Abstract

Articles for men on fitness, exercise, nutrition, grooming tips, fashion, new products and men's health questions.
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Reviews (34)

Not as good as it used to be
I don't know if it's that my weight lifting has taken me to more of an advanced stage, but I no longer find myself as eager to dive into "Men's Health" each month as I used to be. The magazine has changed somewhat over the years. Sure it still has some good articles about training, and so on. In fact, it has just about everything "Playboy" has going for it, except the nude pictorials and fiction. But "Men's Health" has become a little bland. It is not aimed at hardcore weight lifters, and often of late it seems to be aimed at people in the upper echelon of subscribers, pushing high-priced gear and clothing that someone who works in the real world may not be able to buy. The magazine's publishers used to point with pride to the fact that they were based in rural Pennsylvania and as a result in touch with the average man. You don't get that feeling anymore. Also, some of what they tell you has to be taken with a grain of salt. Little training tips they'll drop in may have merit, but need to be part of a much larger picture. Doing a squat will help get larger legs, but there's more to it than that, and sometimes in the interest of brevity, the magazine falls short. Still, you'll find a lot of interest in each issue. Here's hoping it will one day be a five-star magazine again.

Very Good
MAGAZINE REVIEW:

The magazine has plenty of good articles on health, exercise, nutrition, sex, etc.

This is one of the few magazines that I can actually read from cover to cover; it has tips on how to fight off sickness (i.e. cold, flu, etc.), how to exercise--I've found out what I've been doing wrong in my workouts as a result, and how to please a woman.

If you're interested work-out tips like I am, this magazine offers some but not enough... For extensive work-out tips, I suggest you go get "Exercise&Health"; in my opinion, "Exercise&Health" has the best work-out tips, and the magazine has lots of them! For general health, however, I recommend "Men's Health".

Great Magazine
I don't think this is the BEST men's magazine out there, but I think the magazine is pretty decent. I paid about $12 for a year's subscription through a magazine wholesaler and I think it's worth that much, maybe even more. Definitely worth a try.

An excellent second choice
There was no way I could get a subscription to Playgirl without my roommates catching on, so I settled for Men's Health. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it is close enough, and I can leave it around the apartment without arousing (no pun intended) suspicion. Heck, the other guys even read it occasionally. If you're in my situation, you'll find Men's Health to be right up your alley. I just have one bone to pick with the editors: too much black and white photography! Where are the full-color abs? Spring for some color, gents, it's the 21st century.

sad to agree with "sad demise"
I wish it wasn't so, but it is. "Sad demise" hit the nail on the head. I used to be a faithful subscriber and even gave annual subscriptions to my 2 sons and son-in-law for Christmas. One by one they have asked me to drop or change the subscription. While there are still a few worthwhile items in each issue, the erosion of value is swift. Dittos on Greg Gutfeld too, I really miss his contributions. ... Read more

Abstract

Edited for the mature runner who takes his sport seriously. Articles on keeping in touch with the running world, upcoming events and helpful hints on the sport.
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Reviews (15)

Monthly Motivation
Runner's world is a very traditional magazine with geared towards mostly a middle-aged audience. The authors manage to give the same advice every month and make it sound different. That may be one of the things that makes this magazine so motivational. I keep reading about people who have run every day for the last fifty years or who run in 30 below weather, and I wonder what's keeping me off the roads.

The Rave Run two page spread photographs are lovely. They each show a runner in a really cool environment with a quote. I have some of them hanging on my wall. I get especially motivated by the one of a man running through the woods when the trees are coated with ice and the ground blanketed with snow. It looks so beautiful, who wouldn't want to go out and run. The ask the expert or Q&A section has the most diverse and informative information from month to month mostly because the questions come from readers and the answers come for a variety of experts. The nutrition section isn't particularly useful. The science seems simplified to the point that it isn't exactly true, and the suggested menu for one of the carbohydrate dinners starts out with 1 cup broiled swordfish along with five or six other things; not really practical in my opinion.

Runner's World has a nice coverage of racing events past (results) and future (racing calendars), and my hometown of Boulder, CO is mentioned somewhere at least once per issue :). Runner's World encourages everyone to be a winner even if he or she doesn't finish first. It is full of tips for beginners just staring to run and more advance information about training for seasoned amateurs. Some of the information is useful and some is not, but there is enough useful information to make reading worthwhile.

