{"id":110104,"date":"2018-08-16T15:46:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T22:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=110104"},"modified":"2018-08-16T15:47:25","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T22:47:25","slug":"why-photographers-should-deadlift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/16\/why-photographers-should-deadlift\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Photographers Should Deadlift"},"content":{"rendered":"

To me, powerlifting and deadlifting<\/a> is my zen meditation. Not only that, but powerlifting and deadlifting has taught me \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I have no limits.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some reasons how powerlifting has benefitted me, and how it may benefit you:<\/p>\n

\n

1. Mood<\/h2>\n

Powerlifting has benefitted me in so many ways. First of all, my mood.<\/p>\n

I don’t think mood is the same thing as happiness. For example, I can be “happy” about my life, but in a shitty mood. If I get into a scuffle with Cindy, I’m in a bad mood. If I am jetlagged or tired, I am in a bad mood.<\/p>\n

But whenever I hit the gym and lift heavy stuff (Deadlift, Squats, Dumbbell press) or when I do bodyweight exercises (pull-ups, dips, planches) it instantly boosts my mood. I feel more energetic, positive, and vigorous!<\/p>\n

Not only that, but I read something from Nassim Taleb about some research that showed that people who regularly lifted weights had more stable mood levels. Something like this:<\/p>\n

\n If you workout regularly (regardless if you’re a man or woman) you have increased testosterone levels. And if you have increased testosterone levels in your bloodstream, you’re actually less <\/i>likely to be aggressive. Apparently it is people with lower testosterone levels who actually have more irregular moods.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anyways this is theory, but I know from my personal experience this:<\/p>\n

\n When I regularly powerlift or just came back from a new “one rep max” from deadlifting, I’m more calm.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For example, if I hear some bad news or learn that I’ve had some sort of financial downturn, I don’t feel that anxious or worried. When I get into a fight with Cindy, I don’t get that angry.<\/p>\n

However when I’ve gone long periods without working out, I get more easily anxious, angry, paranoid, stressed, and scared.<\/p>\n

So two theories about working out when it comes to mood:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Working out improves your mood: During and after your workout, and this “high” lasts easily for an entire day.<\/li>\n
  2. If you regularly powerlift or workout, your mood is more steady throughout the day and week.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    2. Powerlifting vs weightlifting<\/h2>\n

    Honestly it doesn’t matter if you “powerlift” or “weightlift”. Just lift heavy stuff, and push your limits.<\/p>\n

    Essentially what you must do is this:<\/p>\n

    \n Push your muscles beyond <\/i>failure.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    This means when you’re lifting heavy stuff at the gym, when you don’t think you can do any more repetitions, try to grind out 2-3 more reps, or try to do 25% more <\/i>repetitions than you think you’re capable of!<\/p>\n

    My simple approach with powerlifting (Deadlift, squat, dumbbell press) is this:<\/p>\n

    \n Every week, try to add 5 pounds to my maximum “one rep max”.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    That means if last week I deadlifted 365 pounds for 1 repetition, this week I will try to do 370 pounds (adding the small 2.5 pound plates to each side of the barbell).<\/p>\n

    In powerlifting, increasing your “one rep max” is essential. Why?<\/p>\n

    First of all, it’s more fun. Lifting weights is boring if you don’t challenge and stress and test your strength! For me powerlifting is all about,<\/p>\n

    \n “I wonder if I’m strong enough to lift this off the ground?”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    When I deadlift, I feel like I’m going “Super Saiyan” like Goku from Dragon Ball Z. When I’m attempting a new “one rep max”, my mind and consciousness goes blank for a moment. It’s the closest thing to an “out of body experience” you can have (without taking LSD or mushrooms).<\/p>\n

    \n

    3. Confidence in street photography<\/h2>\n

    This is another unintended (positive) consequence of working out: you feel less afraid and more confident when shooting street photography!<\/p>\n

    Having more muscle mass, I feel less physically intimidated by people. Especially if I shoot a street photograph of an aggressive male; I’m less likely to back down or feel frightened. Having muscle mass, strength, and self confidence; I won’t be punked or bullied by guys who are often bigger than me.<\/p>\n

    It is true that if you lift heavy stuff, and you know<\/i> that you can lift heavy stuff, you’re more self confident, and less scared of others. Because I know if push comes to shove, I could hold myself down in a fist fight, or at least know I can take a punch. I used to do backyard boxing with my friends in high school, and to be honest, taking a punch doesn’t hurt that<\/i> much (I’ve got knocked unconscious and had a few head concussions, which built character).<\/p>\n

    Anyways regardless if you’re a male or female, working our gives you more physical and mental strength.<\/p>\n

    I think all street photographers should deadlift to build their confidence, and feel less fear when shooting in the streets!<\/p>\n

    4. Productivity<\/h2>\n

    After I have a vigorous workout in the morning, my energy levels are elevated for the entire day. I have more energy, focus, and strength to do creative work! I’m more productive with blogging, writing, editing photos, processing videos, etc.<\/p>\n

    Also if your body is stronger, you can obviously have more endurance as a photographer! The ability to carry heavy camera equipment, walk long distances, squat down for low angle photos, or run around if you need to get a certain shot!<\/p>\n

    \n

    Conclusion<\/h2>\n

    I believe all photographers can benefit from building physical strength. That can mean powerlifting (Deadlift, squat, benchpress\/dumbbell press), street gym workouts (pull-ups and dips at the local park), or yoga or whatever you enjoy. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female; we all benefit and profit.<\/p>\n

    BE STRONG(ER)!<\/p>\n

    ERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    To me, powerlifting and deadlifting is my zen meditation. Not only that, but powerlifting and deadlifting has taught me \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I have no limits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/eric-kim-icon-muscle-1.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110104"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110176,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110104\/revisions\/110176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}