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: March 2011 - Review

Musclemag International's (MMI) March 2011 issue has Alvin Small on the Cover. The main theme is mostly mass gain. For a bodybuilder this is once again the time for mass gain though if you were going to compete at the Arnold Classic in early march you would probably rush to the article on getting lean in 8 weeks and realize you are four weeks too late.

Best Quote: "Let me assure you I've had to interview a prominent, mega-sized pro in a dark, draughty corridor because he couldn't manage the 15 steps leading to my warm, well-lit office." - Johnny Fitness p. 46 and 47. Apparently size can indeed cause problems.

Highlight Article: 'Four Exercises That are Better Than the Bench Press' (p. 124-134). Now they are, but also interestingly enough the are variants of the Bench Press. Good solid ways to improve the king of chest exercises.

Best Regular Feature: Face Off -- nothing like comparing one exercise for a muscle group with another exercise for the same muscle and asking: 'which is better?' This week -- EZ-Bar Preacher Curl vs.Incline Dumbbell Curls. Mostly what you learn is to do both.

Notable Articles:

1. 'Brazilian Beef': Great Article about Eduardo Correa Da Silva and his Chest Routine. Some of the pics of this 202 competitor are very well done.

2. '13 Ways to More T': - That would be Testosterone, the element that makes a man a man and incidentally an element that helps build and maintain muscle. Solid article including some of my favorite ways to boost testosterone levels naturally. Yeah, one of them is sex.

3. 'Carbs: The Anabolic Nutrient' Good article on Carb Cycling and how it relates to muscle gains.

Dud Articles: 'No Weight Gains' I understand the value of weightless exercises, I plan on having a routine of them when I leave this summer for Romania not knowing what equipment I will find, but the reason I label this one a dud is this -- if I am doing a routine with weights and I need another exercise which would be better -- one with weights or weightless? Just saying.

Graphics Review:

As rule I like MMI's graphics and this issue was solid as well. Nothing annoyed me this issue but nothing really stood out either . The pictures of Eduardo are good as are the black and whites of Alvin Small. The eye candy this month is rock climber Aleisha Hart who's pictures are almost reminiscent of Flex's green and black feature. Might want to avoid that in the future.

Rating: Four stars. Information is as good as always and the graphics are solid as usual. I read it and it helped a lot of my areas in my training and nutrition issues right now so that was a plus. The professional advice area was good as well.