Bodybuilding: The Bulging Popularity of Muscle Building in China

fitness chinese men

The fitness market is driving a greater consumer trend in China in recent years, with the purchase of sports equipment and gym subscriptions. From sports education seen as a very rewarding acquisition of skills, China’s new look at bodybuilding as a manifestation of a healthy life and this sportswear fashion supported by the big brands, watch how China opens up to fitness.

PT/Individual lessons for faster progress

Chinese are very attached to customer service and are ready to invest in their sports education as their income allows them.

China places education very high in its value scale, and group classes generate less enthusiasm than the benefit attributed to individual courses. Faced with the demand for better progress, many sports have resorted to privatized lessons, hence the army of sports coaches in the commercial sense is very developed presently in the clubs. The privatized lesson becomes a norm for those who have the means.

The huge cost of fitness clubs in China

bodybuilding fitness China

The fees to join a club are therefore exorbitant, despite the possibility of negotiating. Six months membership in a Shanghai club is 4500 yen (577 euros depending on the current exchange rate). If this subscription allows independent access to the equipment of the room and its pool without a time limit, many will choose to resort to the supervision of a private coach.

A private fitness lesson to learn how to use bodybuilding equipment requires you to spend 580 ¥ (74 €), up to 680 ¥ (87 €) for a privatized boxing class. Getting your private coach for weekly lessons for six months, therefore, requires an investment of at least ¥ 21,600 (€ 2769), a fortune accessible only to Chinese executives in the metropolis.

There are of course less expensive fitness clubs that offer group classes and less equipment. But having the membership of a luxury fitness club is part of the social prestige, state-of-the-art equipment and the eager follow-up of his private coach are the golden blazon of the Chinese city dweller, who only has one target left to achieve: get muscular to be fully crowned of glory.

Fitness selfies for Wechat post

selfie fitness

Chinese fitness lover has made a routine habit: taking a selfie of their muscles after a workout, facing the mirror in the gym. They make their entourage benefit from their progress every week on their WeChat profile.

The new physical fashion that affects men is the one of a bodybuilder: powerful biceps and chocolate bars are the new criteria to seduce, before the bank account. But this fashion does not spare women either: those who do not have flat stomachs and muscular arms are not immune to some mockery.

The ultimate asset of seduction is the bounced buttock by the gym practice, again an influence of the West. This is all the truer since the Chinese have morphologically less developed forms than Westerners, which makes the exercise more difficult to achieve a noticed result.

This fashion of sports selfies also makes it possible to show that we have an extra-professional activity that is engaging, rewarding, and fulfilling, three advantages that give face in society. The race for muscular physical appearance is a group effect exacerbated by these exchanges of selfies on Wechat. This pressure is well accepted: China stimulates competition and encourages comparison with its neighbor in order to surpass itself.

Sportswear fashion supported by Western brands but chinese brands growing fast

For its latest 2018 Chinese New Year campaign, H&M has chosen to highlight the two stars of the romantic TV series Eternal Love, Yang Mi and Mark Chao. We find the star with an all-red tones baseball cap and a sweatshirt dress.

Sportswear is fashionable in China, a trend strongly supported by sportswear brands such as Adidas and Nike, but also ready-to-wear brands like Pull & Bear and Forever 21. Invariably found striped sweatshirts fluorescent in the men’s and women’s collections, if not gaudy colors red or yellow with monochrome tiles way Formula 1 or the effigy of champions on white T-shirts.

Sportswear apparel in China is actually perceived as casual: it is not inappropriate to wear duck blue sports sneakers with its work outfit or to hang out in jogging and baseball cap. Women now easily wear sportswear clothing. For men, the Lecoq Sportif T-shirts sell well: the Chinese consider them as an association of sport and French elegance.

Another trend, trellis, and camouflage are available on all clothing: associated with endurance and physical effort, the military aspect of the green garment has a very positive connotation of strength.

Read as well: Guide to Market a Sportswear Brand in China

Fitness Mobile apps to practice at home

To counter the exorbitant cost of fitness clubs, many free applications for smartphones can let you get trained at home, with training programs using video clips. Chinese are known for their autonomy in learning, this solution suits them more than Westerners, who feel a greater need to be followed up.

Because a champion well-known to have won many titles in a discipline is always more seller, most of these applications stage a national champion and also bear its name. For example, the application of the Chinese boxing champion Zou Shi Ming: three times crowned world champion in its category and holder of two Olympic titles, its mobile application 邹 市 明 拳击 燃脂 (Zou Shi Ming Quan Ji Ran Zhi, literally: burning calories with boxing Zou Shi Ming) allows users to practice boxing at home with a few exercises.

Read more about fitness apps in China

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5 comments

  • https://contentrally.com/top-10-muscle-strength-building-exercise-home/

    All exercises are not treated equally. Some exercises are meant for building muscle and strength and most of us think that the only way we can do that is picking up a pair of heavyweights at the gym. But the truth is you can build muscle and strength at home too and without picking any weight, just picking up your own body weight can notch up your muscle building strength way higher!Yes, we know that most of us do not have enough time to exercise at the gym, “I am just too busy.” That’s the excuse we all give, but what if you can exercise your whole body with simple body moves? Just a few minutes of your daily routine and you are pretty much sorted. Try this ultimate muscle and strength building workouts to get a lean and ripped body. These 10 moves are all you need!

  • Progress pictures are always a source of motivation.

  • Great! I really like Fitness Selfie. When I see this post i want to become like this. Thanks for Sharing Us

  • Thanks marketing to China to sharing such an informative post about bodybuilding in China . Your site is great &helpful content.

  • Nice! The article is worth reading and sharing bookmarked for future references and hope for more helpful posts coming from the author. Thanks for sharing

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