The success of Liu Genghong's live broadcast room has brought the development of aerobics in China to a new stage. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Online check-in, live training, customized courses...... In recent years, "cloud fitness" has become a new fashion. Especially with the development of short video and live broadcast technology, more and more fitness bloggers have begun to share fitness content online, and enthusiasts are more Xi to holding a mobile phone and exercising at any time.
Liu Genghong, who quickly came out of the circle in the live broadcast room last year, is a representative of the new era of aerobics development. Some people say that live broadcast technology has made Liu Genghong known to more people. Some people also say that under special social conditions, Liu Genghong and aerobics are needed.
But if he only uses "fitness coach" as a label, Liu Genghong believes that it does not fully express the efforts he has made in the process of promoting aerobics. In an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News, Liu Genghong said that he has never regarded fitness as a job, but integrated it into his life, and the only thing he has to do is to share more content with the public. After becoming popular for more than a year, he has never stopped, from personal clothing design, aerobics choreography, to BGM (background music) selection, behind every detail is his logic and thinking about aerobics teaching and promotion.
Resistance, hesitation, frustration
Live classes make teaching aerobics more direct
In July 2021, when Liu Genghong and his family moved to Shanghai to settle down, "cloud fitness" had become an important fitness channel for people at home at that time. Although he has previously participated in many fitness TV shows such as "Super Weight Loss King", "Lose My Life", "Come on and Get in Shape", he has also published the book "Genghong Fitness Book". But when a friend suggested that he could try to teach aerobics in the form of live broadcast, he was still somewhat "resistant".
Before opening the live broadcast, Liu Genghong had participated in many fitness TV programs such as "Come on and Get in Shape" (left: Ren Jiaxuan). Photo/Liu Genghong Weibo
"At first, I didn't know much about new media, and I didn't even have a short video account myself. I feel that a new era is coming, and I will resist a little bit, and I feel that I have done so much in the field of television, how can I change to new media?
As Liu Genghong repeatedly mentioned in interviews, he is not a traditional aerobics instructor, and he has never regarded this as a job. He hopes to integrate fitness into public life, and then share his experience with more people in the form of books or TV shows. "Watching my friend's weight go from more than 100 kilograms to a normal 70 kilograms, I experienced the sense of accomplishment of sharing. And what really touched Liu Genghong's entry into the live broadcast circle was the special attribute of his instant broadcast. "I found live streaming to be the easiest, no editing required. Because there will be restrictions on editing, some of the key things I talked about will be cut out for reasons such as duration. But the live broadcast becomes very direct, you can save every minute and every second, have a sense of presence, output the concepts and the content taught more carefully, and encourage the students and cheer them on......"
Although Liu Genghong's live broadcast room came out of the circle in April last year, they began to try live broadcast dancing as early as the month after they moved to Shanghai to settle down.
At that time, the hotel where he was staying, whether it was the environment, sound, or light, could not meet the needs of the live broadcast, so he had to move the venue to the roof of a friend's house. "I prepared a lot of fitness goods, maybe I didn't have much experience at the beginning, and that live broadcast didn't bring a lot of attention and likes. Liu Genghong also found that many fans had misunderstandings in fitness, but when he explained the correct way, he was not recognized. Some people even advised him not to be too conservative and exaggerated, but the words "follow me for three days to practice" is not Liu Genghong's original intention to do a fitness live broadcast.
He realized that the real audience in the live broadcast room may be the fans he accumulated when he was an artist or fitness trainer in the past, and "there will indeed be frustration".
Out of the circle, attracting fans, "Compendium of Materia Medica"
If you can't keep up with the rhythm, you may be able to persevere
In February last year, in order to help his wife Wang Wanfei (VIVI), who was once Miss Universe, recover her figure, Liu Genghong's live broadcast room teaching mode was changed to "husband and wife". According to relevant data, on February 18 last year, Liu Genghong's 2-hour fitness live class received 247,300 views. By February 24, when the "husband and wife" was broadcast live for the fifth time, the number of viewers had exceeded 1 million.
