Attn: Boom Ops - How do you stay in shape?

Question

I have a question regarding boom oping.

A friend of mine asked me what exercises he should be doing to improve his stamina and strength when doing 10 to 14 hour day boom oping. He finds it very difficult to get through a long day like that and I'd like to help him out if I can.

I told him that incline benching is very helpful. Also, I suggested he use a lighter pole with a lighter microphone, such as the CMIT 5U.

But, I don't do booming as my primary job.

Would any of you professional boom ops care to share how you keep your arms in shape? If at all? Or if you just continue to do the job and your arms gradually build up a tolerance for long days?

Thank you very much in advance.

Answer 1

"Any form of training must mirror the specific demands of the sport." Because booming involves muscle endurance rather than muscle strength, my advice would be to grab a boom pole and hold it up for as long as you can, and as often as you stand it, using the same range of motion you would expect to use for the gig. If you're going to do any exercises for endurance, try moderate/lower resistance with higher repetitions.

Answer 2

Those can be tough gigs... depending on the pacing (usually i get more tired in slow paced shots actually, but that's a side note)

I'm an avid biker and swimmer, i find that helps me to keep nimble.

Also i do this exercise below, often, for 1 or two minutes. It helps keeping the lower back fit, for bag work. link text

Answer 3

I found in the past that endurance light weight lifting helped. Not the heavy bulk building exercises. Also, swimming and cross country ski machines are good as they help to build muscular endurance, especially on those long takes. As said above, the size and weight of the mic is also crucial.