Real Motivator and Educator
I've been reading Runner's World for about three years now. It seems that whenever my motivation hits an all time low another magazine will end up in my mailbox. After reading half of the magazine I am forced to put on my running shoes and hit the streets.

There are many educational benefits I receive from these magazines. I enjoy their training tips to help me improve my running time. I enjoy their list of races in the back of issue so I can plan what I want to run next in my geographic area.

Most importantly, I highly appreciate the safety tips that are included. Running can be very hard on your body, as most of my cross country team learned in high school. This should become standard reading for high school students. I wish my coach had gone through an issue every month with us, highlighting how to run safely while diminishing run times.

If you run, get this magazine. If you don't run but would like to, visit their educational web page to get an idea how to start and then subcribe to the magazine so, like me, you are reminded to get off your duff and hit the streets.

Only one issue's experience
I bought the issue because I was told there was an article about beginning runners training for their first half marathon. The article was mentioned on the cover. It turned out to be a fluff piece giving reasons why it was better to run a half marathon than a full one for your first long race. I didn't find a lot more depth. Motivational, some general ideas, but I didn't come away with a lot of technical information.

Your Best Friend
Sometimes you need a friend to help you out the door and to motivate you to start your running program. This magazine did exactly that for me. Along with its thorough web-site, runnersworld.com, I started a running program that took me from running two minutes at a time to running a 5K (3miles) in twenty-two minutes in only fifteen weeks. Unlike many other magazines, this one does not over burden you with excessive advertisements and random space fillers. All articles are helpful and cover a broad spectrum of practical and entertaining subjects. The best magazine I have ever encountered, you won't be able to put it down!

Education, motivation, how to and information
Doesn't get much better than this. This magazine knows its focus and cuts right to the chase. Nothing extraneous here, solely about running. Great shoe reviews and good how-to especially for beginners. ... Read more

Abstract

The super fitness and health magazine aimed at the bodybuilder with articles on equipment, workouts and trainers, training, conditioning, pain, profiles, and new products.
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Reviews (24)

A mixed bag
I thought some readers might benefit from the perspective of a beginner/intermediate weight trainer. I use this magazine for little more than getting ideas for new exercises so that my routine doesn't get stale. In that sense, Muscle and Fitness is a treasure trove of information on new and interesting ways to work out. Some of the routines are inappropriate for beginners or even intermediate lifters, but the principles remain the same. There is a great emphasis on proper form and a general disapproval of lifting heavier weights than you are capable. Exercises are well described with examples of proper form and thorough explanations provided by professionals. As a previous reviewer said, these professionals sometimes contradict one another, but as in any profession, opinions differ and all that can be done is to present the information and allow the reader to judge what is best for them.

Having said that, there is bad with the good. There are an enourmous number of multi-page ads for supplements, often posing as articles. Some of these are of dubious benefit and often make outrageous claims. 90% of these are useless for the general user (I have no interest in spending outrageous amounts of money to build muscle while I sleep) though I imagine a professional would be interested in anything that might help them gain a slight competitive edge. In my opinion there are too many ads which tend to distract from genuine articles. There is also great emphasis on building mass and losing fat - if you are thinking about subscribing to this magazine you should be far more concerned about the "muscle" aspect than the "fitness".

So, in conclusion, there is some good and some bad. You may be better off just buying two or three of these magazines if you are only looking for ideas to add variety to your workouts. After a while the articles start to repeat themselves.

Muscle and fitness
I've subscribed several years but now want something different. Because I work for a living and can't plan 6 meals a day and hours in the gym like these guys/gals do-I want a fitness magazine tailored to the working man, not the gym guy without a job guy. Also, it seems like a lot of this magazine is advertising for protein powders and supplements.
If you don't have a job, plan on spending your daily routines around the gym so you can get big and grotesque like these fitness models, then this is the magazine for you.

Rip-Off!
I'm referring to the U.K version of this magazine but my sentiments are the same as that written by most of the other reviewers. This mag has deteriorated so much over the last few years. I recent;y discouraged my son from reading this magazine as it almost resembled a soft porn mag! Also, if you were to follow the routines in this magazine, you will just end up overtrained and frustrated with your lack of results. Why? the rotuines listed here only work if you have 6 days a week and two hours a day to train. and it also requires that you live on supplements! Most of the 'champs' feautured in this magazine are just paid to say they use the supplements. in reality they are all surgically enhanced and are on large amounts of anabolic hormones. There is no way the routines in this mag will work for typical people. please look elsewhere!

