32 years after his debut, 50-year-old Liu Genghong finally survived to the top.
There are so many fitness bloggers, why is it only Liu Genghong who comes out of the circle? If you know anything about Liu Genghong's experience, you will know that this matter is not entirely based on luck, after all, he has been practicing for more than 30 years in places that you can't see.
However, after experiencing round after round of traffic miracles in the first half of 2022, the top stream of "Liu Genghong" still encountered a development bottleneck - slow growth and even a small area of powder drop, reduced user stickiness, and unoptimistic monetization.
At the 2022 China Annual Emerging List Awards Ceremony, Liu Genghong won the honor of "Emerging Video Creator of the Year", and he took this opportunity to share his recent situation with us.
Talking about the crazy April of 2022, Liu Genghong did not feel much. "Sometimes we are surprised to see the number of fans soar, but in general, the pace of life and mentality has not changed much."
Ordinary heart is one of the reasons why Lei Binyi (CEO of Worry-free Media) is optimistic about Liu Genghong. "He has experienced big ups and downs and will be more able to bear it." Lei Binyi said frankly in a previous interview.
More than 30 years since his debut, Liu Genghong has acted in TV series, recorded variety shows, formed bands, experienced car accidents, and opened a clothing factory that made him go into debt of tens of millions.
Singer, producer, host, actor, fitness trainer, his identity is always changing, but the outside world evaluates him very fixed: tepid.
Liu Genghong recalled his 2022 in the video.
In December 2021, Carefree Media signed Liu Genghong. At the beginning, the company's plan for him was to jump and carry goods, but Liu Genghong himself was indeed "almost talented" in bringing goods. After discussing between the two sides, Liu Genghong finally built his live broadcast room into a real online gym.
"The fat around the waist clicks off, the mermaid line vest line I want", this is the slogan that appears most frequently in Liu Genghong's live broadcast room. More often, however, he will give more practical guidance, such as telling fans which muscles this movement is aimed at, what are the common wrong ways to generate force, and which group the next exercise is suitable for.
In less than two months, Liu Genghong relied on a set of BGM for the shuttlecock exercise of "Compendium of Materia Medica" and knocked on the door of various hot search lists. One second netizens who were still clamoring to lie flat became Liu Genghong's believers the next.
In May 2022, Liu Genghong's number of fans reached 70 million on one platform, surpassing Li Jiaqi's fan attraction speed. At the most exaggerated time, there was even the spectacle of "10 million fans in a single day", breaking the record of multiple platforms.
Also after that spring full of surprises in 2022, the biggest label on Liu Genghong is no longer "Jay Chou's friend" and "Little Puff's father", but the new top blogger "Coach Liu".
When Jay Chou was not famous, Liu Genghong once helped him: "I was living in Liu Genghong's recording studio at that time, and he gave me clothes to wear, gave me food, and introduced friends to me." / Source: Weibo
Now, it has been exactly one year since Liu Genghong's first live broadcast of gymnastics. When the overnight popularity is getting farther and farther away from Liu Genghong, how the 50-year-old Liu Genghong faces the traffic bottleneck has become a more curious thing for us. In addition, after the epidemic has fallen behind for a while, indoor fitness is no longer sought after, is Liu Genghong's live broadcast room also facing a transformation crisis?
"2022 China Annual Emerging List" - Emerging Video Creator Liu Genghong. He is the head coach of the cloud that drives national fitness, making young people who "lie flat" at home become "Liu Genghong boys" and "Liu Genghong girls" who burn calories by jumping exercises every day; He is a rhythm master and language master in the live broadcast industry, the most simple and easy-to-learn fitness movements, coupled with fast-paced songs and his emotional inspiration, making young people jump out of the feeling of jumping; He is an all-round artist who is good at acting, singing, dancing, hosting, composing, and lyrics, and Jay Chou has also acted in his MV, and the live broadcast is just a small test for him. (Nominated: Dong Yuhui / Gayang Maiden / Frontier Alimu / Liu Genghong / Yi Ge Conjecture)
New Weekly: From the end of May 2022 to now, 9 months have passed, and the number of fans has dropped from 73 million to 70.11 million, do you care about this number? Have you ever had traffic anxiety?
Liu Genghong: For me, of course, I hope that there will be more and more fans, but this thing is not something I can decide by myself. Now that the epidemic has come to an end, many people are going outdoors, and the traffic will naturally decline, which is normal.
But because I've always enjoyed streaming, even if there are few people, I'm still enthusiastic, and even recently I've encouraged people who follow me to go outside to play ball, ride or climb mountains.
New Weekly: What should I do if I have gone outdoors and no one has watched your live broadcast? You've been through a tough livelihood before, is live streaming monetization really not that important to you?
Liu Genghong: I am not only an Internet celebrity, but also an artist, so I can also earn some income through stage, recording programs, advertising endorsements or brand cooperation.
We know that some live streaming accounts are just about monetizing and selling goods. Some hot, big-name stuff, whether it's good or not, they'll sell. That's true, but for us, whether we can help fans filter out good things that fit the concept of "healthy lifestyle" is the more important thing.