DIFFERENT FROM OTHER FITNESS BLOGGERS, THE ADDITION OF HIS WIFE WANG WANFEI (VIVI) HAS CHANGED THE TEACHING MODE OF LIU GENHONG'S LIVE BROADCAST ROOM. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
The turning point occurred after the "oolong ban", entries with Liu Genghong's name repeatedly appeared on the hot search, and more and more "Liu Genghong girl" and "Liu Genghong boy" poured into the live broadcast room. Based on Jay Chou's classic song "Compendium of Materia Medica", the shuttlecock exercise was launched, and it successfully attracted fans because of the melody and simple and easy-to-use movements. On April 12 last year, Liu Genghong's short video account had less than 6 million followers, and only ten days later, the account added more than 30 million fans.
The original version of the BGM was a relatively slower-paced European and American music, which made it easier for Xi to follow the rhythm. At that time, Liu Genghong participated in a weight loss variety show, and the program team specially recorded a shuttlecock exercise video for teaching. Considering that shuttlecock kicking is a traditional Chinese folk custom, when sounding the video, Liu Genghong thought that it would be better to find a song with a Chinese style. "I matched a few, and found that only the "Compendium of Materia Medica" was suitable. Although the music is relatively fast, it is only an eight beat, which feels acceptable. ”
But when he decided to choose "Compendium of Materia Medica" as BGM during the live broadcast, Liu Genghong had worries - fans exercise for different lengths of time, different athletic abilities, and the rhythm of music is so fast, can they keep up? After the entanglement, he found that not being able to keep up with the rhythm may also be a challenge, and everyone can be encouraged to persevere in this way in order to see progress and results.
Combining traditional Chinese folk shuttlecock kicking with Chinese style songs, Liu Genghong successfully got out of the circle and attracted a large number of fitness enthusiasts. Photo/Liu Genghong Weibo
"Huo Yuanjia", "Father-in-law Migraine", "Cowboy is Busy", "Sunshine Otaku", "Mojito", ...... Since then, more and more Jay Chou's works have become the BGM of Liu Genghong's aerobics. "A lot of Jay Chou's music is suitable for dancing, which is easier to get people excited and move. Liu Genghong said. Of course, "sounds happy" is also an important reason why he chose BGM.
Peking Opera, Sanda, Southern Boxing
I hope to make live fitness a show
After Liu Genghong came out of the circle, many sports bloggers on the Internet began to follow his action choreography, but it is not difficult to find that some of the content is extremely similar, which is nothing more than adjusting the order of action.
In Liu Genghong's view, there are not many people in this circle who can control the content arrangement of aerobics, "There are several well-known aerobics promotion brands abroad, which will do course arrangement, but the content has not changed much, and a set of models have been used for many years." Some fitness bloggers, on the other hand, will only add dance moves to the choreography, but there is no coherence between the movements. ”
In the logic of many fitness bloggers, whether it is jumping jacks or skipping ropes, they are fat burners, and aerobics only needs to add a variety of jumping movements, as for the sequence of movements, how to choreograph, and connect is not the point. "The previous movement is training the Xi arms, and the next movement becomes a leg exercise, which is difficult for some beginners to change flexibly, and even because the movement is not smooth, there will be a jam. Liu Genghong believes that the lack of innovation is also the primary problem in the teaching mode of some bloggers, "Most of the actions used are seen by everyone on the market." ”
The choreography of aerobics is not a simple connection or combination of movements, but requires a certain internal logic. When Liu Genghong was in art school, he learned dance, practiced Peking Opera Xi, and after getting in touch with fitness, he learned Xi sanda, southern boxing and stick competition routines, which allowed him to apply these movements well to the choreography and design of aerobics, and form a complete aerobics system through a more reasonable way in series. In addition, he will also adjust the difficulty coefficient of the movements, and the more difficult content will be put later, "when the body function reaches a certain exercise intensity, some advanced training is required".
Not only that, because he has been a program host, producer, film producer and producer, Liu Genghong hopes to make live fitness a show, rather than simply being an aerobics coach. "Even though there is a team that prepares me for the live stream now, I'm still doing the costumes, styling, choreography, and even the music choices. ”
As a songwriter, Liu Genghong's innovative thinking is also reflected in more aspects, such as the loud slogan - "The fat on the waist clicks off, and the mermaid line vest line I want", which was not prepared in advance, but slowly accumulated through countless live broadcasts. "In the process of teaching, you need to explain the effect of each movement, because music is rhythmic, and the content of the explanation naturally has to keep up with the rhythm, and slowly it becomes a familiar slogan. He didn't forget to joke to himself, "This belongs to rapping while dancing and."
