Fitness guru Scott Herman is reaching out to a new audience with his partnership with Lionsgate BeFit! (Photo courtesy of Scott Herman)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
Jake’s Take is proud to welcome back fitness icon Scott Herman!
The Boston-based fitness guru recently relaunched his website: ScottHermanFitness.com (SHF) and partnered with Lionsgate BeFit to release a line of fitness DVDs.
I recently had the chance to talk about his new ventures and talked to him about the chances of competing in a bodybuilding contest for this edition of Catching Up.
Jacob Elyachar: How have you changed as an athlete since the last time we spoke?
Scott Herman: I think that the biggest change that I implemented is my meal plan. I used to be on a high carb meal plan because at the time, I was very active and ran around a gym constantly. Now, I spend a lot more time on the computer editing videos. I want to make sure that I stay lean because I put on a little bit more body fat. If you watched my earlier videos, I weighted a little less than I do now. However, I was a lot leaner.
So, I switched my diet completely to super high protein. I consume anywhere between 230 to 250 grams of protein everyday and I cut my carb consumption down from 400 to 150 grams. I saw a huge transformation in the last two months from doing that. I have been able to continue to build muscle, increased my strength and still held onto my endurance.
JE: You have two exciting ventures ahead. I would like to start with your website. Why did you decide to relaunch the SHF website?
SH: My original website’s purpose was to post exercises, routines and other pieces of information. I wanted to transform the website into a place where users can build a profile, interact with their friends and make it into their own social media platform.
I tried to make my social media platform exciting for users. You have a personal avatar that you can customize and you can also upload your routines, meal plans and max reps. Your friends can visit your profile and see all your progress, photos and videos and that is just the tip of the iceberg. We have a lot more stuff coming in the next five to six months. The community is going to be blown away by the changes. One new addition to the site is that I have a live video feed…where I can basically show people how to exercise live and maybe even answer questions on the spot.
Scott Herman relaunched his fitness website and hopes that his community continues to grow. (Logo courtesy of Scott Herman)
JE: With the launch of the new SHF website, how important will community building be to the next chapter of your fitness endeavors?
SH: Community building has always been the most important factor to SHF’s success. With the new website platform I transformed SHF.com into a community where everyone helps each other. Anyone who comes in with a negative attitude or bad intentions quickly realizes that we do not put up with that and will be banned from the site instantly. I want everyone to be happy and excited about working towards their goals in a place where they are met with a constant support system.
JE: Speaking of community, your community of Hermanites will be growing at a faster rate with your new partnership with Lionsgate BeFit. How did this partnership come about?
SH: Basically, I got a call from their development department to see if I wanted to work with them on a video series through their YouTube channel “BeFit”. When I got on the phone with them and we talked about the video series, Lionsgate BeFit told me that they wanted to put DVD quality videos onto YouTube. I thought it was very exciting deal to be a part of. Lionsgate is one of the biggest companies in the fitness industry and are behind some of the biggest fitness shows and DVDs ever.
I flew out to Los Angeles and we filmed a few series including The 30 Day Six Pack Abs and literally three weeks later, they flew me back out to film the BeFit in 30 EXTREME Series. Once, we started talking negotiations and becoming partners, that is when we started talking about turning the YouTube videos into a DVD series.
JE: What is your main goal with your partnership with Lionsgate BeFit?
SH: The Lionsgate BeFit franchise has more of a female audience. I hope I can continue to grow the female side of my fanbase by doing more activities with them. My main goal with the Lionsgate BeFit partnership is to build my brand and making it more of a household name. It is going to be a lot easier for me to do that by creating DVDs and having them in stores like Amazon.com, Best Buy and Target, so my DVDs can be in homes across the country. Also, it is a huge honor to be a part of the Lionsgate family. The opportunities are endless. They could call me tomorrow and ask me to be a part of a TV show. There is so much that could happen with them…it’s exciting! (Laughs)
JE: What has gotten to this point in your career, Scott…is your YouTube channel. How will you incorporate your YouTube channel with your latest business endeavors?
SH: When I made the announcement, some of my fans were really excited that I was partnering with Lionsgate. But they were worried that I was not going to post on YouTube anymore. That is not the case at all! My YouTube channel is always going to be strong. Even when I travel across the country or have to do a lot of tasks during a long period of time, I will make sure that my channel is constantly updated. If I have to be in Los Angeles for a month, I will make sure to find a gym I can film in…so I can shoot my videos. I think that my fans are going to receive more content because of this incredible opportunity and they should not be worried that I will brush off this channel. I started my business through my channel and that is where it will always be! I will always be making exercise videos and quick-tip videos to help the community out.
JE: Through social media, fans have noticed that you attended several bodybuilding conventions such as Olympia. Have you thought about competing in the fitness shows? Why or why not?
SH: In the beginning, I was never that interested in competing on the stage…it was not for me…at the time. I was more focused on my YouTube channel and rebuilding my website. Now that everything is going so well and I am going to a lot more shows, I am pretty interested in trying to get on stage in one of the physique competitions.
I am not interested in being a huge bodybuilder. When I go on stage it will be in the “Physique” category. In this category you have to be as proportional as possible as opposed to just being huge. For me, that sounds like a lot of fun and I know my fans have been dying to see me on the stage. I plan on doing my first competition locally (in Boston) and I want to start to train in 2014 and be on stage that year.
JE: How has your social media presence grown since the last time we talked?
SH: My social media presence has grown a lot. Probably the biggest growth spurt my social media networks experienced was when I was at the Olympia. During all four days, I think I gained 3,000 fans alone on my Facebook page… that was crazy! I realized my community has been responding well to all of the quick tips and recipes that I have been posting.
JE: Why should fitness fanatics use your new site and look forward to the Lionsgate BeFit series?
SH: People should use the Lionsgate BeFit series because not only are the DVDs are high quality…but they can easily perform these exercises at home. All you need to do is pop the DVD in and as long as you have enough room to move around, you can do the entire series.
As far as the SHF website, it is a 100-percent custom-made site that is geared towards community. When you log into the site, you enter your height, weight and stats. Plus, you can upload your personal videos and photos while building an avatar. You are basically creating yourself on a fitness site as opposed to going to a website just to see workout videos. This site will help you find people who are just like you or starting out and it is going to allow you to go to a place where you can receive the help you need to reach your goals.
You can connect with Scott on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!
