Health & Fitness Magazine

Reviewed by Dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD

Fact File - Health & Fitness Magazine

Issue reviewed:	June 2005
Pages:	132, 45% Advertising
Circulation:	No figures available
Cover Price:	£2.99

Content

As the title infers, this is very fitness focussed with lots of exercise features and smaller amounts of food, travel, fashion, beauty and health. Plus this issue comes with a free mini magazine that includes a diet and fitness plan to help you get into your bikini.

Overall view

This has a lovely, aspirational cover with plenty of feel-good factor. Much of the content is also really good, with plenty of original features. For example, this issue included features on exercising barefoot, ethical eating, a holistic therapy called the Rosen Method, information about vaginal cleansing, a guide to using gym equipment properly, a workout for your mind, a step-by-step guide to improve your tennis skills and virtual spinning. All the features are well written, interesting and include plenty of expert advice and facts.

In Detail

Interestingly, and unlike most other magazines, there’s very little focus on ‘real’ people. There are no real life stories or makeovers and very few case studies used in stories. This makes the magazine feel a little less friendly than it could be, although features are written in a chatty way.

The real downside is the number of adverts – almost half the magazine is dedicated to them. This makes it difficult to find the features, interrupts the flow of the magazine and as a result makes the magazine feel quite ‘bitty’. This isn’t helped by the fact that many of the features also consist of five or six news stories or a round-up of products.

While there’s little in the main magazine to help you lose weight, the mini magazine includes a specially created diet plan that provides 1,800 calories daily and a workout that focuses mainly on toning exercises. The calorie intake seems a little high to achieve the suggested 2lb a week weight loss unless you are combining this with loads of exercise.

Who it will suit

Anyone who’s really into fitness or looking for new ways to vamp up their exercise programme.

Juliette's Verdict

The original features make this a really good read if you’re into fitness, but you’ll need to search hard for them amongst all the adverts. 7/10