Muscle and Fitness: May 2011 Edition - Review

The May 2011 Edition of Muscle and Fitness (M&F) Features Brock Lesnar, former WWE Superstar and UFC Heavyweight Champion on the cover. This issue is dubbed the Fighter Issue for much of the content being devoted to fighters of all types. A note on the cover, it was troublesome because of the open up in the middle feature to get to see an ad featuring Brock Lesnar. The editors may wish to reconsider not doing this again because I know it was a pain in my backside as it kept getting caught on things and folded backward. I noticed on the magazine racks where I shop it also caused more ripping and tearing than usual.

Best Quote: "My mom and dad understood that you don't get nothing in this world for free" - Brock Lesnar (P. 154)

Highlight Article: Yes, This Will Definitely Hurt: Close up look at Brock Lesnar's training. I am not a big Brock Lesnar fan but this guy's toughness in not in question. If he stays health I can definitely see him returning to be the UFC Heavyweight Champion. (p.142-154)

Best Regular Feature: Classic Muscle: This is definitely a surprise section as it is not just a bunch of photos of old guys posing but actual workout and nutrition stuff from back in the day that still works, interviews with some classic guys and a pic or two from back in the day. (p.213-224)

Notable Articles:
1. Caged Fury: This was a great look at how to dust off a classic old piece of equipment and give it some new life - the power rack. There is another thing about power racks you home gym people should know - they are cheap and they do a lot. (p.78-88)
2. Banging the Bag: Literally this is a whole body Heavy Bag workout - boxing/mma style. Idea is to build and strengthen the arms (p.96-109)
3. Lift to Get Lean: This approach is so interesting, I am doing the training part and nutrition (three day rotation - high, medium and low card days) myself for the rest of my cut. Unlike the program which says it is a no cardio program, I am going to add a little cardio. (p.126-138)

Duds: Regular Feature: The Edge - Wheels: This is the one feature that unfortunately survived the makeover. Cars are a form of muscle I do understand but I don't really get excited about it.

Graphics Content Review: Solid once again. Crisp and clean with good pictures and enough variety to keep you from getting board. Sometimes you think: 'there is a lot of white going on here' but other than that it is pretty good stuff. Photos are good and there are some good classic shots in this one too. Nothing screamed at me: 'hurray!' but still good.

Eye Candy:
1. Two pages of Katie Cleary best known for being voted off America's Next Top Model but bouncing back very well. (p50-51)
2. The photo spread goes to Playboy Playmate of the Year 2010 - Hope Dworaczyk. Hope is dressed in M&F from the waist down at least in these desert shots. It must be hot outside though, because the only thing from getting Hope arrested is her hair and well placed arms. This is two months in a row that M&F have featured a Playboy Playmate. My concerns from last month stand. (p.162-168)

Rating: Three and Three Quarter Stars. I like the changes and there are a number of other articles that are solid as well. They have really made the change over from a frat guy feel to an athlete feel very well. I like it.

My Cut Diet and Why I Started Early

A little old school Steve Reeves for you. They really don't build 'em like that anymore and it's a crying shame. Classic lines always look better and healthier than the big muscle freaks.

A cut diet or a cutting diet is about one thing for the most part - loosing body fat and getting that 'ripped' look. To do this it has to get rid of fat but the muscle has to stay. That means you have to feed the muscle and starve the fat. This is the second cut diet I have done. The first one did not really get me ripped per say but I learned a lot about me and how my body reacts to nutrition. In that cut I dropped from 285lbs. to 262lbs. More importantly, my body fat dropped from 10% to 6% and the great thing is that mass building this winter never caused that to get above 7% and my weight did go up. That means muscle growth and the fat I lost last year has left for good.

The idea of a cut diet ultimately is about carbohydrate(carbs) manipulation and reduction. Because you are trying to save your muscle you keep your protein level high and because fats really help in keeping the nervous system and testosterone levels high (important for men) that means it really is all about carbs. During mass building carbs are high to make sure all the protein goes to the muscle, but during a cut they drop, so the body start draining the fat cells for energy.

Water and salt are also important as muscle need both to maintain itself, but at the very end of a cut you start lowering both to get the fat cells to give up the last of their water to get them to shrink even more.

