• Forbes, Sunday, July 19, 2009 9:41 PM

Glossy magazine titles are fewer and slimmer -- except, ironically, in the fitness category. Weider Publications, a subsidiary of American Media, is one of the clearest beneficiaries. Weider's category leader Muscle & Fitness has charted seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth in both pages and revenue, per PIB.

The magazine's success is the result of its association with protein powders, nutritional shakes and weight loss supplements. The aggressive marketing efforts of the companies behind sports drinks and dietary supplements, coupled with loyal customers willing to pay the $6.99 newsstand price, has strengthened the publication during a weak economy. While the August issue of M&F contains ads for Braun razors and Honda motorcycles, such non-fitness advertising took up less that 2% of the issue.

It helps that in recent years, fitness nutrition has expanded from specialty to mass market. For instance, Muscle Milk producer CytoSport partnered with G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottling for wider domestic distribution earlier this year. And in recent months nutritional products Similac and Ensure have hired star athletes to endorse their lines to the mass audience.

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