Let's Get Talking With: Josh Hetman, @joshhetman

Why did you decide to become a fitness influencer? Is this something you have always had an interest in?

I have always been interested in fitness from a young age and have always been inspired by many YouTube and Instagram videos created by people involved within this industry. Whilst watching these videos and completing a personal training course I have soaked up so much information over the years. Due to this I thought why no give it a go myself, I was slightly nervous when I made my first post in case people thought I was being big headed or something but I soon got over that. I viewed this as an opportunity to really make fitness my career, along with offering free content on Instagram I used my platform and audience to begin my online training business.

What type of fitness content engages with your followers?

I mainly post workout videos which receive great engagement through likes, comments and saves, I try to keep it fresh and do certain exercises that are not so popular to try and stand out from the rest of the industry striving to reach the same goal as myself. I also post progress pictures from time to time which get better engagement because I feel as if this brings you closer to your audience as it is much more personal.

Do you think Covid-19 and lockdown have had a positive or negative impact on the fitness industry? And why?

I think initially it had a negative impact because online trainers such as myself were losing clients because the gyms were shutting, and people were losing motivation. However, I feel as time went on and people became used to the fact that we were in this for the long haul, the industry came together and it was great to see how creative people were being with their home workouts and the things they were using to try and recreate the feeling they had from a gym. As home workouts became more popular, I began making my own home workout plan and advertising that on my social media and to friends and family for £9.99 which successfully sold over 200 copies. Additionally, many people who bought this plan have also agreed to start on my training and nutrition plans when gyms reopen, so overall Covid-19 allowed me to take my business a step further!

What are some growing trends you have seen within the fitness industry?

I believe Online Personal Training has been one of the fastest growing trends, there are so many online coaches out there now. I think the fact that people can follow the training and nutrition plan on their own schedule, whilst having regular check-ins with their coach to track their progress and to motivate them to keep pushing. Another trend that has grown primarily since Covid is online workout classes, I feel this draws more people because they can do it from the comfort of their own home and the only people that can see them are the instructor and the people doing the class which is less daunting than doing it in the gym.

Do you believe that the fitness industry will move fully online?

I feel there is so much information on social media, like YouTube, Instagram, that one-to-one personal training and things like that will slowly become less popular because people get so much information now for free, or they can hire an online coach they like the sound of from where ever in the world. However, I do feel that certain people will still want that one-to-one training, so I do not feel like it will move fully online however the majority of it will be.

How do you feel about trying new and emerging brands as an influencer? Or do you prefer working with a more established brand?

I believe giving new and upcoming brands a chance no matter how small, if you think of Nike, Gymshark and others they all started with nothing just an idea, you have to start somewhere!

When looking to work with a brand what are the type of aspects you look for?

I look at their social media pages and if they are active on them and if they are serious about what they do and what they offer. I look at whether their target audience matches mine to see if we it would be a successful partnership. Finally, I would also make sure I liked the product and believed in them, it would be wrong of me to promote a brand and their products if I did not use or believe in them myself.

What are your opinions on fitness brands having more than one Instagram account e.g. Nike, Nike Run, Nike Pro, Nike +? Do you think it engages with audiences better?

I believe it is a great idea as it makes it much easier to find what you want, for example Gymshark also have a women's page which makes it easier for women to find what they are looking for instead of scrolling through the main page and don't want videos of men training popping up on their feed all the time. MyProtein also have different accounts for different countries due to them only shipping and offering certain products in specific countries, which saves people time when seeing what is available in their country.