs, such as the GORUCK products. Which ever variant you go with of weighting your backpack, this route can be good for longer walks and hikes you sneak in during the week since a backpack offers additional storage for snacks and little supplies, and if your backpack has a good waist strap it can increase the comfort of your exercise.
Weight vests – another option that is potentially more streamlined, but perhaps better for shorter walks, is a weight vest. These can be a bit more convenient, in that you can just don a weight vest and go, rather than carefully pack and cushion an assortment of weights in a backpack. Many of the options you’ll find for sale online also come with small pouches attached so you can carry essentials, and there are certainly options out there that don’t look like an armored vest, or tactical vest, if you are concerned with putting out certain vibes on neighborhood walks. Here’s an example of one I’ve used (specifically the 30Lb one). The downside of many weight vests is that they don’t typically have the best waist straps, or ergonomics for anchoring the weight more at your waist, as compared to many typical backpacks. Therefore, you may find weight vests to be less comfortable over longer distances, biting into your shoulders more, or at least requiring more time to acclimate to the feeling of the vest. Still, I think weight vest are excellent, if not – for me – preferable to backpacks on shorter stints.
While simple, these were a huge game changer for my partner and I when we’ve prepared for longer, multi-day backpacking trips. The results being that I was able to complete 40+ mile trips, with enough strength and endurance to feel energized to explore areas along the way, take spur trails to reach higher vistas, and make photographs I otherwise would have missed out on if I was hampered by recovery and exhaustion. Adding in weighted walks, or converting your existing walks during the week to weighted ones, can add up even if you aren’t always doing extensive mileage.
Just like with any exercise, you may have certain restrictions or needs to consider. If you have pain, a history of pain or injury, or are uncertain on certain aspects of exercise, definitely consult with a medical professional, or in the least a personal trainer who can give more individualized guidance.
As a photographer, you may not be actively pursuing specific fitness goals, but if you are interested in expanding your abilities to discover and reach new locations, while having the strength and endurance to fuel your creativity when you’re out there, then I’d suggest adding these exercises into a routine. Your physical abilities certainly can play a role in your creative ones. Happy trails.