GLUTATHIONE AND SPORTS PERFORMANCE

Leigh Penman, in addition to be a staff writer at MuscleSport Mag, has been writing for bodybuilding magazines, websites and nutritional supplement companies since 1985. Whilst residing in the UK, she earned the reputation of being one of the top female writers in bodybuilding-related media. Her credits included being a contributing editor on all the magazines in production as well as filling the shoes of Ladies Editor and Showbiz Editor on two publications (the later being on Arnold’s sanctioned magazine, ‘Bodypower’). During this time she also competed successfully on four occasions (placing in the top four in all contests).

Relocating to New York in the late 1990s she focused her writing attention to crystal healing techniques and metaphysics – however, she still maintained a five day workout schedule during this time and gained her personal training certificate.

Having also studied pharmacology in relation to sports performance, her writing began taking her in that direction until the present day which sees her embarking on a return to the magazine world, as well as extending her web-related work in the bodybuilding and fitness field.

Leigh has been working out for close to thirty years so she is clearly a writer who ‘walks her talk.’

She can be contacted personally at zeal2heal@yahoo.com.

Business is business. The cold, harsh reality is that Dexter Jackson is not the type of person that makes someone grab a magazine off the newsstand and plunk down their $4.00 or more for it. No offense towards the newly-crowned Mr. Olympia, but he was basically not controversial enough to warrant any good (or bad, depending on which way you’re looking at it) press. Thus, he didn’t warrant any covers in the world of bodybuilding magazines.

For right or wrong, Jackson is too ‘vanilla’ and this industry survives and strives by the ‘wow’ factor, which Jackson doesn’t bring. Is he a champion bodybuilder that deserves cover features? Absolutely, but a publisher has to look at the bottom line. The main selling point of print industry is the cover and headline. Why do you think piece of shit rags like the New York Post and the National Enquirer have made such an impact?

Jay Cutler brought an air of controversy with him due to the blocky look that attracted so much criticism. Was he a great champion? That is debatable, but he was and still is a face and body that sells. Like him or not, Cutler’s popularity cannot be disputed.

Perusing the newsstand shelves and the covers of the latest bodybuilding mags, ‘Muscular Development’ has Dennis Wolf; ‘Flex’ gives us a UFC-theme with Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar; ‘Muscle & Fitness’ stayed in the octagon with Frank Mir; ‘Iron Man’ has a faceless bodybuilder and ‘MuscleMag International’ shows Johnnie Jackson with a sub-heading of “Who Got Robbed at the Mr. Olympia?” Interesting indeed.

As far as Wolf is concerned, he may be the most overrated bodybuilder of today’s era. Because so many people try to compare him to Arnold, he receives a hell of a lot of attention that he really doesn’t deserve. Jackson is a decent guy, but an odd choice for a cover and not one that would make a difference as far as star power is concerned. Oddly enough, his name doesn’t even appear on the cover. The UFC angle is something that is a good cross-over market, but to have not one, but two publications from the same company go in that direction is a bit odd. There must be more to the story or at least some type of agreement in place.

So, there are many reasons why our new Mr. O is getting pushed to the back pages of even his own industry publications. And that is a shame, indeed.

When it first burst onto the bodybuilding scene, Muscle Media 2000 looked and read different from the other publications sitting on the newsstand. Bill Phillips was the right type of voice for the gym set and didn’t pull any punches, coming straight out and admitting his own steroid use. Where as the others tried to sugar coat the use of performance-enhancing drugs in bodybuilding, MM2K seemed to embrace it. They claimed to be a trend-setter by not being held hostage to advertising, a welcome break from the norm.

While all of this seemed to be a great variation, Phillips ultimately used the magazine as a platform to promote the supplements he was behind. Met-Rx and EAS were promoted liberally throughout the slick.

According to www.getbig.com, MM2K “took on hard subjects such as the ever-controversial issue of steroids in bodybuilding, and dealt with them in an informative manner.” One article of substance to prove that was when members of the staff took a trip down to Mexico and purchased anabolic steroids openly in ‘pharmacias.’

The magazine had similar auspicious beginnings as Joe Weider’s Your Physique, the pre-cursor of Muscle & Fitness. In 1985, Phillips began writing and printing a newsletter in his mother’s house – as Weider did. But Phillips’ content was not about getting in shape, but rather The Anabolic Reference Update spoke of steroids. After seven years, the name and format were changed to Muscle Media 2000, and keeping with it’s underground status, it continued to teach about steroids, not only the use but even smuggling tips.

Once Dan ‘The Steroid Guru’ Duchaine was signed up as a regular columnist, MM2K was cemented as the one and only publication with balls. Phillips also stated that he would foot the bill for testing of supplements to see if they met their claims before allowing them to advertise in his pages. That lasted until Met-Rx came along.

A marketing and advertising campaign was launched by Phillips, Dr. A Scott Connelly (creator of Met-Rx and business partner of Phillips), bodybuilders Lee Labrada and Jeff Everson, and James Bradshaw, a convicted steroids dealer. All five made a ton of money before the partnership fizzled as a result of a disagreement on the distribution of Met-Rx.

In 1996, Phillips acquired EAS on the rebound and started to become almost like a fitness advisor to the stars, including Jose Canseco, Sylvester Stallone, John Elway and even Jerry Seinfeld. All of those millions may have gone to his head and by July 1997, he had dropped 2000 from the magazine title and began targeting more of a mainstream audience. While this may have looked like a move to gain more readers, it became the first step in the death knell of the magazine. The hardcore readership left with the new direction and by 2004, it was gone.

Phillips ended up doing quite well with his Body for Life book and exercise program, which spawned his Eating for Life book. He may have ‘sold out’ in some people’s minds, but business decisions that end up creating large capital are hard to knock. Phillips did hold a captive audience for a long time with MM2K, and that publication will always be remembered as a one of a kind.

If you ever have the opportunity to purchase one of the vintage muscle magazines, I totally recommend doing so. If you search on eBay, it’s pretty easy to find them, and for the most part, they will be in good condition.

For a complete list of old titles – and even cover scans of the majority of them – you have to check out www.vintagemusclemags.com. There’s everything from Your Physique (the pre-cursor of Muscle & Fitness, and the Weider brothers first publishing endeavor – August 1940 inaugural issue shown), to Strength (the first American publication, which ran from 1914 to 1930), up to the latest titles.

These old books were obviously written long before steroids came on the scene, so the bodies that you see are completely natural. Some look great, others more lean, but not mean. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. There are advertisements included, but for the most part, they are ‘house’ ads for workout equipment, supplements, manuals, etc. put out by the publisher. In the Weider pubs, there is ‘Master Blaster’ everything, and in Strength and Health, the York, PA barbell company has all of their items listed and pictured.

Not knocking any of the magazines today (OK, I’m really knocking them but trying to be unbiased since I am in the industry), but they have become basically catalogs for supplements, masked to make them appear to be editorial. Not exactly the most interesting thing to read, although I realize the need for that. Ad $ make the world go ’round.