I used to feel awkward and self conscious pointing a camera at myself at the gym. My thoughts went something like: I’m no selfie-obsessed influencer. What are people thinking of me? But I’ve had a change of heart: I now whip out my pocket-sized tripod to video myself at least once every workout, and my lifts are better for it.
Before we get into how, let's talk about why. There are very good reasons to film yourself lifting.
Better feedback than a mirror
It's also good to learn to use video for technique adjustments rather than looking in a mirror. While a mirror is fine for, say, bicep curls or lateral raises, you'll want to learn to lift without one if you have any interest in powerlifting, weightlifting, or crossfit (and those gyms almost never have mirrors.) Twisting your head to look at yourself can mess up your body position, and paying attention to how you look in the mirror can interrupt your focus. Not to mention, your perspective in a mirror changes as your body moves. You're not actually getting an accurate view of your squat depth with a mirror, but a good video will tell you the truth.
Even for something as subjective as RPE (rating your “perceived exertion”), video helps. I remember, years ago, getting feedback from my online coaches that my “RPE 8” deadlifts looked too easy. So I looked at other people’s RPE 8 deadlifts, and there was a clear difference in effort. Comparing my videos to theirs helped me dial in the effort level I was really going for.
How to take a good lifting video
Use a tripod
Leaning your phone against something on the floor may work in a pinch, but you can’t actually see much from a badly distorted video taken from a worm’s-eye view. (If there's a bench or chair available, put your water bottle on the bench and lean your phone against it.) I'll say more about equipment below, but a selfie stick tripod like this one is an easy option. It extends to about waist height and can stand by itself on the gym floor. It also collapses small enough to fit in your gym bag or even your sweatshirt pocket.
And, yes, you do want to put your phone on on some kind of object (tripod or otherwise) rather than having a friend hold the phone. Hand-held videos tend to be harder to watch. If the person walks around you or adjusts the zoom while you're lifting, that's incredibly distracting and often cuts off important information. Even if they just stand still, there's often still enough movement to be a problem.
Erligpowht Extendable Selfie Stick $14.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $14.99 at AmazonFor similar reasons, you’ll want to get your entire body in the frame. Especially if you’re showing your video to a coach or friend for a form check, they’ll want to see everything that might affect your lift—including, for example, your feet.
Check the lighting and position before you start
But once you begin, ignore the camera. Do your lift as you normally would—look in the mirror only if that’s what you always do—and then don’t look at the camera again until after you complete the lift.
You need to take a few minutes’ rest between sets anyway, so use that time to trim your videos. On iPhone, just begin watching the video, hit pause, and then hit Edit. You can trim the start and end of the video right from that screen, and then choose whether to overwrite the original file or save the trimmed version as its own copy. (Choose the new file if you think you might want to refer to your setup later; otherwise, trimming the original is fine.)
That's why I've recently switched to tripods that have a MagSafe style mount, like this one. If your phone has this type of magnet in the back, your life gets so much easier. Just snap your phone onto the magnet and it stays—no adjusting for the width or thickness of the phone.
I do have a phone holder that can magnet onto a nearby machine or squat rack, but I have mixed feelings about it. If you can find a squat rack that's positioned the perfect distance away from where you're working out, and nobody is using it, great. (Make sure the phone holder is one you can angle toward you, not just a flat magnet.) But usually there's nothing in quite the right place, and you're left with a worse angle than if you were using the bench-and-water-bottle trick. I use mine in my home gym, where I have a metal post in a convenient spot. I don't find it useful when I go to a commercial gym.
Gym etiquette when taking video
Keep others out of frame
As much as possible, position your camera so that other people aren't in the video (or at least not their faces). You definitely shouldn't post a video publicly with other people in it, but even if the video is for your private use, people may notice that they're on camera and feel weird about it.
Using the gym takes precedence over filming
We've all seen those TikToks where somebody gets mad at a passer-by for walking into the frame. I'm convinced that most of those videos are faked (outrage gets engagement), but obviously you do not want to be that person. Working out in a space takes precedence over using your camera there. That said, if the place is busy, just communicate like a normal human being. I train at a gym where people commonly film themselves, and everybody is very friendly about making space for each other. Someone might even offer to share their tripod.
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