Fitness Magazines
Just when the fitness-magazine industry seems to be saturated, along comes
yet another magazine devoted to exercise, health, and nutrition. This is good
news — we welcome more choices. Even better, fitness magazines are becom-
ing more specialized, so you have an excellent chance of finding a magazine
that speaks to you. There’s at least one fitness magazine to suit every type of
exerciser: pregnant women, African American women, men in their 30s, walk-
ers, swimmers, runners, cyclists, yoga practitioners, and cooking enthusiasts
who want to be fit.But the stiff competition makes some magazines resort to underhanded mar-
keting tactics, including sensational headlines, misleading articles, and unin-
formed writers. Ask a trainer or fitness-minded friend for magazine recommen-
dations. Also, keep in mind the following tips for judging the fitness informa-
tion you read in magazines.Check out specialty magazines
You’re more likely to get good fitness information from magazines that spe-
cialize in fitness than from general-interest or beauty magazines that mix in
an occasional exercise article. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule: Some main-
stream magazines run perfectly good fitness stories, and some fitness maga-
zines run perfectly lousy ones. But women’s fashion and beauty magazines
are notorious for unrealistic promises like “Permanent Weight Loss! A
Revolutionary Three-Week Plan.”Be especially wary of magazine pieces that offer fitness advice from celebrities;
being a movie star doesn’t make you an exercise expert.Beware of sensational headlines
Stay away from magazines whose cover lines seem way too good to be true,
such as “Drop 9 lbs. in 7 Days,” which is the fitness equivalent of “Elvis lives.”
And if the fitness article is next to a story about Burt Reynolds’ ghost having
a secret rendezvous with a two-headed man, you’re probably not getting your
information from the right source. Tabloid rags have caught on to the fact
that the American public is obsessed with weight loss, so what’s one more
story about an alien diet or psychics predicting the health regimens that work?Even reputable fitness magazines run misleading headlines to draw in read-
ers. Suzanne wrote an article for a health magazine debunking the myth that
abdominal exercises can give you a flat midsection. But the magazine ran a
headline that directly contradicted Suzanne’s story: “A Flat Tummy in 5
Minutes a Day.”Appendix: Educating Yourself 389