Male Fitness Model

How To Become A Male Fitness Model

If you have developed a muscular body and are able to easily travel, it's easier than you think to start a career as a male fitness model and land in the pages of a fitness magazine. You simply need to get snapshots into the hands of fitness photographers.
Athletic guys with large and well-defined muscles, especially well-defined abs, are in demand as male fitness models. Male fitness magazines are always looking for new faces (or, bodies) for their pages.

Requirements: Muscularity is Key
You do not need to be a bodybuilder to become a male fitness model. However, guys need to have a lot of muscle compared to the average male. A 5 10" 165 pound will not likely be selected by a fitness magazine. While you do not need to have the body of Jay Cutler, having the body of a marathon runner will not get you chosen. You need a lot of defined muscle, not the body of typical male fashion model. Read the mistake guys make when Building Muscle for photo shoots. You also need extremely developed abs, not just a trim waist. One key note to fitness modeling. If your not comfortable showing skin, fitness modeling may not be for you. The more skin you show, the more likely you’ll be selected for a fitness magazine.


Becoming a Male Fitness Model Different From Becoming a Male Model

The male fitness modeling industry is different from men's fashion modeling, with different photographers and industry players. Talent agents and modeling agencies are unnecessary in this arena. If a guy is muscular, it is easier to break into the fitness modeling business - at least on a part-time basis - than to become a male fashion model. While male fashion modeling is centered around clothing fashion designers, fitness modeling is geared toward supplements and fitness magazines. Male fashion models show off clothing. Male fitness models show off their muscles.

Male fitness models earn less than their fashion counterparts, but opportunities abound in the fitness industry - even for residents of small cities and towns. While a guy who wants to become a fashion model needs to live in a big city, a muscular guy does not need to live in a major city to get fitness modeling bookings. He simply needs to effortlessly get himself to a big city to pose for a fitness photographer. Professionals will not work with you if traveling requires a lot of their time to schedule.

Earnings As a Male Fitness Model

Initial fitness modeling gigs with fitness magazine photographers do not pay much. Most guys want these type of modeling jobs so they can appear in a fitness magazine and possibly impress personal training clients - they do not appear in fitness magazines to get rich. The fitness photographers either pay you a flat fee at the time of the shoot, or pay you after photos are sold. With the latter payment option, the fitness photographer will submit the resulting photos to fitness magazines and products who advertise in fitness magazines. If the fitness photographer sells a photo in which you appear, he will split the proceeds 50-50 with you.

Becoming a Fitness Model Requires Traveling
If you live outside of the photographer's city, convincing a fitness professional that you are a reliable and will show up at their photo shoot is equally important. Being the most muscular guy in the world means little if you are unable to get to the location of the shoot. Avoid making travel a hassle. A busy fitness photographer does not want to speak with your parents, wait until you ask off work from your job, or work with someone who turns visit for a photo shoot into a vacation involving your family and friends. Your role is to get to his studio and then go back home, not ask him to deal with your plans to go surfing or visit Disneyworld while in town.

Travel Costs

If your snapshots and video bio catch the eye of a fitness photographer, he may or may not fly you - at his expense - to be photographed in their studio for a large quantity of photos. If you live outside of a major city like Los Angeles, be prepared to pay your own travel expenses. It may help a career to appear in a fitness magazine - even if you lose money on the deal due to ravel cost. This means it is smart to pay $400 for airfare to get to a big city to pose for a fitness photographer even if you are not being compensated for the assignment. Note: A fitness photographer may not want to pay the added expense for your travel cost if he already has a number of models available in his city and they do not need an airplane flight to get to his photo
shoot. The goal is to get your foot in the door by landing in a fitness magazine. What better reward is there for all that hard work in the gym than a pictorial of that great physique for everyone to admire?

Photographer and or Company Pays Airfare

Yes, there are photographers that will pay for your airfare; but, more often than not, these photographers/companies have a “pay per view” site and make money off of customers willing to pay for the luxury of viewing your photos (NorCalBodz does not have a pay per view site). This does not give any model the exposure he/she deserves, because no reputable company pays to view images of potential models that they might hire. Long story short…. Don’t get fooled into letting, pay per view site, photographers make money off of your fine image. A shoot that pays is great, but a shoot that can get you hired by big companies is even better.

Two Ways to Become a Male Fitness Model

· Work with a well respected photographer and or model management company
· Email or mail informal snapshots of yourself to fitness photographers who shoot exclusively for fitness and muscle magazines. (this can be very time consuming)

Being in Optimal Shape Not Required
If you are changing your training program, cutting weight or bulking up, you can still submit snapshots to photographers. Photographers know that bodybuilders fluctuate in weight before bodybuilding shows. A good photographer can predict how you will look when he is ready to bring you in for a shoot.

Just as you choose a weight class that you expect to be in on the day of a bodybuilding contest, you create snapshots when you are not in optimal condition. You simply inform the photographer that you are X weeks away from competition weight. Professional photographers know that you will be cutting weight and be in condition by the time you arrive for a photo shoot.

Types of Snapshots to Create

If you wish to be considered for fitness modeling opportunities, always include a face shot when shooting audition photos to submit to a fitness magazine or a fitness photographer, but be sure to include audition photos that focus on your abs.

Concentrate on Muscle Groups

When you are asked by a fitness photographer to submit a photo that shows your abs, or any other body part, do just that. Photograph that body part. If he requests photos of your biceps, shoot just your biceps. Your face does not need to be in every photo. Faces are less important and don't even need to be in the photos when a fitness photographer wants to see a body part. When you include your face, it makes your abs smaller in the snapshot. Remember, its well-defined muscle groups that put male fitness models into national fitness magazines. Your need to "show" these muscle groups.