Before and after pictures are a key part of the personal training process but they can often be very misleading and deceptive.

Here's how to take good quality progress pictures to properly assess the improvements you have made in your physique. 

How to take good progress pictures

🔹Take photos from the front, side and back. This one is fairly straight forward. These 3 angles let us get a good overall gauge of progress when compared to the same positions later on.

🔹Use the same lighting, pose and location. Consistency is key here. Perhaps most importantly when it comes to pose. How often have you seen before pictures with people standing normally contrasted to after pictures where they are doing a muscular pose and sucking their stomach in or twisting their hips to make their bum look bigger?

This doesn't showcase progress and can be very misleading, especially for others trying to assess what is possible or the quality of the personal trainer's work. Be very critical when looking at before and after pictures to avoid being mislead and do your best to avoid falling into this trap with your own pictures by keeping the lighting, location and pose you use as similar to the original set of pictures you take as is possible.

🔹Take the photos in your underwear. This ensures as much of your physique as possible can be seen and thus a better measure of progress achieved.

Shorts or tight fitting clothing can be another good option if taking pictures in your underwear makes you feel particularly uncomfortable.

🔹Stand with a normal relaxed pose. Try to avoid things such as sucking your stomach in, tensing your muscles or using an unnatural position.

As discussed above, this offers a proper assessment of progress, anything else and you are most likely misleading yourself and others.

🔹Take photos at the start of the process and at regular intervals thereafter. It goes without saying that it is important to take before pictures at the very start of the process before your body starts changing to fully asses your progress later on.

Taking pictures at regular intervals, every 2-4 weeks for instance, allows you to keep an eye on how your physique is changing and may guide decisions and indeed motivation throughout the process.

Consistency is key

It may not be entirely possible to tick all of the boxes mentioned above. For example, it might be difficult to use the same lighting if you take your pictures in an area where there is natural light, which can obviously vary depending on the weather.

However, try and ensure there is as much consistency as possible between the pictures you take and you will be on the right path.

Start your own transformation

Take a look at our Personal Training Glasgow Transformations page to see what is possible and if you want to undergo your own transformation drop us a message.

Happy training team!