Mostly Ads and Freaks of Nature
Since the recent decline of Men's Fitness, there really isnt't a reliable, realistic montly men's workout magazine. I picked up a copy of Muscle and Fitness, just for some workout tips and ideas, as I remembered when I read the magazine in the 80's that it was quite good.
Now it's quite full of ads.
From the same 4 or 5 companies.
As an experiment I ripped out every page in the the magazine that had ads on both sides. I ended up ripping out 90 pages.
90 pages!
Out of a magazine with 266 pages.
A full one third of this magazine is ads that fool people into taking crappy, expensive supplements so that they will end up looking like Ahnold (who has joined the magazine as Executive Editor).
You'd be better off by picking up one book for workout (like Body Sculping For Men or Women), one book for nutrition (like Eat to Live by Fuhrman) and save your money and your time.
You get a great looking body by eating healthy and working out regularly, not by gulping down supplements popping pills.

Sham advice!!
Hi, i've been browsing this magazine on and off for a number of years now and all i can say is this magaizine is designed to make a quick commercial killing. I mean i saw an article back in 97 i think which said- Big arms- the surest way to get them. but if u pick up a current issue you will see it rehashed again! This is fairly typical for almost all the articles. Plus 75% of the magazine is full of ads for useless supplements mostly from the publisher of the mag. Plus any reasonably intelligent person knows that all the'champs' feautured in this mag are gentic freaks who would grow on any routine and are loaded with every steroid known. but this is never stated anywhere in the magazine. plus these guys are termed healthy, this is bull as almost all these 'champs' have severe health problems and some of them have died recently due to severe drug abuse. bottom line is this, there is very little to be gained from this magazine from a muscle building point of view! In all fairness they do have good articles about improving you sex life and some decent recipes but you don't have to read this mag for that now do you?
some reviewers have recommended books by stuart mcRobert which i strongly endorse if you are serious about building size and strength safely and sensibly. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Is this what your really looking for?
Flex is a great magazine. I'm not afraid to say it, but what I am afraid to say is that every person in this magazine is on about a thousand dollar a month steroid budget. I liked the training tips given, however, and I think that the routines are well-rounded, and give people much more muscle. If you are an incredibly intense musclehead, then this magazine is for you. If you are intrested in looking good rather then having "sick" biceps then try a magazine like Muscle and Fitness, a more fitness diversified magazine.

Happy 20th anniversary Flex!
Having been in the Iron Game for nearly 40 years, I have seen the Weider magazines transition from Mr. America, All American Athlete, Muscle Power, Muscle Builder, and Vigor to Muscle & Fitness and Flex.

I bought the very first issue of Flex. For the record, Chris Dickerson was on the cover and wow has Flex evolved since that first issue.

And so has the sport of bodybuilding. Physiques have gotten bigger but I am not sure they have gotten better. In my mind, Arnold is still the greatest of all time based on size, symetry, shape and muscularity.

I enjoyed the piece on Lou Ferrigno as well. It is almost a shame that he got the role of the Incredible Hulk which curtailed his bodybuilding career but I am not sure that Big Lou would have gone much further than he did. Robby Robinson handily defeated Ferrigno at the MASTERS MR. O in 1993/1994 and would have taken Louie in the 70's. So would have Columbo and Zane.

In another regard, Serge Nubret is listed as a darkhorse and squeezed Lou into third place behind Arnold with the Black Panther Nubret a close second. Are the publishers aware that Serge Nubret won his height class in the 1960 IFBB Mr. Universe narrowly losing to the legendary Chuck Sipes and defeating AAU Mr. America/NABBA Mr. Universe Ray Schaeffer? Or that Nubret finished 2nd in the 1964 NABBA PRO Mr. Universe and third in the 1972 IFBB Mr. Olympia behind Arnold and Sergio but ahead of Franco Columbu and Frank Zane. Nubret could hardly be called a darkhorse---He had been competing at the highest level before Arnold, Oliva, Zane, Columbu or Ferrigno even started training!

Nubret ranks right up there with Arnold and Oliva. At his best he had muscularity and a aesthetic physique. He was sort of like a cross between Arnold and Zane. Aside from having a world class physique, Nubret was also a world class promoter/ambassador for the sport of bodybuilding and was primarily responsible for building the IFBB in Europe back in the 70's. Flex should do a article on this legend.

