Is it a good idea to start a Bodybuilding/Weight gain blog while working out?

24 replies
PLEASE READ : Well, I am a skinny guy and so I am going to hit gym soon. I want to make a major transformation in next 6 months as I am around 5'11 and weight around 60 KG(Which clearly shows how skinny i am)

I was thinking on starting a blog simultaneously(I am experienced in IM) and then updating my blog with my improvements like how much i gained today etc etc..Maybe my before and after pics...

But the thing which is worrying me is the huge competition which is there in bodybuilding/weight gain niche...Will I be able to monetize it well?

Do you think its a good idea to do so? It will be authority blog ofcourse...

How can I use my Gym instructer(Who is my good friend) to help me get great info? Maybe a product?
#blog #bodybuilding or weight #gain #good #idea #start #working
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hlatky
    You shouldn't have to worry about competition. I am assuming you are going to focus on the inspirational/personal side.

    Focus on your muscle building transformation, not just generic body building tips.

    P.S. You are not that skinny. I am 6'5" and only weigh 150 lbs
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  • Profile picture of the author Just4Kix
    You are somewhat equal but I do need to gain weight...(Need to gain 20 lbs extra to look normal)

    Yeah you are right I will be focussing on MY muscle building transformation and just maybe post some general articles around the net... But I was quite skeptical to start because people say Bodybuilding is a complete saturated niche and tough to crack
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hlatky
    There is no such thing as completely saturated. Something bigger and better can come along.

    It just depends if you have the right plan and are willing to put in the time and effort.
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  • Profile picture of the author alamest
    You plan is awesome and that's what google is looking for.. go for it..
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  • Profile picture of the author luckystepho
    What many sites are lacking is that personal touch... it is a great idea to start a site around your own journey. As you reach your body building goals, your readers will trust your recommendations on what products/ programs have worked for you because you will be able to demonstrate how they have helped you.
    How about pairing up with your trainer to write a good training program/ manual to offer to your readers?
    Start to build a list from the very beginning by offering them free info/ newsletter updates of your progress etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author jaggyjay
      Originally Posted by luckystepho View Post

      What many sites are lacking is that personal touch... it is a great idea to start a site around your own journey. As you reach your body building goals, your readers will trust your recommendations on what products/ programs have worked for you because you will be able to demonstrate how they have helped you...
      Took the words right out of my mouth

      Also, who knows what great paths doing this may lead you to? My brother, who's into bodybuilding, was once approached by a top competitor who was looking for individuals to test his new products. The catch? To document the progress in return for 1 year's free supply of supplements.

      Your blog is just that... a documentation of your progress. Now, I'm not saying the same thing will definitely happen to you too -- but you never know

      So, forget the competition and go for the glory. And if you happen to become a famous bodybuilder or nutritional supplement creator - then remember us skinny or out-of-shape warriors
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  • The weight gain bodybuilding niche is huge. There is some easy money to be made in this niche.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
      Banned
      I'd give it a go. As RRN correctly stated:

      Originally Posted by Resale Rights Ninja View Post

      The weight gain bodybuilding niche is huge. There is some easy money to be made in this niche.
      Find your place in there and collect your traffic. The niche isn't as saturated as people make it out to be. Sure, plenty of IMers flood it and try to make a quick buck; but they fail more often than not. People will want to hear your story.

      It is a good thing to go after on a personal level as well. I'm three weeks into my own workout program. Dropped what I'm assuming was the only 5 pounds of fat my body ever had and added 6 pounds of muscle.

      Looks good and feels good .
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  • Profile picture of the author ratracegrad
    My cousin started a website as he is into fitness being a former Navy Seal. Now he gets over 3,000 hits a day into his website and he was able to quit his day job. Check it out SEAL Grinder PT.
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    • Profile picture of the author Just4Kix
      Originally Posted by ratracegrad View Post

      My cousin started a website as he is into fitness being a former Navy Seal. Now he gets over 3,000 hits a day into his website and he was able to quit his day job. Check it out SEAL Grinder P

      Thanks for that. Its really inspiring.. Maybe I should go ahead
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  • Profile picture of the author IMHunter
    It is a good idea to start a blog in Bodybuilding niche, It is a competitive niche but if you have a genuine blog you will do good.
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  • Profile picture of the author gentryliving
    Competitions are everywhere... you don't have to worry on it. As long as you know your capacity and ability in maintaining your blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author RobIMJones
    Hiya buddy,

    Great idea in my opinion, what better way to create a loyal following, especially with the obesity rates constantly rising, more and more people are looking for inspiration and real life examples of weight loss/gain.

    It's a great way of making people realise that they can actually do it themselves because this average guy they've been following has done it in front of their eyes and updated them regularly on what exercises he's doing, what he's eating and so on.

    It's so easy for a buff guy to stand in front of a camera and say "BUY MY PRODUCT IT MADE ME BIG!" People are left wondering.. but how has he done that?

