Fitness Magazine July/August 2009: A Keeper

August 6, 2009

Not only did I read every page, I will be keeping the issue. This has never happened before. Have your read it? Maybe it’s a new magazine. It says Issue No. 7 inside and it’s published 10 times a year.

Fitness magazine cover July/August 2009.

Celebrities in bikinis has been done and done again. This cover seemed a little more real. This page at Amazon shows the previous issue’s covers (and there are only 7 in total). Click on See Larger Image And Other Views under the picture. Some covers have the requisite barely dressed babes but one doesn’t really expect otherwise. There’s a 1 year subscription at Amazon for $10 in the US only (not fair).

The magazine targets women under 40, maybe under 35, but I still found I could relate to every article.

There was no talk of sex unless it pertained to health or improving body image through strength and personal empowerment. I didn’t have to hide the magazine from my kids. In fact, I encouraged them to read it. This has also only rarely happened with a woman’s magazine before.

The workouts are real and not too hard-core or pumped.

I firmly believe and know and am convinced that

- you can work out without a gym membership

- you can buy great looking clothes without spending a lot

- you can have great skin without buying $50-a-bottle cream

The article Get Slim Without The Gym asks 4 trainers to come up with 4 moves each, using 4 pieces of equipment that cost less than $50 together. Loved it.

There is a great feature on common sports-induced aches, their causes, and their (drug-free) remedies.

The issue is loaded with practical information on how to stay safe and healthy while exercising outdoors. My favorite summer workout is a long fast walk with an elastic strap. Play Away The Pounds shows some great (hard!) moves to incorporate into a walk using a park bench. Slim Down In A Splash does the same in a swimming pool or ocean.

There is another reason many of you will keep this magazine. It’s the Healthy Food Awards. They considered 46,000 products to find the 50 best tasting and healthiest breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert, and drink foods out there.

The website has loads of good stuff too. In the US, you get a year for 6.99. Pete’s sake, sign up! Dear God, here’s a full year for free (limited time so the link may stop working depending on when you try it).

The best thing about this magazine is that it feels like it’s for the real world. It doesn’t harp on the weight loss, I-got-to-a-size-6, thing as much as the health and strength benefits. This is not an anatomy lesson or a journey beyond your outer limits. It is intended, I think, to be a motivator and it does that job well. I learned a lot and felt like none of it was out of reach. Any of us could do it all.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under This Month In ...

Comments

2 Responses to “Fitness Magazine July/August 2009: A Keeper”

Rosalie Weiss on August 6th, 2009 8:58 pm

I get Fitness, Health, and Body and Soul a new Martha Stuart publication. I am 71 yo. Actually after I bought a subscription to Fitness about 1 1/2 years ago I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to use it much since I have had a laminectomy and now just just like last week had a hip replacement—but do find that there are many things in it that are useable and since I really got a great deal on the 3 year subscription am very happy. (like $14.00). Health has a web site called Health.com that is great–good recipes and articles on food. You can get a lot off the web site without the magazine.

There is so much out there that I don’t know how anyone can keep up. Have you heard abut the new Slow Foods movement- involves buying as much locally as possible. Suggest seeing Foods.inc movie if you have a chance.
Rosalie
Christine Scaman on August 11th, 2009 7:51 pm

Hi, Rosalie,
I so agree, there really is too much out there. I feel as though I pick up a few fragments of new knowledge here and there and try to incorporate what seems reasonable into my routines. Health is a good magazine too. When the subscription is cheap, and there are some amazing deals in the US, it’s worth it to read even half the issue. There are so few of these publications for women over 40 that to find one we can relate to at all is a find. For me, Self, Shape, Oxygen, I just don’t really feel they’re talking my language. I’ll read them in a waiting room but I don’t buy them. Is Fitness, Health, Body, and Soul the same as the picture in the article above? That one does have a byline, but I think it’s Mind, Body, Spirit.
I’m aware of the many good things about buying local. And I hang my head in shame and say that while I do try to buy Ontario, or at least Canadian, I don’t go to various stores or Farmer’s Markets. I just hate grocery shopping so deeply and I have so little time that I need food to be one-stop shopping. Thanks for the suggestion about the movie, I’ll look for it.