Other than that, Flex was a great issue and I am looking forward to being a reader for many years to come.

About SERGIO OLIVA in new issue of Flex.....
I am glad to see that the Weiders are once again featuring The Myth-Sergio Oliva in the mainstream Weider publications.

Oliva made quite an impact back in the 60's. He had an an incredible V-shape and was huge. When Sergio hit a most muscular shot--it was positively mind blowing! Then Oliva would throw those huge arms overhead and hit his signature pose which nobody could come close to.

My only complaint with the articles was the inference that Sergio won NABBA/WABBA and WBBG shows against "mediocre" competition?

Serge Nubret, Bertil Fox, Kalman Szkalak, Dave Johns and Tony Pearson, just to name a few, could hardly be called "mediocre" competition. Nubret beat Ferrigno, Zane, Columbo and others and all of the above mentioned men were Mr. Universe winners.

Szkalak beat Mike Mentzer for the IFBB Mr. Universe and Dave Johns beat Casey Viator for the NABBA Mr. Universe.

In 1976, Dan Lurie's WBBG organization, hosted a Pro show called 'Mr. Olympus that rivalled that years 'Mr Olympia. Oliva won that beating Nubret, Tony Emott (Pro Mr. Universe) Chris Dickerson among others.

Flex mag is a great hardcore mag. Great you are doing features on Oliva, how about doing one on Nubret and Draper now.

Depending on what your looking for....
Yes FLEX is a good magazine (I've been a subscriber for many years), however it depends on what is it that you're looking for in weightlifting and nutrition. If you inspire to look like these gentlemen on the covers of FLEX, ok. But if your looking to be fit, eat healthy, be active, FLEX might be a little to much for you. After a while you'll realize that you will not (and would not want to) look like most of these giants of the sport. On a positive side, the pictures and routines are very helpfull and motivating. And their nutrition articles are helpfull too.

Definitely the BEST BodyBuilding mag.
I have read numerous bodybuilding mags over the past few years and Flex is the Best out there. Great infos on nutrition, excerise and pics. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Ideas on how to improve yourself
Many people will find this magazine shallow, but I don't really believe them. I am reading it non stop since the last semester, and I have to recognize it's well-written, it has great articles on health issues so guys can understand it; for example, there was a story on heart disease which was very compelling and informative. You will find exercises there if you want to pump up, I have been using them for a while and mixing them up as a routine I can follow and I'm pleased for the results; it's a nice first step if you're a beginner but then you'll have to take it a little forward. It has a simple, no-nonsense and humorous attitude which makes it even more enjoyable to read. I think it's good for your money's worth. just don't take the relationships articles way too seriously (by the way, they're NOT intended to be taken seriously) ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Different.
So, looking to get really buff and wanting a magazine for some tips? Well there is Men's Workout among the wide variety of choices out there. I think they have really good tips, like useful things to know about grooming or stretching or losing weight. I've noticed sometimes they reuse their workout tips though and sometimes there isn't too much information. However, some may not mind because it is compensated by pictures of guys. With a glossy design and pretty men, Men's Workout may be the perfect magazine. If you prefer something very informative to the workout/exercise related field, try a different one like Men's Health.

Great Motivation
Detailed, and very extensive. I personally find this magazine more motivating, than informive (although the workout examples are good none-the-less). I like having more images than text, and most of the models drive me to improve my own body. Some people may find the images somewhat "revealing", but for those who appriciate the male physique regardless of social barriers will come to appriciate this magazine.

Pleasantly Aroused and Inspired
I am a new subscriber to your magazine and I must admit that the models are absolutely inspiring for me. The detailed exercises are also a sure way of evolving your body into a work of art. Im not Picaso or Davinci for that matter, but I'll be damned if I dont create a work of art...with Men's Workout of course... did I mention that I can't help but get aroused at the same time?

Great Magazine
excellent magazine of its type. The color and feel of the the magazine are topnotch. I find the pictures of the male physic are very well done and show the exercises very well. There are more photos than dialog, which is great. I like visual along with explanation of what is going on. It makes more sense to me than trying to visulize what is sometimes being said.

Workouts for an alternative lifestyle with good taste
I don't write long reviews
If you're ... you will find the pictures inside
very suggestive and beautifull but, that doesn't take away from the fact that the same pictures will inspire any member of the male species (... or straight) into trying to achieve a better body,and the exercises depicted within do truly work. ... Read more