Fitness PR Division

One of the favorite excuses of city dwellers for not actively maintaining a workout schedule is "but I walk everywhere." And indeed there are many health benefits cited for simply walking everyday. But is walking really enough to keep yourself in decent shape? Well, just strolling to your local bodega probably isn't enough it turns out. Walking only builds aerobic health when done at moderate to high intensity.

So unless you are making bad dashes for your slices of pizza your city status isn't enough to insure good health. But on the bright side as an urbanite you can probably get your warmup just walking to your gym, saving you a precious five minutes of boring low intensity time on the treadmill. Your suburban counterparts can't claim that as they take their SUVs to the local gym.

I guess that explains when all of those New York city girls are constantly on hi-speed on the ellipicals with their Shape or Self Magazines. They already warmed up on the way over!

One of the long standing debates in fashion modeling is the health of the extremely slim girls that walk the catwalks the world over.

Spain made headlines recently when it banned models deemed underweight according to Body Mass Index or BMI calculations.

Organizers say they want to project an image of beauty and health, rather than a waif-like, or heroin chic look.

Widely regarded as a publicity stunt for an otherwise overlooked Fashion Week, the move sparked much debate in the Fashion World as models and designers alike defended the slim looks saying that models are naturally built tall and slim and it did not reflect poor eating habits or more serious eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.

Adding a completely new perspective to the issue is designer John Paul Gaultier who this week sent a "plus sized" model down his runway.

What the designer is trying to add to the debate with this gesture no one is quite sure but as much as anorexia is a disease so is obesity. Healthy eating habits are based on moderation and going to either extreme, be it underweight or overweight, does not represent a fit person. Making a fashion statement with weight might seem like a good idea to designers who espouse heroin chic or plus size models but health should always come before fashion.

McConaughey gets pumping for fitness video

It looks like Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey is the latest celebrity to jump on the fitness video bandwagon. The Sahara star can be seen here toning his beach body ready for his new role as a DVD fitness instructor. According to The Sun, McConaughey and his friend, cycling legend Lance Armstrong, are creating a lifestyle and fitness video for men. In a bid to practise what they preach, the pair are getting themselves into shape ready to advise others on how to get the perfect physique.

The front page of Abercrombie and Fitch's web site is seen Friday, Oct. 6, 2006, in New York. Researchers say that body image is not just an issue for women and media images can have adverse effects on male self-esteem also.

That guy in the Abercrombie & Fitch ad doesn't have a head, but does it really matter? His upper body is as sculpted as Michelangelo's David - all chiseled muscle, washboard abs and not a follicle of chest hair.

You don't just see him in the provocative ads for Abercrombie, the youth-oriented clothing chain: On billboards and in magazines everywhere, it seems, there's a male Adonis - buff, sleek, hairless. Like that famous 500-year-old statue, it's nice to look at. But how does it make the average guy feel?