New Weekly: It is said that Carefree Media initially wanted you to take the direction of live streaming of home appliances and mother and baby content, but you insisted on doing fitness live broadcasting, what is the reason for this? After all, live streaming is already very mature, and there are no successful cases of fitness live broadcasting.
Liu Genghong: At that time, when I cooperated with Wuxuan, there were indeed a lot of plans, and I didn't object to it, but what I wanted to do was what I needed for a healthy lifestyle, I wanted to do exercises, and I didn't want to live broadcast and bring goods. They also felt that it was acceptable, so we started working together. After the Lunar Year of 2022, I started to broadcast the dance exercise stably live.
New Weekly: In an interview in April 2022, you mentioned that you still enjoy fitness and live streaming after becoming famous. Many anchors, after working for a period of time, are prone to burnout from this high-intensity work. It's been more than half a year, do you feel this way?
Liu Genghong: No, I enjoy live fitness very much, I think I can still do it for a long time. But I've also asked some of my peers who tend to get tired because the work is too repetitive.
I'm not the same, I'm a person who likes to share. For example, when I eat a bowl of delicious beef noodles, I want to recommend it to everyone around me. In the same way, I get a lot of joy in the matter of fitness, and I can't help but share it with others. Moreover, when the number of fans increases, my sense of responsibility will become heavier and heavier. Especially when I see the response on social media, I feel that what I am doing is super meaningful.
New Weekly: You have previously played the role of coach in many variety shows, after switching to live broadcasting, what are the major changes in the teaching experience?
Liu Genghong: In the early years, I have been doing fitness teaching TV programs, from CCTV's "Super Weight Loss King" to various satellite TV's health or weight loss programs.
The difference between live broadcast and TV is still quite large. The TV may post-process the content for the ratings of the program, such as some of the fitness knowledge points I talked about, because there is no entertainment effect, so it is often edited out. But in the live broadcast, no matter how verbose I am, no one will cut these out. So, when I realized the impact of live streaming, I moved to the live broadcast room.
Liu Genghong is known as the "Devil Coach" in the show. / Screenshot of "Super Weight Loss King"
New Weekly: What do you think of the social media argument that "instead of losing weight, it is better to reconcile with your own figure"?
Liu Genghong: If it is not a professional need, then you should think clearly about whether you need to train six-pack abs, buttocks or mermaid line. Not everyone should train like me, and a body you are satisfied with is a good figure.
Aesthetics aside, instead of reconciling with your own figure, it is better to reconcile with your own living habits.
Many people have a good figure, but he is not healthy. He smokes and drinks, stays up late, eats junk food, maybe he can have a good body, but it is difficult for him to have health, and such a good body will not last long.
You need to find a healthy lifestyle, that is, the right concept of diet and exercise, with these, your body will naturally get better. But many people put the cart before the horse, starting with the body first, using extreme weight loss methods. Putting the cart before the horse does not have much impact in the short term, but there will be a difference over time.
New Weekly: You once said in your live broadcast that "I don't want everyone to talk about fitness coaches, so I think of selling cards, and I hope that my persistence can make the fitness industry see hope." What other misunderstandings did you experience when you were a fitness instructor? What are the other prejudices about the fitness industry today? How do you hope to improve the fitness environment in China?
Liu Genghong: The way the gym makes money now determines that everyone will still misunderstand the fitness industry. The uneven quality of fitness instructors is also a big problem. It is not a certificate that proves that he can teach, and many coaches only know what they want to give, not what students want.
Whether the coaches themselves are thinking or not determines whether his level is high or not. If a coach's first lesson is to teach someone to fly, you will know that he must not understand the logic of fitness, he is showing himself. Students get frustrated at the beginning, and no one wants to come a second time. A good coach must know how to make Xiaobai step by step.
Unfortunately, until now, I have not been able to change this situation on my own. If you forcibly change the profit model, how will other people's stores continue to operate? What I can do now is to do my best to promote national fitness and let more people master basic fitness knowledge. There is movement in life, and there is life in sports.
New Weekly: What's new for your own fitness business? What are some plans you've always wanted to try, but haven't worked out?
Liu Genghong: Fitness concert. This is something that no one in the world has done yet, and I don't mean to fight for this number one, but because my life is "fitness in music and music in gymnastics", and these two things add up to really awaken the love of life.
New Weekly: Is the live broadcast in Qatar a new attempt to break the stereotype of indoor fitness?
Liu Genghong: Yes, not many people know me in Qatar, and there is no need for approval to broadcast outdoors, so I can broadcast live on the side of the road. In 2023, I also hope that I can do more touring gymnastics in China, meet the boys and girls who support me, and hope that those who did not skip with me come to the scene to feel the charm of outdoor sports.
In addition, I broadcast live in Qatar, I also want foreigners to see that the original Chinese-style music can be played like this, so that they also have the desire to participate. I know Jay Chou thinks the same way, so I will use this way to let people know that we are also very strong and healthy.
Liu Genghong taught the little prince of Qatar to dance gymnastics and write spring couplings.
