Fitness Magazines – Men’s or Women’s?
Posted at 18:00 in Review
A little overdue but I promised a review of the women’s fitness magazine that I bought and said I would write a comparison to the men’s fitness magazines that I also read.
I will be comparing:
- Cover information
- Nutritional advice
- Fitness advice
- Other health advice
- Overall motivation after reading
.
Women’s Fitness
Cover:
I have to admit, the cover of this magazine really did not draw me in at all. The only reason I purchased it was to give it a fair try and see if it compares in any way to Men’s Fitness. With slogans emblazoned on the cover such as “Tone up with tennis”, “Sculpt your shape” and “8 easy fat burners” I wasn’t expecting much to be honest. However, it wasn’t all bad. They also claim to help you “Beat bingeing forever” and have a “Pro-Age Special” with articles on how to boost your brain, time-fighting superfoods and no-needle beauty.
The model on the cover would not inspire me at all to be honest, she doesn’t have the body type that I aspire to and is very thin with very little muscle definition.
Nutritional Advice:
The thing I did like about Women’s Fitness is that they didn’t include crappy 1200 calorie diet plans like most other female fitness mags. There are a few articles about nutrition throughout the magazine such as 6 ways to de-stress with food, Going organic – is it worth it? and a Staying Young Recipe section which includes a decent range of tasty sounding meals.
Fitness Advice:
There were some pretty good fitness tips and advice throughout the magazine including several exercise plans. There was a section on running which contained some useful information, a kit free workout, and an “exercise of the month” section featuring the deadlift – shame the model demonstrating it was using a crappy weighted bar and not a proper barbell. The one thing that did grate on me a little is that the dreaded Tone word was used freely throughout the entire magazine, including a section entitled Shape up in 6 weeks written by a personal trainer claiming to help women “get toned at home”.
There was a good section for those that want to get fit for tennis including a range of exercises that will complement training. There was also an article on powerplate training.
Other Health Advice:
There was quite a lot of other general health advice in this magazine and I enjoyed reading it. They included Why do we overeat, Adult anorexia, Know your limits (about alcohol), Understanding diabetes and 3 ways to treat migraines.
The articles were well written and easy to read.
Overall Motivation After Reading:
Did I feel motivated and inspired after reading this magazine? Not really. It was a pleasant enough read but in my truthful opinion, there was too much fluff and not enough quality content. It did read very similar to most other female fitness magazines on the market and the only thing that stands this one apart from any of the others that I have read is that this magazine promotes strength training. It’s just a shame they have to trick women by calling it “toning”.
Would I buy it again? No, it’s not for me.
Men’s Fitness
Cover:
I prefer the cover on Men’s Fitness, not only because of the hunk with abs of steel but because the slogans are more likely to attract me to it. Abs made easy, Instant tips to power up your squat and Wild Fitness – Get fast and strong without the gym are articles that would make me want to buy this.
Nutritional Advice:
I have always trusted much of the nutritional advice given out in Men’s Fitness and I really like that they publish a diet plan every month to coincide with an article they have written about – this month was 35 low cost meals to help you lose fat on a budget. There is also articles on 6 dangers of being too skinny, 6 pack on a plate and Eat to build muscle.
Fitness Advice:
The thing I absolutely *LOVE* about Men’s Fitness is the range of exercise they cover. It’s not all about pumping iron! In this issue alone there are articles on Fell Running, Improving grip strength, Off road biking, Sailing on a catamaran, Getting fit in nature without the gym (including log carrying, rock climbing heaving rocks!), The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, Six Pack Science, Pyramid Training, Mastering the Pull Up, Range of Motion, Building bigger biceps and a Kettlebell speed circuit.
As you can see, you get a lot more fitness advice from this magazine and less guff like in the female version.
The thing I also love about Men’s Fitness is that they have their own team who participate in various races and endurance events all over the world and write about them in each issue. Team MF took part in Off road biking, Wolf Trek – an epic outdoor challenge across 72.4km of Highland Wilderness, A leg of the iShares cup – a series of catamaran races across Europe and Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.
Other Health Advice:
There were no articles on general health like there were in Women’s Fitness and I think this might be good for MF to include. However, as it’s a male orientated magazine I doubt reading about how to get an erection or stop yourself from going bald would interest me ;-)
Overall Motivation After Reading:
I read this magazine from cover to cover and do so with all the issues of Men’s Fitness that I purchase. There is always such a fantastic range of information and advice covered that it really does hold my interest. Reading MF always makes me want to get out and do something different.
Would I buy it again? Absolutely!
So, as you can see, my brief encounter with female fitness magazines is over – I’ll stick to the dudes’ version thanks!
I’d love to hear what you think about “Men’s Health”. I tried “Men’s Fitness” a while back and found it a tiny bit too much for me, but when I tried “Men’s Health” I found it a lot more tongue-in-cheek; OK it’s a -lot- less specifically focussed on nutrition and fitness and there are a few “how to get her into bed” articles, but I actually quite enjoyed those and found it a lot easier to engage with the whole tone of the magazine and there was lots of stuff on workouts and pieces on nutrition, including recipes, giving “muscle gain” and “fat loss” versions of recipes.