    I would love to hear how this turns out, all the best my friend!

    Rob
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  • One type of site that'll never get saturated are journey type sites. Why? Mostly because people LOVE to follow those who are succeeding and accomplishing what they set out to do (showing them that with a bit of effort it's possible) and because the majority never do anything with it or stop updating.

    Have you not seen a pattern? Every active journey type blog is a result of the writer in question doing what they set out to do and succeeding, or accomplishing some success and documenting their failures for others to avoid.

    This is true even in the IM niche. I bet the majority of IM blogs you've visited that are active have either a successful owner, or one that is starting to see some success.

    I think most of them become popular from social media activity and interacting with the community on similar sites like forums, other blogs who are trying to achieve the same as you etc.. Eventually you become popular enough that you create an army of people linking and sharing your pages, which in turns helps you to get more visitors coming from the serps.

    This works in any niche I suspect. For example:

    My Journey to 6 Pack Abs
    My Journey to Riches
    My Journey to Getting Fit
    My Journey to Getting Buff
    Becoming A Karate Black belt
    My Journey To Making The Perfect House

    Pretty much any self-improvement site will work aslong as you interact with others who have the same interests or goals. Here's one guy who wanted to find out what it feels like to go from fit to fat, and then trying to get from fat to fit again. His site is quite recent and it's in the Weight loss niche, Weight gain niche and Nutritional niche (All extremely competitive). Yet due to his determination in going through with it and interacting with his users, he has built up quite the following!

    Here's his blog if you're wondering who I'm on about:

    Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit | Personal Trainer | Weight Loss

    Obviously unless you do something as unique as him you wont get the publicity he has received such as getting on talk shows and in the news, but sufficiently enough to build a following in the thousands that will listen to everything you say. Such as what products to buy, how to do things and so forth..

    Go for it!
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    • Profile picture of the author Just4Kix
      Originally Posted by Jason Perez O'Connor View Post

      One type of site that'll never get saturated are journey type sites. Why? Mostly because people LOVE to follow those who are succeeding and accomplishing what they set out to do (showing them that with a bit of effort it's possible) and because the majority never do anything with it or stop updating.

      Have you not seen a pattern? Every active journey type blog is a result of the writer in question doing what they set out to do and succeeding, or accomplishing some success and documenting their failures for others to avoid.

      This is true even in the IM niche. I bet the majority of IM blogs you've visited that are active have either a successful owner, or one that is starting to see some success.

      I think most of them become popular from social media activity and interacting with the community on similar sites like forums, other blogs who are trying to achieve the same as you etc.. Eventually you become popular enough that you create an army of people linking and sharing your pages, which in turns helps you to get more visitors coming from the serps.

      This works in any niche I suspect. For example:

      My Journey to 6 Pack Abs
      My Journey to Riches
      My Journey to Getting Fit
      My Journey to Getting Buff
      Becoming A Karate Black belt
      My Journey To Making The Perfect House

      Pretty much any self-improvement site will work aslong as you interact with others who have the same interests or goals. Here's one guy who wanted to find out what it feels like to go from fit to fat, and then trying to get from fat to fit again. His site is quite recent and it's in the Weight loss niche, Weight gain niche and Nutritional niche (All extremely competitive). Yet due to his determination in going through with it and interacting with his users, he has built up quite the following!

      Here's his blog if you're wondering who I'm on about:

      Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit | Personal Trainer | Weight Loss

      Obviously unless you do something as unique as him you wont get the publicity he has received such as getting on talk shows and in the news, but sufficiently enough to build a following in the thousands that will listen to everything you say. Such as what products to buy, how to do things and so forth..

      Go for it!
      That guy has really dont something unique...thanks for sharing that link..I will try to build site something around it
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      • Profile picture of the author Cali16
        I think doing it while you're working on your own personal transformation is a great idea. As a couple other people have mentioned, that personal touch is what your readers will relate to.

        Something you might want to do is offer a free report (e.g. your personal bodybuilding tips or something like that) for your readers to get them to opt in to a mailing list. As you build your list you can monetize that in a variety of different ways. But focus on the relationship and helping your readers first. The more they trust you, the more they'll be inclined to buy based on your recommendations.
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        If you don't face your fears, the only thing you'll ever see is what's in your comfort zone. ~Anne McClain, astronaut
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  • Profile picture of the author Chri5123
    Originally Posted by Just4Kix View Post

    PLEASE READ : Well, I am a skinny guy and so I am going to hit gym soon. I want to make a major transformation in next 6 months as I am around 5'11 and weight around 60 KG(Which clearly shows how skinny i am)

    I was thinking on starting a blog simultaneously(I am experienced in IM) and then updating my blog with my improvements like how much i gained today etc etc..Maybe my before and after pics...

