LITTLE ROCK — The Men’s Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts
The Women’s Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts
Selene Yeager and various editors (Rodale Books paperbacks), each book has 404 pages; each costs $26.99.
Are these his-and-hers workout “cookbooks” with pretty exercise illustrations?
Yes.
Sounds sweet. So what’s wrong with them?
Not a lot.
Wait a minute. You like something? Do you have a fever?
We know going in that these are reprint anthologies, that they gather already published workout featurettes from the two magazines, in the Rodale tradition. But even the magazines’ subscribers could find it convenient to have so many exercise illustrations in one place.
And if you don’t read the magazines, as NBC used to say, “Hey, it’s new to you.”
Also, Christmas is coming, and his-and-hers exercise advice could be an attractive gift idea for the more-active person who wants to nudge a partner off his fanny - without looking too much like a mean girl ... or bully boy.
So, why not.
Are the exercises safe?
Safe. What is safe? They’re good examples of what they are supposed to be, which is easy-to-read idea books for hale and hardy people. They aren’t aimed at pregnant women or feeble oldsters with bad knees.
And you can’t think of anything snarky to say?
I suppose I could mention the unnecessarily topless models in the Men’s Health book. It’s hard to imagine that heterosexual guys would find all the skin and the bulging veins inspiring. But I could be wrong about that, not being a guy. And gay men buy workout books too.
The Women’s Health models are, oddly, wearing plenty of clothing.
Any other difference in the design of the men’s and women’s books?
You’ll notice right away that the men get 15 chapters but the women have 16. Both books describe similar exercises, but with sex-specific packaging. And the women do get that extra chapter. But I wasn’t able to figure out what they have that the men don’t.
Some of the sex-specific organization is obvious. The women’s Chapter 5 is on “hips, legs and butt” while the men don’t cover that topic- which they call “legs and glutes” - until Chapter 9.
The men have a “shoulders and arms” chapter; the women have one for “strapless, sleeveless, backless workouts.”
Men get “cardio interval training”; women get “workouts for every body type” and “15-minute (or less) anywhere workouts.” Women have “stretch and strengthen” workouts, and men have workouts that use “special gear.”
The men get workouts for “better” sex; the women get workouts for “more athletic” sex.
In both books, a recipe chapter includes the exact same information, word for word, but the men see their sidebar on protein a page before the women. Also, on the back jackets, men are promised “Manly (and healthy) meals that take less than 15 minutes to prepare!”
Meanwhile, women are promised, “Fabulously delicious recipes that take less than 15 minutes to prepare!”
The same recipes are manly for men but fabulous for women. Which brings me back to the naked man on the cover. For someone intended to suggest “manly” he’s rather fabulous.
I knew you had something snarky to say.
ActiveStyle, Pages 27 on 10/31/2011