Filmmaking Fitness: Stay Healthy and On Set

Filmmaking Fitness has been overlooked by cast and crew for long enough. It’s time to take care of your body!

• You are a Director of Photography.
• You work on film sets for months at a time.
• You’re one of the key roles on set.
• You have hundreds of crew members who rely on you for direction to make the movie as good as it possibly can be.
• So what happens when you get sick?

Well…You can’t get sick. Period.

If you take a day off, they can’t just bring someone in like a game of Ice Hockey where there is a seemingly never-ending line of suited-up players ready to hit the ice.

You set the whole tone of the movie, the colors, the lighting, the feel, and the shots are yours. So, with Health and Fitness being my niche, I felt compelled to write this article giving you the greatest “hidden secret” to becoming a better filmmaker. Taking care of your Filmmaking Fitness!

You are all filmmakers and are all hopefully using Hurlbut Academy to become even better at your craft. How many of you actually focus on wellness, ways to stay healthy, and relieve stress?

Here’s the fact: Shane has never had a day off in his life!

I’m going to take the credit for that. He is my husband and wellness guinea pig! Since being together from our teens, I have put him through many meditations, workouts, visualizations, supplements, and quirky ideas. Shane has been very good about trying everything – don’t get me wrong, he gives me a hard time for it all (though he secretly loves it).

We all take health for granted until we are sick

We tend to focus obsessively on what is wrong with our bodies. Maybe we call the doctor to get pills. And we steam, drink lots of tea, and make soup our staple diet for weeks. Why? Because we wait until the last minute and nuke our bodies with hopeful remedies.

However, imagine if you focused on preventing illness in the first place. Stress causes you to become sick. Understanding ways to combat stress and beefing up your body to prevent disease is everything. It is remarkably simple and when you understand the long term health benefits of preventing heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, migraines, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, accelerated aging and premature death.

Could you read those all in one breath? Let’s avoid all of the above like the plague.

Taking action now impacts your health in the future.

Shane and Lydia’s Morning Routine for Filmmaking Fitness

(Disclaimer: we are NOT medical professionals. Please check with your own doctor before taking anything to ensure it is safe for you).

1. Collagen

Trader Joe’s Collagen for a protein boost in our morning coffee. Organic authority lists it as one of the 10 best collagen supplements on the market. It is kosher certified and does NOT contain any major allergens. It helps your joints, prevents arthritis, gives you smoother skin, and makes you feel more energetic – have you seen Shane’s On Set series? He needs it!

2. Gut Health

Probiotic capsules (any brand of probiotic with at least 30 billion strains) My personal favorite is below. It is going way overboard by having at least 30 billion, but your gut is your “second brain.”

There is a link between digestion and health – and not just by eating what you love (because who hasn’t had a big smile on their face after good sushi?). By changing your gut bacteria, you can improve your brain health, which improves your overall health. Talk about your stomach leading your head!

Now, doctors understand that if you are out of balance with a stomach problem such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, or Celiac Disease then it triggers depression and anxiety in the brain.

Probiotics are friendly gut bacteria to boost the immune system. A list of great foods containing probiotics are:

• onions
• garlic
• leeks
• soybeans
• chicory root
• honey
• banana
• Jerusalem artichoke
• Benefiber

Prevention is the key to filmmaking fitness here!

3. 10-15 minutes of stretching before working out

Stretching helps muscle tension and improves flexibility and range of motion. Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight which sets you up for injury.

4. Fast 30-minute walk/jog

The benefits of being out in nature fuel my creative soul. Healthwise, it is great for weight loss or weight consistency, preventing diabetes, decreasing your risk of heart disease and stroke by 40%, decreased risk of cancer. Why? Because the cells are getting oxygen, it raises good cholesterol, it boosts your immune system, it helps prevent anxiety and depression and it just makes you feel great about the day ahead.

Be fit, be healthy, be happy, and be an amazing filmmaker.