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Turning The Camera On Your Fitness: The Powerful Tool For Progress And Motivation · Your Strongest Body

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: You are listening to your strongest body.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Betsy Foster, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and certified nutrition coach.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: I've worked as a personal trainer for over a decade, helping people build strength, speed, muscles, as well as a deep appreciation for their bodies and confidence that helps them live their life to the fullest.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Now I'm sharing what I know with you fitness, nutrition and all the deeper stuff to help you discover your strongest body.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Hello, hello, welcome back to another episode of your Strongest Body, back after a holiday break.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving if you celebrate.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: If you don't, I hope you had a great week.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I'm excited to be back.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Today is going to be a short one.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: I believe it's going to be short.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: As I start these out, I think, okay, I can't possibly talk for a long time about this, and then I seem to go on and on and on because I have more things to say about a given topic.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: But today's, I believe, will be pretty short, pretty actionable for you and may push you a little outside of your comfort zone, but I believe that it is going to wildly change your experience with working out, with your fitness goals, with everything.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: So go with me here.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: This is the one thing I wish more people did to help them reach their fitness goals, to help them cultivate a sense of appreciation and pride in what they achieve in the gym, and that is recording yourself doing exercises.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Now go with me here.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: If you are cringing at that thought, know that you are not alone.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I used to be a person who thought how in the world does anyone record themselves?
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: And now I walk around with a phone camera permanently recording most things I do in the gym, but I also take breaks from it and I enjoy movements and reps and things without the camera.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: But what I'm talking about here is not recording to create a social media presence, to become an influencer, to do any of that.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: What I'm talking about here is creating an archive for yourself of the steps in the process.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: There are lots of advantages to having a visual representation of what you're doing in the gym.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: So I can't tell you how many times with my clients I say I wish I had a video of you doing this two years ago, because you would love to see how greatly improved this is, whether it be improved balance, whether it be increased range of motion, whether it be you actually are able to do this exercise now, where you were struggling to do it before, or the ease with which you're moving heavier weight.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: I want people to be able to appreciate how far they've come.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: And it's hard to do when you are the person A doing the exercise.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: So you're focused on the mechanics, you're focused on the cues that you need to be thinking about.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: You can't be necessarily focusing on where you were a year ago, a month ago.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: You can't be focusing on that in the moment.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Also, it's surprising and I say you, but I mean all of us have kind of poor self-perception and poor, I guess, proprioceptive awareness around what our bodies look like when we're doing exercises.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: So the tool that recording yourself can be is both for movement improvement, so you can start with something, look at it, look at your recording and then see exactly what it is that you're doing and be able to manipulate from there.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Oh, I see that I'm doing this, I wanna be doing this.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Now that I have that in my mind's eye, I might be able to make that change.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: But also it serves as an opportunity to see when those changes have happened.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: So I've put a lot of effort into elongating my spine or I've put a lot of effort into dropping my hips sooner or trying to get lower to the ground, and then you see that improvement from the recording.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: But the only way you can see it and the only way you can track it is if you actually have those recordings.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: So I think a lot of people who are camera shy, who maybe are a little fixated when the camera is on them, when they are recording, they're fixated on what they see as things they would like to change about how their body looks in that moment, and I wanna validate those feelings.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: I wanna let you know that that's totally natural.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: We are constantly surprised by our image when we see it back, whether it be in a photo, whether it be in a video, and that is because there are so many things going into how we view a photo, as well as how we view ourselves and our own self-perception.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: So if you are struggling with difficult thoughts around body image or even maybe they don't take up a lot of time for you or space for you normally, but you are faced with them as soon as you see an image or a video, and it's one of the tools in which you sort of manage your body image is not to take a ton of pictures or not, to record yourself a lot.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: I want to validate that and say if that's something that helps you, by all means continue to do it.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: But if you feel like you could step out on a limb here, record yourself.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: With the idea that this is not about a before or after body shot, this is about a here's where I am today.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: How can I archive this so I can see where I am six months from now, a year from now?