A cut diet cannot be maintained forever because after a certain amount of time the body will start to cannibalize the muscle tissue. For competing bodybuilder timing is everything so their muscles stay large and they get ripped because their fat is gone. Cut too early and you will shrink too much, too late and you will not have the ripped appearance.

For me, I am trying an experiment because this cut is only eight weeks instead of twelve like last year. The experiment is basically carb rotation. I have a three day cycle: high carb, then medium carb, and then low. It is an experiment for me and being I have only been doing this a short time it is OK because I am trying to find what works for me. I have a few year to do just that, find what works so I am doing what I can.

I started early ( I originally had my cut planned for twelve weeks out of August 15th) because of my trip to Romania (June 14th to June 27th) with my daughter. That's going to be hard because I have no idea what we will be eating every day although what is provided is three meals a day and bottled water. I am used to six smaller meals a day so this may not be good. I am putting a body weight only workout together in case their is no equipment of any kind (very possible). So for now, I am in a cut diet that will end on June 4th and give me a week to get my energy level back up and then off to Romania and back.

I am thinking, if I don't completely like the results of this cut, when I get back I will do another four week one (after doing what I need to do to recover from Romania) that takes me to August 15, 2001 my second anniversary of being a bodybuilder.

After the first two weeks, I lost only eight pounds, but the bodyfat dropped a whole point and a half. So far so good.

Muscular Development: May 2011 - Review

The May 2011 Issue of Muscular Development (MD) Features 8 time Mr. Olympia - Ronnie "Big Ron" Coleman. The big news for MD being that Ron has has joined team MD. Ronnie Coleman is probably the most dominate champion ever. This is a big political win for MD. In any case, the main focus is Big Ron and getting massive like Ron. Good luck.

Best Quote: "It was that continuous achievement of goals I set for myself in the weight room that gave me the confidence to set more lofty goals in my life, and eventually change my life" - Layne Norton - p.246

Highlight Article: "Legendary!" This was a great interview by Flex Wheeler of Ronnie Coleman. It focused on Ron's thoughts on his career, the industry and steroid use. Yes Ron openly admits he used. He also expresses his thought on how he feels about being with MD. Good candid close up. (p. 148-157)

Best Regular feature: 'No Juice Bodybuilding - Why be Drug Free?' - in the midst of drug use central that is MD, there is one regular feature by a Natural Bodybuilder (Layne Norton) and he addresses why he is drug free. (p. 244-246)

Notable Articles:
1. 'Mass with Class - The Texas Titan' - This is another regular feature, but I always like the respectful and yet painfully truthful way Branch Warren deals with his questions. Here is a guy I want to meet. (p314-318)
2. 'Boulder Shoulders of the Boston Mass' - Great article about Family featuring two brothers -- Jose and Tito Raymond. (p. 176-185)
3. 'Wheels of a Winner' - Great article and true advice about Leg training featuring Jay Cutler and his trainer Hany Rambod (p.160-171)

Duds:
1. Ramblin' Freak -- Although I got to give the guy credit he did do a spot on Jack Lalanne.
2. Any article on steriods or drugs becasue as a natural bodybuilder myself they are wasted ink to me.

Graphics Content Review:
Grey. It is the one word that discribes this issue. The cover is grey, most of the pages are black, white or grey. All the photos are black and white. When there is color it is red. Makes you think of Ohio State and being a Wolverine guy that sucks. Eye Candy (The Major Disctraction) is IFBB Figure Pro Justine Munro. She looks great even on a white background. In addition there is a pullout poster of Ronnie Colemman in this issue.

Rating: 3 and half stars. It is a good thing the training content of MD is great and there are so many top pros giving advice in it, becasue a lot of the other stuff is either illegal or surrounded by poor graphics. I swear this mag lives on black and white photos. They a good ones but that always makes the mag have a dark sinister feel. I think they would do better with a dark hardcore feel instead, but that means a little more color. A lot of top pros call MD home and they should get top work for joining Team MD.