New Weekly: Your current titles are: singer, producer, host, actor, fitness trainer, and anything else we missed? Among these identities, do you still like the most as a fitness instructor? Which one frustrates you the most?
Liu Genghong: I can't say which one I like the most, but my identity at every stage of my life is pushing me to become a more special fitness trainer today.
When I was in my 20s, I wanted to become a martial arts actor, so I learned martial arts, southern boxing, sticks, and heel fighting, and my condition and physique were very good, but as a result, the martial arts film was gone, and the boss fell. But these experiences led me to become a singer, songwriter, host, and later a book and producer.
Liu Genghong also published a book to teach everyone how to exercise. In the recommended preface of this book, many people have mentioned the biggest impression of Liu Genghong - Epdu sentient beings, hope that everyone around them has a good body, and everyone must advise more exercise. / Source: "Genghong's Fitness Book"
The later film shooting experience frustrated me - it took a lot of time and effort, and the results were not satisfactory.
Until now, when I became a fitness trainer, I could easily judge which music was suitable for this live broadcast room, I could easily host and control the process in the live broadcast room, and even now I have the idea of opening a fitness concert.
So I feel that no identity is wasted, no road is taken in vain, and these times come together to form who I am today.
New Weekly: You once commented that your acting career was "doing everything, but not perfecting anything", for you, besides fitness, what other skill do you want to improve the most at this stage?
Liu Genghong: My other work is actually quite good, but none of them are good enough to be remembered.
I'm a person who doesn't like to stay put, and I think that if people don't advance, they will regress, so I think I still have a lot to learn in my life: I want to play the guitar better, sing better, dance better, and I want to explore more ways to teach fitness.
If you ask me which skill I would most like to improve, I think it's "being a good husband and a good father." It is not easy to be a good husband, it is even more difficult to be a good father, and how to provide high-quality education and companionship for children between busy work is a difficult thing.
New Weekly: What can you think of as the best life in ten years?
Liu Genghong: I don't think so far, I think my life is good now. Although you may think that 2022 is the peak of my life, in fact, I think that six or seven years have already met my own highlight moment: at that time, I already had three children, my parents were healthy and healthy, I had a wife who loved me, and my job could support my family, and I thought it was already great.
Liu Genghong's wife "complained" on Weibo.
As for ten years from now, my children will definitely have their own lives by then, and when my wife and I no longer need to take care of them, we can focus on falling in love. We can travel well, go to various places in the world to broadcast live exercises, and let everyone see a different world through fitness.
We have also prepared a few small questions for Liu Genghong, hoping that these concise answers can make you understand Liu Genghong while also being a little inspired:
New Weekly: Summarize your 2022 in one sentence.
Liu Genghong: Those who sow with tears will reap the harvest!
New Weekly: When was the last time you laughed and why?
Liu Genghong: A few days ago, my wife and I were shooting a short video, she didn't play well, I sang very badly, but the more I shoot, the happier I am, hahahahahaha.
New Weekly: When and why was the last time you felt frustrated?
Liu Genghong: The technique of playing basketball has regressed, and before it could still be dunked, and then it regressed to the point that it could only catch the basket, and now even the basket may not be able to be caught, I hope to dunk in 2023.
New Weekly: What would you refuse to do?
Liu Genghong: I will reject anything that does not conform to my principles. Therefore, when talking about cooperation, the brand side will think that I am more troublesome. For example, some goods have a lot of bad chemical additives, or I don't think I can use them, I can't cooperate, I won't do these things just to make money.
New Weekly: Have you ever experienced staying at home or in isolation in the past three years? How do you spend your stay at home or quarantine?
Liu Genghong: Yes, I have been living at home in Shanghai for many months, and I also quarantined 14 plus 7 before coming to Shanghai, but I think I have arranged it well. I slept well every day, ate normally, sometimes I got my own food, sometimes the hotel would give me something, and then exercise and read in the room, and my physical condition became great.
New Weekly: How do you comfort yourself when faced with tiredness or something you can't do?
Liu Genghong: If it is not yours, it is not yours, you cannot force it, and it is not necessarily good that you have it. Everyone has his time, and everything has its own timing. There are many things in this world that you can't control, and you can do what you can control.
New Weekly: If there were parallel worlds, what kind of person would you like to be there and what kind of life would you like to live?
Liu Genghong: I don't know (hahahahaha), because I think life is good now. If there really is a parallel world, then I hope that there will not be so many disasters and diseases in the world, there will be no wars between countries, everyone can live healthy and happy, there is no such a high divorce rate, and every child has parents who love him. I hope that in that world, people are more concerned about art, sports and family relationships.
New Weekly: Where do you most want to travel in 2023? Why?
Liu Genghong: Go to sports with your wife, take boys and girls to Alaska or Disney on a cruise (take everyone on the cruise ship to dance exercises). I think where to go is not the most important thing, what matters is who you go with.
New Weekly: If you could predict one thing in the future, what would you want to know?
Liu Genghong: I want to know if my son can grow to 1.9 meters, or who my daughter will marry in the end (hahaha)? In fact, I don't really want to know about the future, because I think we have to create it ourselves.
Liu Genghong's family portrait.