i was wondering which is the best health/fitness magazine, i live in the uk, but the majority i found are related to mens health, i need something that keep me up to date with the fitness industry, but is not full of make up tips and diets.

Over the last 2years I have regularly got all the different fitness magazines, from mens health, mens fitness, muscle and fitness, flex, runners world, etc...

I can honestly say that they are all rubish. While they do have some "part truth" and a little basic knowledge to start you off, you will gain so much more knowledge by buying actual books. If its mainly weight training your in to i would suggest new rules of lifting. You'll end up with tonnes more knowledge, you wont keep getting conflicting information, you get it all in one go.

also magazines just tend to repeat themselves every month.

i bought the mens fitness mag today, i liked some of the stuff/advice (even though im female ) i just need something quick to read, i cant seem to get into reading a book, although i have flicked through the abs diet book, and it contains great nutrition advice

If you want to increase your knowledge on nutrition and Fitness then pick up a book. You are not going to become "intelligent" in terms of fitness an nutrition from any magazine.

If you add up a years worth of magazines you get a book.. might as well read the book.

Besides it takes maybe a few days to read a book and you'll get more information than you would from a magazine if you were to subscribe for years.

The best fitness magazine is the American Journal of Medicine.

It is somewhat expensive though, at $130 annually.

I think the best fitness magazine is OnFitness Magazine, because it's the only fitness magazine I know of that combines training/exercise and things like that, with natural medicine/alternative medicine -- nothing hokey pokey, but a lot of great info about natural supplements, cancer preventions, etc. Also it's directed to both men and women, and it has a lot of articles directed at personal trainers. No fluff. Hey, also, I noticed that other fitness magazines are crammed to the hilt with ads, ads, ads. OnFitness has very few ads. Check it out.

I know fitness magazines aren't super informative, but for some reason they sometimes "re-inspire" or motivate me to stay on track. I'm not sure if it's the pictures or what.....

I think you're dealing with two different modes of communication. A magazine is (and should be) a signpost - to point out things you might have missed, and to point you in the direction where more information can be found. Obviously, a 2-3 page article (if that) is not going to replace a 200-300 page book. In this sense, it's a good way to sample the opinions of a lot of different writers (many of whom are the authors of books you'd want to read - didn't Cosgrove have some articles in Men's Health? or some other of the magazines mentioned?) and decide for yourself what direction you'd like to go in.

I'm not sure if others feel the same way about this. But to stay motivated I recently purchased a 2 year subscription to SHAPE. It covers beauty, health, food, and exercise all-in-one. But I feel some of the exercises they have don't do what they claim. EX: Drop 5 inches by doing these various exercises or Lose 15 lbs Instantly etc...

I think they use skinny but fit looking models to pose for those moves. I'm not sure if those exercises really work.

SHAPE also has a book of exercises you can purchase at the book store, I'm wondering if that is a good buy?

No, if you want a book on exercises try "the new rules on lifting" or whatever everyone around is always talking about. i have obviously not read it "yet" however many people (whom i consider smart) around here swear by it.

OXYGEN is a very good magazine.

$30 to re-inspire? No thanks My results inspire me, not other people's pictures.