WorkingMomof2's Full Review: Muscular Development Magazine
We get Muscular Development monthly; although I must admit my husband mostly reads this. This is a weight lifting/body builder/workout magazine, and I really haven’t paid it too much attention. I glanced at an issue he had set down the other day, though, and was impressed by the buff guys in this magazine and shocked by the cartoons of men with rulers between their legs, etc. Intrigued (of course!) I had to read it, cover to cover, and am now reporting on it here <GRIN>. Hey, a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do, right?
On the Cover
Muscular Development
Tag line: Build Muscle - Burn Fat - Be Fit
June 2,000: The Ab Issue
Subtitled: Guaranteed! Your fastest way to killer abs – now!
Articles featured on the cover include:
• Rock Hard Abs and sex
• 50 Fat burning tips for ripped abs
• Abdominal training: the Real Deal
• Crunch time! 10 tips for chiseled "on the beach" abs
• Actor/model Antonio of somebody Jr.'s shopper at work out
The cover picture is a picture of a man’s torso, from the neck to the hips, bare-chested with a killer set of chiseled abs. There is an inset of Antonio Sabato Jr., shirtless, working out.
Summary of Contents
This magazine is 186 pages, with medium grade paper. Of that, there are 67 full pages of advertising. These are broken into the following categories:
• 54 pages on supplements (drinks, pills and bars)
• 5 pages on Equipment
• 5 pages on books and retailers
• 1 page on sexual aids
• 2 pages on other topics (camps, contests, meetings)
I’ll take you through the articles first, then give you my overall assessment of this magazine. Let's start at the beginning.
Specific Articles
Right up front, (well, after you wade through fourteen pages of advertising) we are introduced to the Muscular Development team - the authors and advisory board. This is made up of nineteen men of impressive backgrounds: 2 MD’s, 15 PhD’s, all in various fields with expertise in sports and medicine (training, exercise science, nutrition, wellness, performance enhancing drugs, etc.)
Research Fitness-four pages
This gives us 2-3 paragraph capsules of information, based on new published articles. These include:
• Stronger people have fewer physical limits with age
• Body builders were right: a regional exercises work!
• Interval training: improving endurance with high intensity exercise
• Weight training lowers blood pressure
Plus more. Accompanying these articles are cartoons relating to the topics at hand.
Research Nutrition-four pages
This section is the same format as about, but the articles are health and nutrition based. Accompanying the articles are photographs of food.
• High carb or low carb-high protein: which diet is better for performance?
• Moderate fat intake enhances athletic performance
• Nutritional weapons against prostate cancer
• Olive oil may help fight cancer
Research Sports Medicine-four pages
Same format as above, but with cartoons instead of photos.
• Should we legalize steroids?
• Sexual Endurance: A new herbal cream helps men last longer
• Glucosamine and Chondroitin offer athletic relief
• Resistive exercise improves good cholesterol
Research health-four pages
Same format as above, including cartoons
• High intensity exercise can prevent colon cancer
• The salty truth about sperm counts
• How do you measure up? (this article is accompanied by a cartoon of a nude man, with a yardstick between his legs! Of course I had to read it!)
• Marijuana increases risk of heart attack
Research: Fat Loss-four pages
Same format as among, illustrated with cartoons
• Green tea extract blocks fat
• Atkins diet: Effective or snake oil?
• Its a fat, fat, fat world
Research Supplements-three pages
Same format, illustrated with cartoons
• Creatine helps cyclist during interval training
• Why does caffeine boost endurance performance?
• Ginseng: Does it live up to the hype?
• Athletes should take vitamin E supplements
• L-Arginine helps people with heart failure
Fat Attack: Weight loss in the house of pleasure and pain-four pages
A discussion on fat loss and the factors that affect it. These include contrasting lifestyles (sacrifice versus indulgence), genetics, moderation, exercise, and tips for the fat prone.
Supplement performance-two pages
Andro: Settling the pro hormone debate once and for all.
This article states how andro increases testosterone, and discusses new formulations. It talks about how the health studies were done, weaknesses and flaws.
Nutrition performance-two pages
Pass the Bacon, Atkins may be right!
This is a discussion of the Atkins diet, a High Fat/High Protein/Low Carb diet that forces the body to burn fat. A separate study at Duke confirmed these benefits, and no safety concerns were seen. The average weight loss was 21.3 lbs. in four months, with a decrease in cholesterol and triglycerides, an increase in HDL, plus more energy, less heartburn, an increase in general mood and decreased cramping were all seen.
Sports science -four pages
Battling estrogen: A new war emerges. This article is on supplements and their effects on hormones.
Fit and famous- Four pages
A review of celebrities, their fitness trends and activities.
Antonio Sabato Jr.’s Shocking No-Excuses Work out-eight pages
Contrary to popular opinion, Antonio Sabato Jr. says “more is more” in abdominal workouts. The accompanying pictures show the bare chested and sweating actor working out, including some shots of his tattoos. This is a clear detailed description of his workout regiment. Looking at his abs, I have to say, something is definitely working!
Crunch time: Ten tips for Chiseled Abs -ten pages
Pictures of men in Speedo’s frolicking in the surf with busty babes in thong-backed bikinis accompany tips on working your abdominals. There is even a full-page picture of a guy with his face between two ladies T-backed rears… I was not impressed. Nonetheless, the article contains some basic tips for abdominal workouts, useful though nothing groundbreaking.
Ab Training: The Real Deal-six pages
This is a more scientific analysis, including the anatomy of the abdomen and why certain things work while others don't. It’s accompanied by black-and-white photos of men, including a huge guy in a Speedo working out, with his veins standing out over his immense muscles.
