| Product: |
Men's Health |
| Date: |
14/08/01 (95 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Contains info on all aspects of health and fitness, very readable
Disadvantages: can become repetitive over time
Picture the scene – You decide that it is about time you started to get fit (if you are already fit – then maybe its time for a new program) and want to get a couple of magazines to give you some information and inspiration. So off to the newsagents you go and find the sports section - but what to choose? You’ve got martial arts magazines (obsessed with hitting people and Bruce-Lee worship), Body-Building Magazines (do you really want to look like those guys on the cover – even the women are as scary as hell), various sports magazines (football, rugby, sailing etc etc) and, finally, magazines like Men’s Health.
As far as I remember Mens Health was one of the first magazine of it’s kind (or maybe just the only one of it’s kind that my local WH Smiths stocked) – and is a breath of fresh air. It contains information on all facets of health and fitness – training tips, diet and nutrition, medical advice, the obligatory ‘improve your sex life’ articles that seem to appear it most men’s magazines as well as various feature articles. I have found that the articles will appeal to a range of people – from complete beginners to really serious exercise freaks to those of us who just want to look and feel a little better.
The blokes on the front cover are obviously very fit but they don’t look like they live in the gym with a drip-fed diet of steroids and protein shakes. Some of them even look like their bodies may be attainable one day (well maybe just the six pack – maybe). I have always got the feeling that the mag is aimed at professionals in their late 20s onwards - or at least people with considerably more money than I have – but saying that – there is a great deal that is relevant to me.
When you have been training for a while – one of the things that you realise is that when you really get down to it – there isn’t real
ly much to it. If you want to lose weight then eat less and do more. If you want to get bigger then lift weights and sort your diet out. If you don’t want to be a lard-mountain then don’t eat chips and burgers every day of your life. Of course there are all sorts of details (how much food should I eat, what should I lift and how? etc etc) – but over time you realise that there is a relatively small core of information you need and the rest is just dressing it up. This can cause problems for a magazine that gives you a full body workout in one issue, combined with a guide to diet and the major health scares men need to be aware of. What’s it going to put in the next issue? Inevitably – over time there is a degree of repetition – after all there are only so many ways you can make your biceps bigger. The great thing about mens health is that it handles this beautifully by coming at these topics from different directions and wrapping them up into a new package.
Of course Men’s Health isn’t just about training. It has all sorts of information in it from the serious (how to check for testicular cancer) to the more lighthearted. I would recommend this magazine to everyone (and not just men) who wants to learn how to improve their lifestyle in anyway.
Summary:
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