Whats with all this fitness lark? (Shape)

Name: machar

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Product:	Shape
Date:	03/10/00 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: sensible practical advice concerned with your health as well as diets

Disadvantages: the supermodels that have to appear!

I somehow won a 6 month subscription to Shape magazine which is just as well as I would never chose to buy it. This doesn't reflect on the magazine itself, its just that I've never had an overwhelming interest in fitness and health. This aside I was impressed with the magazine and the range of articles and topics that it covered. It tries to encompass all areas of health and fitness and almost succeeds.
The main topic areas covered by Shape are -
Getting fit - exercises you can do at home, different types of classes that you may not know much about eg Pilates, a weight loss diary of some poor person so you can know that you are not alone in your weight struggles and also the success stories of people whose weight loss has changed their lives.
Eat right - this covers how to eat properly and healthily and has a wonderful section on how to turn all those naughty recipes into healthier ones without losing taste!
Think healthy- this covers fitness news and spiritual health. It also covers will power which is incredibly important when you are trying to diet or get fit.
Look right - covers beauty advice, beauty product reviews, beauty treatments, fashion and home decorating.
Go places - covers holiday destinations with a fitness slant eg best places for scuba diving.

There are a variety of problem pages including an exercie Q&A by coaches and professional athletes as well as the traditional problem page. This is answered by a psychologist, a hairdresser (!) and a new age guru so the answers can be very interesting but normally boil down to the same thing!

As someone with a passing interest in fitness, I found the magazine to be reader friendly and can be understood by a complete novice. Everything was explained in unambiguous terms which is essential if you are starting out on a new fitness regime for the first time. The advice was sensible and simple and easy to do even if you don't have much time. There was t
he odd superfluous article about some famous supermodel which most of us can easily do without. One thing that did stand out was the number of readers letters from women who had suffered, or were suffering from eating disorders. All these letters praised the magazine and said how much it had helped them. This magazine is one of the few that combines diets with health advice - something that should never be separated.

Overall I think it was a good well balanced magazine with very sensible advice for normal women, a few superfluous articles but easy to pick up and read.

Summary: