In the Blog

Ms. Fit Magazine: “Real World Feminist Fitness”

May 1st, 2013     by Naz Afsahi     Comments

Over the last 15 months I have been on a journey of fitness. I was walking down the street on a cold January morning and realized that I needed to make a change. Since that morning, I have joined a gym, taken classes and began practicing yoga. I’ve devoured the fitness magazines at my local public library and looked up various stretches to release my tight hip flexors and techniques to strengthen my rotator cuffs. Most importantly, I have begun the process of internalizing the amazing things my body can do alongside the importance of what my mind can do. As well, I have been working on my emotional and mental well being, because fitness is about so much more than muscle mass.

If you are looking for a new magazine that emphasizes these various facets of fitness, check out Ms. Fit. With two issues out already, Ms. Fit is still a young publication, but there are some great articles and testimonials to check out. The site is easy to maneuver, and I imagine you will like their content if you are looking for narratives about personal fitness and health journeys alongside updates about professional athletes.

Unlike traditional health and fitness magazines you can pick up at a your location chain bookstore, the emphasis by Ms. Fit is less on the specific techniques of workouts, or the gym equipment needed in order to be “fit”. Rather, the content focuses on maintaining an overall sense of fitness in every part of your being. Ms. Fit’s content defines fitness as being about physical health, sexual health and emotional health, as well as, eating healthy and learning to consume in an earth conscious manner with delicious sounding vegan and vegetarian recipes.

Another positive facet of Ms. Fit is that the site features pictures that reflect a variety of body types, abilities, shapes and colours. And if you like (and since you are on Shameless, I hope you already do!) speaking about our bodies, our sexual reproductive rights, and our pleasure in a possible and non-heteronormative light, then you might enjoy Ms. Fit.

With future issues, I do hope to see more pieces that deal with one’s mental health and issues that touch on trans-fitness [I admit I am still making my way through both issues, so it is possible I missed some pieces that touch on these issues].

Check out the Ms. Fit Manifesto here.

Tags: body politics, recommended reading

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