Bodybuilding mags

[vracula]

i use them to get some inspiration sometimes.

[frogie2001]

i think they have their place as a reference tool, however the information is often repeated, and articles recycled. Good for inspiration and new exercise ideas though

[boostinggtir]

Man, I can't belive all the bad comments on flex and other mags. I myself have learnt alot from them over the years!!!! These are the best guys and girls in our sport telling you how they do it. How can that not help?

OK, you do need to sort through a little bit of shit and i don't belive in the before and after photos :^o but who is that stupid :pfft: :pfft: .

Also......... these mags sponsor athletes which is a good thing in my book. I will keep buying them

AND like big girl said the pics are soooo cool :nod:

I think a lot of people tend to hate on anything that's main stream to make them selfs feel intelligent, or maybe their just above an beyond the advice of bro body-builders :? .

[Matrix]

Ive got boxes upon boxes of Flex, Muscle and Fitness, MD, Iron Man and Muscle Mag back issues.

I find they are good reading for the following reasons:

1. The photos and articles help me stay motivated.

2. The Training and Nutritional information (especially in Flex and Muscle and Fitness) is a good assest to have e.g Nutritional breakdowns/ratios of Carbs. Proteins and Fats for different goals, Supplements, there effects and ideal timings etc. In bodybuilding Knowledge is power!

3. As a Trainer most of these magazines have the latest published research regarding the resistance training, cardio training and general health. This information helps with educating clients as it is put in plain english, not medical jargon.

4. I like to look back on my favourite BBuilding eras (Arnie/Franco/Zane-70's) and (Ray, Levrone, Yates-early nineties) and get inspired by the photography and articles. Also growing up as a teen reading Flex and Muscle Mag, there were some pretty amazingly built fitness ladies in these mags (Amy Fadhli, Vicky Pratt etc). So you got the best of both worlds for your hard earned dollar, Training info, inspirational photos and gorgeous female fitness competitors wearing scraps of bikinis. What more could any hard training athlete want?

[Gym rat]

As a person who enjoys reading flex magazine I find the articles easy to understand weather that may be training or nutrition including the great photos from the diffrent show and the photos of pros training plus reading about the diffrent supplements that are out also supplements that I have not heard of before including the very hot fitness chicks as well plus the first issue of Flex for each year comes with a free Calander which I call that a heck of good deal.

[teamfatboy]

Some of the nutrition stuff IS good, well researched and fully attributed. I learned more about sugar alcohols from an article in the latest Flex than from a lot of other reading.

One other thing i did appreciate was a chance to compare older-style bb'ers with modern-day - the more 'aesthetic' versus sheer-bulk...

[michaelk]

They have always been a source of inspiration for me (the pics) and I enjoy their contest analysis and article on the up and comers.

When are we going to see you in the mags big fella?

don't you know I've been around forever and in heaps of them...check out the early 1970's black n whites of Golds you'll see me with the afro and headband getting physical.

funny enough though, I have a copy of a German Mag from early this year that had NZ Pro show coverage in it months ahead of the rest.

In german they spell my name the same :shock:

[Optimass]

Ich schaffte, ein klassisches Bild genommenen März 1978 zu finden - Deutsch Beugt Zeitschrift. Großer afro Mike! :pfft:

[Luigi]

Ich schaffte, ein klassisches Bild genommenen März 1978 zu finden - Deutsch Beugt Zeitschrift. Großer afro Mike! :pfft:

wow if you were that big in the 70's i wonder what you look like now

[mr natural]

mikes a pro now so much bigger :pfft:

[michaelk]

Ich schaffte, ein klassisches Bild genommenen März 1978 zu finden - Deutsch Beugt Zeitschrift. Großer afro Mike! :pfft:

LMAO

Far out that is so groovey man, that is out of sight that's how far out that is man....I dig your vibe.

Hope you feel some love from this Polaroid picture during my disco phase of 1995, notice the way the eyebrows connect with the hair.

At least one thing was bigger then...the frobro

[daddy_cool81]

Waste of time money.

Their training/nutrition stuff all seems like absolute BS.

Lets face it, what is out there on nutrition, you can learn from the net - from proper published sources.

....didnt realise the internet was such a verifiable source on science, proper published articles usually fid there way into magazines, journals and reviews first.

MD although full of ads is great and informative especially the research sections, but my favorite was the american Flex - the fat one, the nz/oz one is thin and not so great.

[jesses]

Most of the mags have a website full of articles. I agree mags are a great read and nice to have on the coffee table but if you wanna save some cash just go to the site.

[Luigi]

t-nation.com has good articles :nod:

[decade]

mens health is a great mag, good tips on how to treat girls too

[Varven]

Waste of time money.

Their training/nutrition stuff all seems like absolute BS.

Lets face it, what is out there on nutrition, you can learn from the net - from proper published sources.

....didnt realise the internet was such a verifiable source on science, proper published articles usually fid there way into magazines, journals and reviews first.

MD although full of ads is great and informative especially the research sections, but my favorite was the american Flex - the fat one, the nz/oz one is thin and not so great.

