Why Women's Health Magazine is Replacing Fitness Models with Readers in a Popular Feature
Women's Health Magazine is making a move to showcase more diverse body types in its pages. Starting this month, the magazine will permanently replace fitness models with physically fit readers of all types and sizes in its popular "15-Minute Workout" column. Site Director Robin Hilmantel joins us with more on the change.
Hilmantel says the magazine noticed most mainstream workout videos and print layouts are populated by the stereotypical "fit" woman: slender, toned but not too cut, and without a pinch of fat.
Women's Health tapped experts to explain, in technical terms, what makes someone physiologically fit. Included on the list of metabolic metrics are resting heart rate, VO2 max, and body composition. Weight was not on the list.
Hilmantel points to the rise of fitness icons, such as ballerina Misty Copeland and yogi Jessamyn Stanley as examples of healthy diversity.
Floodwaters receded in Vermont cities and towns pummeled by a storm that delivered two months of rain in two days, enabling people to focus Wednesday on recovering from a disaster that trapped residents in homes, closed roadways and choked streets and businesses with mud and debris.
Schools in New Delhi were forced to close Monday after heavy monsoon rains battered the Indian capital, with landslides and flash floods killing at least 15 people over the last three days. Farther north, the overflowing Beas River swept vehicles downstream as it flooded neighborhoods.
Even Southwestern desert residents accustomed to scorching summers are feeling the grip of an extreme heat wave smacking Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Southern California this week with 100-degree-plus temps and excessive heat warnings.