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: And it's not about necessarily.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: It could be about how your body looks, if that's something that you're trying to track.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: But it also is about how you're performing the movement, how you are moving the weight, the ease on your face when you do the exercise.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: What was hard before is easy to do later.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: So I think if those, if the idea of having yourself filmed is part of what's holding you up, I want to ask you to try to challenge that and realize that this can be such a tool for celebration.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: And I think we have a hard time realizing that oftentimes, when we get to that later point, as time progresses, we forget or we become.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Our feelings about our body in a given moment become distorted, everything that we are perceiving about ourselves to a certain extent is distorted.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: So should we sacrifice the opportunity to track our progress because we have, in this moment, a frustration around the distortion which we're creating in our mind about our bodies and maybe it's not all distortion.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: I want you to just think about whether or not you're able to set that aside and take that video Now.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: Also, I want you to think about if you can take this video.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: It doesn't have to go up online.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: It does not have to go out to your friends.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: You do not have to share it with anyone.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: This could entirely be for personal use.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: You could also share it with your coach or trainer.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: I have clients who take videos and upload their videos on the app that I use to program for them.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: This is a great tool in the app, it's true coach.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: In the app it actually saves these videos under the exercise that you did it, and so when you go back and you click exercise history, you can see all the weights you did.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: But if you took videos, you can also see the videos that you have and what it is.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: It's its own scrapbook, its own tracking device of your progress over time.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: That's an incredible opportunity because that is how you see that progress.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Our minds are wired to be thinking about what's next, to be thinking about what we're doing in this moment, and it's hard to remember how difficult something was before, or it's hard to remember necessarily that this didn't come as easily before.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: And if you have that record in on video, what a tremendous treat.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: It allows you to celebrate a little easier.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: It gives you the perspective that you're looking for.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: That sometimes is hard to just recall from memory alone.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Any of these videos are just a moment in time as well.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: So if the hang up is about having this video, this moment is going to be over soon and the next moment is coming.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: And part of what is incredible about a fitness or exercise journey is that we're always moving forward one little step at a time, and so you won't be who you were yesterday the next day.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: It might not.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: It may be imperceptible the change at that point and the day to day change may be imperceptible.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: That is why having that video is such an incredible treat to actually then be able to see the change, because what was imperceptible to you in the moment is now a huge change over time.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Again, I'm trying to do a better job of it with my clients these days, because three years ago, four years ago, when I did not record anybody, I've had these huge triumphs with clients, these incredible.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: They have done so many things that they couldn't do before and what a cool thing to be able to actually have record of that physical feat, that transformation.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: And again, I'm not talking necessarily only about the physical appearance aspect, I'm really talking about performance changes.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: Both are valid and both can be captured by these videos over time.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: I just think that people forget about what the performance aspect of it.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: They forget that a video could show the ease that has come with this exercise Again, the increased range of motion, more weight, better mechanics, all of those kinds of things.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: If you are able to look at videos in real time, you can also get good feedback.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: So if you're working out on your own, you don't have a trainer being able to record yourself is such a good tool because, like I said before, your perception of yourself may be a little off in terms of your thinking about doing the exercise.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: I think this is what I'm doing.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: When I see it, I notice X, y or Z, and if you're needing help from someone, then you have a video to say this is what I'm doing.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Can you help me with this?
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Again, you don't have to share the video with anybody if you don't want to.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: It can be entirely for your personal record, but it's great tool if you're working with a coach or trainer, to have things recorded.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: So let me approach this part of the conversation, which is I'll look foolish if I'm recording myself.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: If you work out at home, the great news is you don't have to think about it at all If you work out in a gym space or anything like that.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: I want to validate those feelings.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: It feels so weird at first to record yourself.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: That does begin to fade and more people are recording themselves at any time.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Now that has its own sort of challenges to it, because you want to be aware of people in the space.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: You want to make sure no one is being recorded.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: That doesn't want to be recorded.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: If someone is in your line of sight, you can always say I'm recording this for myself, just to be able to see how I'm doing this.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: I promise you're not in the background, or I promise I'm not sharing this or whatever kind of conversation you want to have If you are concerned that people have something to say or to think about you filming yourself.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: I want to say I'm sorry that that feels that way.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry that we are constantly thinking about how others are judging us or perceiving us.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: I feel that way too.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying I am above that or don't feel those things.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: I have sort of worked on it and I have less hangups about what people think about what I'm doing in the gym.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: But that also comes from the fact that I feel very comfortable in that space.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: It is my chosen profession.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: It is my chosen area of expertise.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: It's not necessarily an uncomfortable spot for me.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: I'm conventionally someone who is seen as a gym person.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: It's not.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: It is easier if you feel like there's a difference.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: I understand People are going to think what they think.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: I think less people are judging than we believe in our minds.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Maybe I'm wrong about that, maybe I'm right about that, I don't know.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: But people are going to think what they think.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: Let's let them.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Let's let them and let's get the most out of what we're doing to help reach our fitness goals, to get what we need out of the gym.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: You have the same membership.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: You paid, I imagine, the same amount or the appropriate rate for yourself.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: You can do that.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Start small, start with what you know.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: You don't have to record everything.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: You can record one set of one exercise and you can slide that camera in the corner on the floor and, even if it's not the perfect angle, you're not posting it.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: You're using it for your ability to measure changes over time or to give you feedback for your performance.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: So just start small, start small, go with a friend and ask each other to record if that is something that helps.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Whatever kind of sort of way you can dip your toes into the water, remembering you don't have to share these with anybody.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: You don't have to post them on the internet.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: They can go in a folder on your phone that you don't even look at.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: But I guarantee you, as you start to get stronger, as you start to achieve things, or when you're wondering why am I doing all this, why am I putting all this effort in what an incredible tool and gift that you can look back and see the difference.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: You can see it and that's going to be so cool.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm going to end there.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: I want you to ease into the recording.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: I want you to try it, though.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: If you could do anything this week.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Try and record just one set of one exercise.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: I think you can do it.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Let me know how it goes.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: As always, I am grateful that you're here.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: If you are loving the show or getting something out of it, please rate and review.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: I also want to remind you that I'm doing a series of freebies for the first 12 days of December the 12 days of fitness just for anybody on my email list.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: So if you're not on my email list and want to be, you can go to my website, befosterstrongcom, and join the newsletter.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: You can send me an email and ask to be added to the list, or you can send me an Instagram DM.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: It's at foster, underscore strength.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: These are going to be just a free gift every day for those first 12 days of December Recipes, workouts, stretches, lots of things that I just want to give to you so you can have the best end of your year, best start to your year, and show my appreciation for everybody that is on that list.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: All right, thank you, as always, for listening.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Reach out if you need anything, go, build your strongest body and I'll talk to you next time.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Bye.