Flex: April 2011 - Review

Flex's April 2011 edition features Bikini Pro Amanda Latona on the cover as this is also the annual swimsuit edition. The special feature this month is said swimsuit photo spread with this year being about the top 15 Hot Bodies from the past fifteen years. As always, Flex also is about bodybuilding in all its forms as well as training and nutrition. It is Muscle and Fitness' big brother as as such goes a little deeper into all of the above. In addition to the ladies there is also an emphasis on chest training.

Best Quote: "Concentration and Mental Toughness ARE the Margins of Victory." - Bill Russell (11 time NBA champ) p.84

Highlight Article: "The All Time Hot List". Flex did a poll online to get the top ten all time most hot swimsuit models from the past 15 years of swimsuit issues. It actually lists the top ten in order and five other honorable mentions based on this poll. I don't want to spoil everything but the winner was Amanda Latona (that is why she is on the cover). As for the rest, buy a copy; you want the pictures anyway, right? Each of the top ten gets her own spread of one or two pages. (p. 164-188)

Best Regular Feature: "Flex Street Scene" (p.38) I like this feature as it gets some face time to young up and comers as well as a look at some people at entry level. It is always a great way to see new faces.

Notable Articles:
1. "Build a Treasured Chest" Great article not only on chest training but back training as well. The idea being to get a larger chest measurement by hitting both sides. (p. 120-138)
2. "Triple Threat" Phil Heath, Jay Cutler and Toney Freeman sound off on their chest training issues (p. 144-156)
3. "The Education of Eduardo" Brazilian Eduardo Correa da Silva lays out a full arm training regimen. (p 206-216)

Duds: No single article to point to, but the sound bite type articles that seem cluttered are back.

Graphics Content Review: Good pics and lots of them as always from Flex. They are not as crisp and clean as MMI or even their own sister mag M&F, but there are a lot of photos. The main focus of course in this months graphics was the swimsuit issue and it definitely was a collection of each lady's best shots. That of course means this issue is about the eye candy and it does a fabulous job.

Rating: 3 and three quarter stars: There was great number of training articles but the nutrition articles seemed a little thin this month. The sound bite clutter does not help this month's edition either. BUT, the girls save the day and this one should fly off shelves for that alone.

Musclemag International: May 2011 - Review

Musclemag International's (MMI) May 2011 edition has as its focus getting leaned out by Summer. There is also an additional cover story about Jay Cutler's (on cover) Arm Workout that changed history and allowed him to be the four time Mr. Olympia. MMI's philosophy of eat clean, train hard and emphasizing health over size resonates with me so I will freely confess I like them the best of all the bodybuilding mags out there.

Best Quote: "I can't die; it would ruin my image" - the late Jack LaLanne (p.297)

Highlight Article: Actually there are two involved with getting lean by summer that stand out "The Ketogenic Diet" and "The Everything Cardio Guide" that fit the bill on this one. Really when getting ripped it is less about training and more about nutrition and cardio. (p. 126-146) Both articles deal with this idea.

Best Regular Feature: Joel Stubbs' column is a hit with me this week as it talks about the Big Man and nutrition. Joel being a big man himself makes this a column from someone who is there and that means authentic. He still remains my favorite of the regular pro columns. (p.262-263)

Notable Articles:
1. "Sugar Shock" - Great nutrition article on the actual effect of fruit juice in nutrition. It isn't always good. (p158-166)
2. "Workouts That Rewrote History" - great chronicling about how Jay Cutler took the throne from Ronnie Coleman and got it back from Dexter Jackson (p.238-251)
3. "Rock Your Back" - great article about Ronny Rockel's back workout. (p.104-111)

Dud: "Take the Easy Whey": I only label this one a dud because of timing as Muscle and Fitness released their supplement guide this month and to follow it two weeks later with the same stuff is a little off.

Graphics Content Review: Solid as always, although nothing really caught my eye this week as super great. The magazine is just clean and crisp with good photos and illustrations; so the challenge for them is to do something off the charts. Eye candy this month is Jacqueline Suzanne and I am fairly certain that there would be little construction going on at any site she showed up at as the men would be busy doing other things.

Rating: Four and a Quarter stars, solid work as always. I guess what I am waiting for is a wow factor that will give them something even more. I love the two sections and content being solid and timely. Graphics great as always. Every article was good as far as content although the Whey article showed poor timing.