Anyway, I’m rambling. I totally agree about the fluffiness and annoying over-use of the word “tone” in “Women’s Fitness” as well :o)
I’ve never read Men’s Health but have flicked through it before and something has always put me off buying it – I think it’s because to me, it’s the Men’s version of something like Cosmo. I think the MH forums have also put me off buying it as there are so many, erm, “interesting” people over there :-D I might give it a try though, just for you!
I think you might be right there on the Cosmo thing ;o)
Gee, it never occurred to me to buy a Men’s fitness magazine, but now I’m going to do it. I usually buy Women’s fitness magazines more for motivation then for the actual content, but its sounds like the publications geared to men could contain alot of inspirational material as well.
And, I agree with you, I’d rather stare at the hunk on the cover of the men’s fitness magazine, then the lavender glad just-post-teen chick on the women’s magazine.
Hi! It never did to me until a few years ago another girl recommended MF to me and I never looked back. Do let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by :)
I know “toned” is your hated thing, and i understand but i guess the majority of people reading these mags etc arent overly educated in the fitness world so “toned” is what they understand as defined or lean or whatever! It would take alot of explaining each time they mentioned it and its alot easier to say “toned” than to do that – and most readers just want to know how not why! (obviously that doesnt apply to alot of us here) people always come to me and say they want to be “toned” i dont often explain in detail as they just arent interested they just want to achieve the look!
For some reason your blog doesnt update on my list even though i re added it when you changed it ages ago?
Sx
Hey hun, yeah, you know me and the dreaded “T” word :-) I totally get other people understanding what they mean when they say “toned” but I just wish the word would die already. It doesn’t bother me so much when people use it in the context of wanting to “look toned” but when people bang on about not building muscle but just toning, or I’m doing high reps to tone – that’s when it bugs me, especially when it’s said by so-called trainers!
Not sure why my blog doesn’t update for you though :(
i got a zest subscription for xmas. I tut constantly while flicking lol
Haha so it’s not just me :D
oh and I buy mens fitness too, not religously probably every other month, mens health by mistake once which wasnt as good.
MF really is a great read, I love that they cover so many different sports. I’m going to give MH a try, just to see what it’s like :D
Hey! You have come at this in an interesting way actually! Nver thought about the fact that women wouldn\’t be drawn in by women like fit sally there. As for the men’s. I would perhaps be drawn because I;d want to look like him. Myabe men and women really are different! haha
Hi James, I guess many women would be drawn in by the female model – I just wasn’t. I found her a tad on the skinny side for my liking and would much rather see a fitness model such as Jamie Eason on there :D
[...] really interesting to read everyone’s thoughts on the Men’s VS Women’s Fitness Magazine debate – do keep your thoughts [...]
Really good post, I might actually give Men’s fitness a try and see what I think. I do like my girly health mags but I think as you get more seriously into health and fitness they don’t really give you anything new and can come across as being full of ‘fluff’ articles. Plus if I get mens fitness and leave it lying around my hubby might pick it up for a read and get even more inspired! (He’s already lost 2 st bless him!) x
It’s true Laura, when I believed in the whole low fat, diet food craze, I loved female fitness mags. It’s only as I have learned what I know now that they really don’t appeal to me as much. They do make for a nice, fluffy read though :)
I really enjoy reading fitness mags for men – I find a lot of the articles more appealing than a women’s mag, there seems to be more of a focus on strength and challenging yourself rather than weight loss or appearance. Having said that, I love BodyFit magazine which is aimed at women! :)
I don’t think I’ve ever read BodyFit magazine Becky, is it a UK magazine? Where do you get it?
Hey, just read your review. Been reading the women version for a few month now. Might give the men’s one a go.
Hey sweets, let me know what you think! I’m not saying the women’s version is bad, I enjoyed it, I just found it a bit too “fluffy” for my tastes. The men’s version isn’t sugar coated :D
Personally, I love Men’s Fitness! Unlike other magazines loaded with nothing but pictures of what “I cant be”. This magazine has good articles focused on healthy living!
I love MF too – it’s a great resource :D
Hey, just came across your blog. Glad to see I’m not the only one reading Men’s Fitness! Its such a pity there is not a womens mag that has a similar outlook as I think finally people are realising all this ‘low weight, high rep so you dont bulk up’ is a fallacy. I’ve read Bodyfit, Womens Fitness and Health & Fitness mags and whilst they are ok for general articles, I wish they would have strength (and not 1kg pastel coloured weights!) exercises. Then I might not be the only girl in the gym who dares infiltrating the free weights section (though thats only when its not busy and I’m feeling brave!).
Top tip – if you shop around you can often get the mags on 3 for £1 or 3 for £3 – you can sign up for the trial issues then cancel your direct debit if you dont want to carry on subscribing.
Hi Dawn, hurrah, it’s so good to see someone else that loves Men’s Fitness. I completely agree with everything you have written – I have a major hate for pastel dumbbells! I’ll have a look around at getting them on special offer – I used to subscribe to MF until the hoiked up the price.
Thanks so much for reading :)
[...] was contacted by someone from Body Fit magazine after they came across my comparison of men’s & women’s fitness magazines. They thought their magazine would suit me more than most of the other female fitness mags on the [...]