Sure, you just got to find what is quality published.

Not the crap on the forums.

Start with sites like pubmed and webmd or whatever... you can get the real deal there....

in fact all of you go look up the last study done on pubmed on 6-0X0...

it will make u think twice before buying it... as opposed to a rave article written in the magazines !

Its all about where u look on the net

[michaelk]

The nets not all its cracked up to be though with its available information to be copy pasted to make people seem a lot smarter than they really are.

Somewhere in here on this site is an interesting thread about Creatine Ethyl Ester, I gave a reply to based on the information at hand from our then supplier at Elite fitness, this was then countered by an articulate reference to a published university study, basically rubishing the product.

This was in turn countered by another published university study claiming it was the greatest thing since protein.

Who was right?

[Flex]

I'm probably going to get flamed here, but the majority of internet forums are probably the worst sources of information available (excluding some of the info on Tnation and some of the subscriber based forums where people pay to learn). Mags can be good and often have some pretty good info from reputable sources - Poliquin, Chek etc, and it's a shitload easier figuring out whats bullshit in a magazine than it is on a forum. And at least the ads in mags look like ads. You never quite know if the post you're reading is from someone who is trying to sell you the stuff or not.

If I was to follow the information of most forums I'd come to the following conclusions -

all supplements are shit, way overrated and don't work,

you have to be fat to gain muscle,

the only way to gain real muscle and to be a competitive bodybuilder is to use roids,

if you happen to be big and have a good body you must have used the gear because no natural guys can look that good,

you never know when you'll reach your natural potential so you may as well start on the gear at 20,

and strangely enough, the only decent source of information is what you can find for free on the internet - you should never bother to perhaps pickup a book and read that instead or pay for someone to provide you with information.

Yeah magazines repeat a lot of information, but then the industry and training hasn't really evolved that much over the last 20 years or so. Information needs to be repeated as people still seem to be getting the basics wrong and are way over-complicating their diet and training. A lot of this stems from everyone searching for the magic bullet and falling into the trap of following some unproven theory that some guy on some forum has come up with at home on his excel spreadsheet and is so damn complex and involved that it just has to work as it took the guy days of trawling through google to put together. And the real kicker is that it's free so if you follow it for a month and it doesn't work some other guy will have come up with another one for you to try by then anyway.

Personally I think the old issues of MuscleMedia 2000 and Testosterone mag were probably some of the best sources of decent info but both of those have gone south. If you can find a pile of back issues of those then you're sorted for life. I happen to have a pile of both of those sitting around if anyone wants to make me an offer $$$.

[Varven]

Flex, and MichaelK,

I think everyone should treat with UTMOST caution opinions and findings on forums.. however, I am more trusting of published studies with proper references....

however as MichaelK said.. they all contradict each other as well...

in the last 3 decades haven't scientists reached 3 different conclusions over the benefits or dangers of just aspirin alone for heart patients?!

[Small]

if some ones too cheap to spend 8 bucks on a BB mag jus go to the library. its free and i just did a search theres around 65 books avaliable in central auckland libraries alone

[mr natural]

If I was to follow the information of most forums I'd come to the following conclusions -

all supplements are shit, way overrated and don't work,

you have to be fat to gain muscle,

the only way to gain real muscle and to be a competitive bodybuilder is to use roids,

if you happen to be big and have a good body you must have used the gear because no natural guys can look that good,

you never know when you'll reach your natural potential so you may as well start on the gear at 20,

and strangely enough, the only decent source of information is what you can find for free on the internet - you should never bother to perhaps pickup a book and read that instead or pay for someone to provide you with information.

.

what forums are you reading?NZBB or something?? :pfft:

[daddy_cool81]

Coming from a medical background, you are right they contradict eachother immensely, but unless you can back up what you say then its not worth the paper its written on.

Interestingly though, to back up a point you must find and reference articles already written in your favor so most research again is biased, see you start with a theory or hypothesis then find research to back upyour theory, if it doesnt you dont put it in.

Following thios the Case Studies are usually more exciting because it gives an early stage/finding before someone rips it to shit or praises its glory, it just is what it is. Thats why I enjoy the research section of MD alot of it is prelim findings.

For inconsistency on internet reports you only need to go as far as wikipaedia....... shocking....... unfactual anyone can write it rubbish, like forums.

Bodybuilding forums are funny though, you do strat off talking about benefits of creatine and 3 posts later are threatening everyones mama.... ha ha.

merry xmas y'all

[soundsgood]

What did you say about my mama??? :evil:

[boostinggtir]

If I was to follow the information of most forums I'd come to the following conclusions -

all supplements are shit, way overrated and don't work,

you have to be fat to gain muscle,

the only way to gain real muscle and to be a competitive bodybuilder is to use roids,

if you happen to be big and have a good body you must have used the gear because no natural guys can look that good,

you never know when you'll reach your natural potential so you may as well start on the gear at 20,

and strangely enough, the only decent source of information is what you can find for free on the internet - you should never bother to perhaps pickup a book and read that instead or pay for someone to provide you with information.

That cracked me up