Has Mens health always used drawings on the cover?

[Dastardly]

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/?module=images&func=display&fileId=L2hvbWUveGNvcmUvbWVuc2hlYWx0aC94bWVuc2hlYWx 0aC94YXJheWFyZXNpemVkLzA0MjE2MWRmZTM0MzJiOGM3YTllN Tk4ZjlmN2NlNmM5LTBjM2YxZDc4YTRiZDk1NWFhNTViNDY3MTI yZjQyZDBkLmpwZw==

I was walking past the magazine rack in a shop and noticed the usual cheesy fitness magazines. I havent seen even a cover of these in years but remember being impressed/sickened by vast quantities of muscle,especially ridiculously thick six-packs on these male model types.

When seeing this cover I nearly burst out laughing. Has it always been like this? Have my perceptions changed since starting to lift?

Even in this tiny picture I could find, you can clearly see the piss-poor drawn on abs and enlarged bicep on a dweeby, skinny guy who doesnt even have the pretty boy looks.

Are the standards of cheesy male model six-pack "bro's" this low now? Are women into this look?

Maybe we all have a potential fall-back career as male model/gigolo as im pretty sure we could all do a lot better.

[matclone]

That's hilarious. Yeah, they've been doctoring photos a long time--at least since Playboy. As for the Men's Health cover that proclaims "A six-pack in 24 hours"--that ought to be a red flag to any prospect buyer that the magazine is bullshit.

[Koalala]

What did they make up this time to make you believe you could obtain a sixpack in 24houres?

[JCavin]

Probably includes a colonic and tons of diuretics.

[matclone]

And consistent with the cover, there's probably a special pen included that you can use to draw the outlines of a six pack on your gut.

[matclone]

Or maybe a decal?

[Webbie]

Maybe he was on his way to be an extra on "Meet the Spartans" an excellent spoof by the way. My favorite line is from the Britney Spears character "What?, I'm boobie feedin' my baby ya'll"

[August West]

As for the Men's Health cover that proclaims "A six-pack in 24 hours"--that ought to be a red flag to any prospect buyer that the magazine is bullshit.

Agreed, and it's only one example of the quick-fix miracle peddling that has become these magazines' stock in trade. Once you've promised "238 tips and rules" to fix your readers' life problems and "lean muscle fast" for those who forgot to work hard at it until 2 weeks before spring break, it's inevitable that "24-hour abs" begin to pass the straight-face test back in the editorial office.

Hard work is still the only way to achieve anything worthwhile. Americans - in my family at least, and many others I know - still remember lessons that taught us that basic truth. Those on this board, whatever their nationality, are likely to agree. I'd like to think it's the magazine racks that have turned soft and self-delusional, not the character of men and women in general. But the only way to ensure that is to work hard, stay real, and never encourage fantasies about getting valuable results from throwaway taglines. And speaking of taglines - Harden the fuck up, "Men's Health."

[matclone]

Yep. Well said. In Bill Starr's recent article posted at this site, he remarked, "[W]henever you make a strength program easier, you will get weaker." Rip has been telling us the same thing, more or less. It recently dawned on me that I'd been a little lazy in my workouts and that 5 sets of 5 (or even 3 of 5) of heavy squats is hard work requiring some mental toughness, and they're designed to be that way, and there's no substitute for the same, and all of this isn't a mystery. But sometimes we lose site of the obvious. We are surrounded by TV shows and Men's Health and other so-called fitness rags (newspapers too), with their eye candy and implied promises of easy results--usually tied to something that we can buy.

[Mr.City]

Men's health is what me into working in the first place. It's also the reason why my right rotator cuff is fucked up. Men's Health is what everyone fat, out of shape 40 year-old who can't touch (or see) his touches desires: a quick fix to a decades of living a shitty lifestyle.

It's exercise catalogs are nothing but the same tired old bullshit of body weight exercises, dumbbell deadlifts, and partial squats. Even it's "strength training" routines are garbage.