Fitness Modeling

What got you started in fitness modeling?

uot;>I got started fitness modeling because I live an active lifestyle and I want to be a role model to others to do the same! I also want to answer “Yes!” when people ask me if I’m a model and if anyone else tells me I should be on the Tyra Banks show I’m going to scream! I am currently a professional model and have national ads so I don’t qualify. Boo hoo!

THE WORLD OF FITNESS MODELING

Enter With Determination as Strong as Your Body

Clark: How did you get started in modeling?

Kathleen: I never thought about becoming a fitness model or even a model until my

second or third year in college. I can thank my friends for opening the

doors to my aspirations about pursing the fitness industry.

In July 2005, Miss Hawaiian Tropic (sun care company) held one of their

nationwide preliminary model searches in Utah. My friends heard the contest

being advertised on the radio and called to see if I was going to compete.

They convinced me I should try. I had done a few aerobic classes in

college, but other than those few activities I did not work out or have a

clean diet.

I had six days before the first competition and I put the pedal to the

medal. I made dramatic changes to my diet and went on a work-out frenzy! I

was shocked how much change I made in one week. One of my friends stopped

by my apartment to help me select my wardrobe and was shocked by my

transformation. I ended up winning and won a few more competitions. In the

end, I walked away with the Utah title and traveled to Hawaii for the

national competition. Since that moment, I have been addicted and because of networking with

others have been blessed with so many opportunities.

Surviving a Fitness-Infomercial Shoot!

By Max Wettstein

Congratulations!  You’ve booked an infomercial…one of the most publicized and well-paying fitness modeling jobs you can land to include national TV exposure and possibly your gateway to hosting and other promotional gigs! While a national magazine cover is about the best you can hope for in print media for prestige and exposure, it is still can’t touch the exposure or showcase your physique like film or TV can, and the pay doesn’t even come close to that of an infomercial. In fact as many of you may have encountered by now a magazine cover may only pay $300! You’ve worked hard for this moment: training, dieting, networking, auditioning against colleagues at the top of their game, and now finally you’ve booked it! It is time to enjoy the reward for all your efforts!

Obi Obadike, Francisca Dennis, Inside Fitness, and Paul Dillett of the WBFF have made history by helping to produce the first Black male and female fitness model couple on the cover of a Canadian Fitness Magazine. Obi and Francisca were featured on the Winter issue of Inside Fitness, which is the #1 fitness magazine in Canada.

You've no doubt seen one of Obi's contributions on this site; his great attitude and physique make him hard to ignore. His quick rise in the fitness modeling has caused him to receive a lot of attention and we’re sure to see more of him in the future.

Tips To Get Work

1. You got to have great pictures in your portfolio to make editors take notice of you and give you a chance for a shoot.
2. Network with some of the top fitness cover people at the Expos and find out what they did to get on the cover of a magazine.
3. Make friends with as many fitness people as you can because someone always knows somebody in this business that may want to hire you.
4. Always be in shape. The difference between a working fitness model and fitness model that works once a year is the fact that the fitness model that is always working is the person that is ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Editors and photographers don't have time to wait for a month for you to be in shape. Sometimes you'll be lucky if you get a 48 hour notice. When I first shot for Maximum Fitness back in April of 2008, photographer Robert Reif called me and said he had a two issue spread for me and he needed to shoot me in 2 days. Fortunately for me I was ripped up and in shape to shoot for him.

Recently I spoke at the Fitness Model International weekend and my message was much about "networking." In a nutshell, I told the models to get off their high horse and realize that we need each other in order to survive.

Fitness modeling, and most business in general, can be a very narcissistic environment. "I'm better than you", "look at me", "my abs are the best in the world", "I have more covers than you", "my business is grossing over 100 Million per year", and so on, and so forth.

My plea to the models at the event was to open up and get to know each other, to understand that you can and will benefit from building relationships.

The days of Arnold mentally beating down poor Lou Ferrigno are forever imprinted on old dvd's of Pumping Iron, but now is the time to unite if we want to make it.

I'm obviously using the FMI event as a metaphor for a much bigger situation. That situation being the State of the Union. As much as I preach not to get overwhelmed by what people are saying about the economy, I'm not blind either.

I am writing this article because I've had many people send me emails on facebook on how can they attain fitness modeling opportunities. The best thing I can do is use my experience and tell you what I did to attain work and the people that were influential in my success.



When I started this year, I told myself that there was no amount of money that I wasn't willing to spend to promote myself as a fitness model. This may not be the route for you. I was very impatient and I wanted the success right away and I always felt in my mind that I was cover material. I just felt I had to produce great pictures that would allow editors to give me that chance.



Not to give a numerical figure, but I've spent over 2,000 dollars shooting with one of the best fitness/physique photographers in the country. Was it worth it? It was definitely worth it because now I have pictures that

continuosly get me work and have created a buzz about who I am in this fitness industry. This fitness photographer rarely did TFP's and so I had no problem spending my money to get the best pictures. I felt that if I shot with him, I could get great pictures that would get me work.


It's a never ending situation for me; I am constantly getting hit with questions of “how can I effectively market myself?" I always answer the same way and it will never change: you have to be in the faces of the people, in shape, and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Period!

There seems to also be a belief in the industry that if someone has a certain amount of exposure (even if it is a ton) that there should be pay involved, simply for being involved in the marketing of one’s self. Here is the bottom line, my friends: You have to constantly be proactive to further your career. A magazine cover or twenty won't suddenly warrant that you get paid to be involved in efforts to market yourself. Of course there are jobs that you should be paid for, but you really need to understand the difference between the two.

I take fitness shoots very seriously and I pride myself on always being prepared for them and I am incredibly meticulous when it comes to being at my best in front of a camera. So what should you do to come prepared for a fitness shoot? There are so many things but here are the basics.

Bringing many different colors of shorts, preferably dark-colored shorts, is a must. Also make sure you have practiced some poses you want to implement in your shoot. Great examples are picking up poses from the cover of previous fitness magazines. Don’t rely on the photographer always trying to direct you. You can really impress him if you know what poses you want to try. Also make sure you are shaved and I mean armpits, face, legs, forearms, etc. When you have seen a cover model with hairy legs or hairy arms?