Abs in Bed-four pages
This article talks about physiology and the relationship of fat to sex. I think this one quote sums it all up to: "In other words, the fatter you are, the smaller your penis will be..." It's accompanied by cartoons, including one of the guy with a big stomach, peering down at a ruler between his legs. Actually, I thought this was pretty interesting, medically speaking of course.
Fit Hot Babes-six pages
Full color, full page photos of busty babes in very skimpy outfits. They’re all very fit and defined but not huge bodybuilder women, dressed in very tiny swimsuits, torn wet tee-shirts, thongs, etc.
Plyometrics for Beach Volleyball-three pages
The specific exercises used, advantages, training tips, etc.
50 Fat Burning tips for Ripped Abs -six pages
There are 50 tips here, all focusing on the goal of gaining a ripped, defined abdomen. Accompanied by black and white and color photos of guys without shirts, these are pretty good tips, which are listed and explained one by one. I will also say that this is a collection of some of the most beautiful chiseled and defined abs I’ve ever seen. As far as the article went, I found that of the 50 tips, most say "eat less/eat well" (diet) or relate to diet motivation. All but four fall into this category; the others relate to working out more (two) or taking supplements (two). In my opinion, the other 46 steps could almost all applied to the general “dieter” - motivational tips, willpower, eating lower fat and higher fiber foods, etc. Except for the shirtless young hunks, this same article might have appeared in Ladies Home Journal!
Muscle Form and Function-three pages
Specific form tips and how to do bench crunches for optimal results.
MD Training Camp-four pages
Three sets of specific abdominal exercises and how to do them with directions. This is accompanied by pictures of young buff guys working out their abs (crunch, crunch, crunch).
Eat to Win-one page
A recipe for “Angry Mediterranean Salmon”, and muscle shakes (two types of Neil replacement shakes including Fuel Plex, a food additive). The salmon actually looks pretty good, I bookmarked the recipe.
Cardio Q&A -one page
Fat loss, exercise tips, nutrient info, etc. answered by two Ph.Ds., ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) authors.
By the Experts Q&A-1 page
2 Ph.Ds. answer questions on exercises, equipment, avoiding and treating pain, etc.
Hot Shop -two pages
New products on the market, essentially a series of mini-advertisements. A few interesting products, mostly a review of what’s advertised elsewhere in the magazine.
Summary
As I read this magazine, several things jumped out at me immediately. These include:
1. This magazine is clearly not geared for women
This is guy’s magazine –there is virtually no attempt to appeal the woman whatsoever (although a few of the models, I must admit, were quite appealing!). Nonetheless this is targeted toward a very specific audience, and that audience is male.
2. This is for serious athletes only
This is a far more detailed and involved magazine than some other workout magazines are. Now I'll admit, most of those that I read are for women; however, the content and focus is aimed toward those already in a serious routine, not for motivating those who want to start.
3. There is a basic assumption of knowledge
In keeping with the understanding of the target user (a serious male weight trainer) there is an assumption that the reader already knows most of the basic terminology. A less serious athlete, for example, might need an explanation of what a Reverse Hyperextension is, or what a Roman Chair is, a Preacher Curl bench, etc. (And yes, I knew what those were… scary, huh?) Explanations aren't always given; the reader assumed to know these "basic" trade terms.
4. A lot of Supplement-heavy advertising
Clearly, the readers of this magazine are looking to optimize their performance. Whether that's just for personal reasons or to compete, they're looking for tips on how to cut a little deeper, build a little more or, push a little harder. And every advertiser has a product that will make this possible - at least theoretically. Most are supplements, taken as shakes or pills, which claim to help boost performance, cut fat and build muscle. Huge body fat losses are shown in before and after pictures, and ending body fat levels around 6% are quoted. If all of these claims were true, I'd probably break my Bankbook trying them out. But how safe are they? Do they really work? What else do those before and after models do to achieve those bodies, and were the photos retouched? I think I’ll keep my checkbook intact, at least for now...
Overall Conclusions
I'm really impressed with this magazine, for the right target audience. It has a lot more in-depth and technical data than I expected, and far more than I find in a lot of the women’s fitness magazines. This is especially true compared to a lot of the "fluffy" articles you find in some journals.
Muscular Development is packed full of scientific research, detailed and practical tips, with clear explanations of the moves and new trends. I've seen a lot of these magazines which are full of huge, steroid-filled body builders and have very little information or useful articles. The athletes in this magazine, for the most part, are big and buff but not necessarily professional body-builder level (except in the advertisements). The rest look like buff guys, but "real people" in very good shape.
This magazine is clearly not for the beginner, and it doesn't pretend to be. It's for the serious athlete, or at least the guy who has been working out for quite awhile and wants to take it up a notch or two. There are few cheesecake photos thrown in, which frankly doing nothing but lower the overall class of the magazine. Then again, I'm a “chick”, and looking at playboy-like photos isn't my thing….
Nonetheless, I would highly recommend this to a friend who was interested in optimizing his strength-training workout, as it provides not only workout and diet tips, but research and scientific data as well. Five stars for Muscular Development as a well put together journal for a specific audience, bringing more science to the table than many of the “fluffier” journals.
Website Info:
Muscular Development has a pretty good website online, at Http://www.musculardevelopment.com. You can also read key articles, which are sorted by topic and category, from back issues online which I thought was really a nice feature, at http://www.musculardevelopment.com/mdonline.html.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.