    But the thing which is worrying me is the huge competition which is there in bodybuilding/weight gain niche...Will I be able to monetize it well?

    Do you think its a good idea to do so? It will be authority blog ofcourse...

    How can I use my Gym instructer(Who is my good friend) to help me get great info? Maybe a product?
    First off don't worry about competition!

    Judging by your idea a lot of people won't put this sort of effort in.

    I think it is a GREAT idea!

    Ask your gym instructor to go on camera and interview him, tell him what you mean to do and say it will give him exposure for his gym and you have your own product if you ask the right questions...

    In short this is well worth doing!

    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Try to tie in your marketing with the summer Olympics. These type of events tend to set health and sports enthusiasts into a buying frenzy of exercise equipment, body building books, food supplements, etc. Your gym instructor may be able to provide valuable access to relevant networks, publications (online and offline), local events, etc to accelerate your marketing reach during this fantastic window of opportunity.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ralf Skirr
    I think it's a great idea. People love real life stories. You need to follow through, though, or you're not going to make an impression!

    Keeping your blog personal might work best, try to connect to targeted people on social media, that might give you some instant traffic.

    As long as you don't have your own product, look for quality affiliate products to promote.
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    • Profile picture of the author jeskola
      Take aloof at stronglifts.com...

      I was very skinny at 70kg at 6ft 1 and started the strong lifts program. Gained around 10kg in a few months. Basically it's olympic lifts and eating like a horse.

      Anyways,yeah it's a good idea. There's a lot of guys out there with low self esteem from body image.
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      Don't look to MAKE money - look to HELP people and you will make all the money you can ever want.

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  • Profile picture of the author anders3397
    Another thought would be to see if you can create some sort of video-based daily training workout that people could watch. You could make it free and monetise your site in other ways. Perhaps promote it through Facebook as well.
    Might be a bit difficult with bodybuilding as you presumably need gym equipment but if you could be an online gym instructor you could get a good following too.
    Good luck - it's a great idea and as others have pointed out, don't worry about the 'competition'. One of my favorite quotes if from Oscar Wilde: Most people underestimate themselves and overestimate everyone else."
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  • Profile picture of the author Robin Blinds
    Make sure to make a video blog as well
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    • Profile picture of the author Hud
      I don't know why anyone has mentioned the obvious...

      dude.

      Don't start a blog while working out. Do it before/after your training session.
      Seriously, do you want to do bench press and have your notebook next to you?

      Ok, joking aside... The most important thing for your idea is that you deliver what you are promising... meaning your transformation. If thats not happening then no one will be interested in your blog. If you're not making progress that could push you into the not-so-legal area(taking whatever), just to deliver what you wanted with your blog...

      Maybe it would be a better idea to just workout and document your progress... and if it was indeed good enough, to build a blog around it afterwards. Remember for some people its hard to make progress when working out... so its not a 100% under your control...

      Or, you could end up just getting fat to reach your +10kg goal, and again, thats probably not what people want to see.

      Of course it can be the other way around, and you are making massive progress, and everyone wants to see that, great if it goes that way, but be prepared for the other 2 possibilites as well (no progress, or getting more fat then muscular).

      6 months for 10kg is a reasonable goal though, for someone who has never hit the gym before... just make sure you get proper help with the workouts, nutrition, supplements, to maximize your chance of reaching that goal.

      for starters, go to ergo-log.com and look at the studies about training. The biggest progress was with one group that was training the 6rep range, 10 rep range and 15 rep range at "the same time"... meaning if you are doing a full body workout 3 times a week, one would be in each rep range, but randomized, so the body can not adjust. Keep your protein intake high(and if you want to boost your protein shake effectiveness, increase anabolism through a training stimulus, and at the same time inhibit anti-catabolic processes, add leucine to your shakes, so you end up with aprox 0,218g/kg body weight if I remember right)... and if you do one extreme dieting day a week, you should be able to limit your fat gain during a bulking phase(even arnold did that). However, start with the 15rep range first for 4-6weeks so your body can adujst, then add the 10 rep range for a few weeks, and only then add the lower reps. Keeps you from getting injured. after 2 months or so you could start experimenting with creatine, prior to that your gains should be pretty steady anyways.

      Ugh... but that was not what you were asking, and you got a coach anyways...

      a video log would be very important... also accurate measuring, not only your weight, but your body fat with a caliber, measures of arms chest etc, and a strength progress on your exercises, on a regular basis.

      I would not worry so much about google rankings, they can be pretty hard to archive, depending on the keyword, but I would focus more on being present on all big fitness forums, youtube, make a facebook fanpage, twitter alot... etc. Make people post your url, when newbies want help(i.e. writing about newbie questions...), and you will get viral, and gain links / exposure.

      Keep in mind why others would visit your blog (mainly newbies who want motivation) so focus on that. And over time, you can test different supps, and of course market them to your fanbase. If they make sense.
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