Purpose, Capacity, Results
If everyone can follow along, there's no reason to give up
"Difficult" and "challenging" are one of the important reasons why many fitness enthusiasts check in to Liu Genghong's live broadcast room, in fact, most of Liu Genghong's aerobics content is suitable for all age groups. In his live broadcast room, in addition to his wife and friends, he can follow his mother-in-law in her 60s, her mother in her 70s, his father in his 80s, and his teenage children.
Liu Genghong not only pulls his parents into the live broadcast room to dance (left), but also uses his free time to teach his friends' children. Photo/Liu Genghong Weibo
Liu Genghong said that except for shuttlecock exercises, which are more difficult, most of the content is not divided into groups. For example, in winter, he will start with simple head, shoulder, core, chest and leg movements, and then then warm up exercises, the whole process is basically 25 to 30 minutes. "As long as you do it right, it doesn't hurt everyone. Unless he has his own safety risks, such as being too old and inconvenient to walk, we do not recommend practicing Xi. However, I have also developed some relatively slow movements for people with limited mobility, and I would like to teach you the exercises of sitting in a chair in the future. ”
But the problem these days is that a lot of people walk into the gym and don't know what to do: why do you want to get fit? what do you want to achieve? "If you just want to get fit, you can do anything". But again, it takes time, and anyone will choose a sport that is more cost-effective. "It's like someone who says they want to be thin and healthy, so running and skipping rope are enough. Liu Genghong believes that this is also the reason why many people want to work out, but in the end they can't stick to it, they don't know what they want to do, and they don't know what they can do.
"I've met a lot of sports enthusiasts who don't look at anything else but their expressiveness. Some people are so strong that they can't even jump on the spot or run and jump. Some people can dunk and jump very high, but they move very slowly. ”
Therefore, he believes that improving sports performance ability is the most important one for fitness people, followed by the improvement of cardiopulmonary function. Of course, with the increase of Xi practice, body shape and posture will become added value. Therefore, each movement of Liu Genghong's aerobics is also choreographed in this direction. It's not about setting up a fan base, he says, but rather to send a positive message to people who can't stick up in their workouts, or make excuses for not exercising: no matter what age you are, there's no reason to give up.
Promote, recruit new and change
In the new year, we plan to launch a personal fitness concert
From TV programs, short videos, to live broadcasts, Liu Genghong has witnessed the development of aerobics in China. When the public is exposed to more and more fitness information, there is also a situation where the understanding of fitness is not deep. Over the years, he began to realize that many people couldn't even tell the difference between aerobics, fitness dance, and bodybuilding. This is also the reason why he chose to broadcast live, publish books, and give speeches at colleges and universities.
Liu Genghong hopes to train more people like him, "After all, there are still a few people who teach these things, and there needs to be people like me to drive national fitness, at least let more people move." In his opinion, aerobics is worth promoting, the threshold is low, it is easy to start, and you don't even need to go out, as long as you arrive at the scene, you are willing to follow the practice. "But you can't listen to CDs all the time and not watch concerts, and that feeling is different. Therefore, only if you have been to the scene and felt it, it will be different when you practice. ”
Liu Genghong has already tried to combine gymnastics with concerts, and he will also launch a personal fitness concert next year. Photo/Liu Genghong Weibo
Speaking of plans for the new year, Liu Genghong revealed that a personal fitness concert will be launched, "There will be more different things in the future." I am ready to follow the trend of the times and the development of technology. ”
In Liu Genghong's view, the matter of live broadcast dance will definitely change in the future, whether it is the presentation form or the choreography. "I've experienced everything from publishing books, doing TV shows for variety show teaching, to short videos and live broadcasts. Even dancing aerobics with VR is possible. I'm looking forward to the next era. ”
Beijing News reporter Wang Jisong
Editor-in-Chief Wu Dongni
Proofread by Zhao Lin