Week 1 Monitoring

This week I followed my schedule very precisely. On the first day which was Tuesday, I started planning my second article, which is 'The truth about PEDs', I have not drafted this article yet however I have planned out the order of content, and mind mapped some ideas. I have also started to plan the double page spread layout for this article. So far i have drawn a few basic layout ideas, however, as I start roughly designing it on indesign, I will change what is needed to make it look aesthetically pleasing. I also finished off my article for my 1st DPS '5 Key exercises for a V shaped body', and I am pleased with the result of it.

Towards the end of this week, I also ended up drafting some more information for 'the 5 key exercises' DPS. I mainly gathered information for this double page spread from my own knowledge, and from my brothers knowledge, he was a very useful source of information as he specialises in physical exercises, health, and nutrition at university. The following is all of the ideas me and my brother came up with, but summarised.

Up-right Rows

The Upright Row is a great exercise to target the anterior deltoid, and the trapezius, by moving the weight up to your chest height, you are squeezing together your trapezius muscles in the top of your back, this allows blood to flow into the muscle, which if done correctly, will lead to hypertrophy. 

How to perform an upright row?

Start off the exercise by lettings the barbell hang in front of you at waist height, then slowly bring the bar upwards knocking your shoulders back on the way up, continue this action until the bar touches half way up your pectorals, then slowly bring the bar back down and repeat this for around 10-12 repetitions. 

Side lateral raises:

Side lateral raises are key if you want that wide shouldered look as it works the lateral head of the deltoid. Side lateral raises are isolation movements, therefore,if done with high rep ranges and low weights, muscle growth can be limitless. 

How to perform side lateral raises?

There are many different ways to perform the side lateral raises, however this is just the basic way. you can try this method out and modify it if you feel it better in different form. 

Start with light dumbbells hanging next to your sides, and take about 1.5-2 seconds to bring the weight up past your shoulder height (at a 90degree angle)(any further could result in rotator cuff damage). Pause for 1 second, then slowly bring the weight back down to your sides, this should be repeated for 12-15 times. 

Barbell shrugs:

Barbell shrugs are the main isolation exercise for your trapezius. This is because it is the only muscle it works when performing the exercise with good form. However, it isn't easy to perform well, and if you are a beginner it can be even harder, this is because you will most likely not have much muscle development in your trapezius, therefore, you cannot feel it working the muscle. 

How to perform Barbell Shrugs?

Start off by standing up straight with the bar in front of you at crotch level keep your shoulders knocked back, and your elbows straight and stationary at all time. Follow this by moving your shoulders upwards, and squeezing your trapezius until the highest point of contraction. Then slowly move your shoulders back to the normal point where they were before. 

Bent over rows:

Bent over rows are a great exercise to work your posterior deltoids, rhombus, and latissimus dorsi. It is commonly used for adding thickness to the top of your back, and it also adds stability to your core through working your erector spinae. 

How to perform Bent over rows?

Start off with your knees bent, and your back straight. Depending on how flexible you are, bend over as far as you can to being horizontal. Using a relatively heavy weight, keep your elbows tucked into your side, and pull the barbell up towards your chest and contract your back as much as possible. Then slowly lower the bar to the ground, then repeat around 10 times. 

Standing shoulder press

The standing shoulder press is a great way to work all heads of your deltoids, it can also be a very good exercise because depending on how you perform it, you can target other muscle groups in your body just by modifying the form. A lot of people perform the shoulder whilst seated, however the standing shoulder press allows you to modify the form to target different muscles. 

How to perform the Standing Shoulder Press?

Start off with your knees slightly bent, and your feet shoulder width apart. Then with your palms facing away from you, put the dumbbells at chin height, and elbows flared out. Then press upwards and at the highest point of reach, touch the dumbbells together. Then bring the dumbbells back down to the starting position. 

The second way of performing this exercise is by keeping your back straight, and with no bend in your knees. This is a great way to improve your stability in your lower back, however if you have a back problem then I highly advice you to stay away from this as it puts a lot of pressure on your erector spinae. 

Week 2 Monitoring

This week I went off from my schedule a little bit, this is mainly down to the fact that I did my photo shoot for my double page spread '5 exercises'. Once this photo shoot was complete on tuesday, in my free the next lesson I went onto doing a rough draft on indesign of the layout of this double page spread. I also changed the colour scheme from what I was going to do as i was playing around with some different effects and found that the yellow and black colour scheme worked well together.

Another task I completed this week was to find all of the fonts that I will be using for all of my production, this was very time consuming however I am pleased with my findings. I also finished off my article for my 5 exercises double page spread. The article and information in this double page spread was very simple, however this is what was planned from the start.

During week 2, I completed one of my photo-shoots and this photo-shoot was for my double page spread 'The 5 exercises to get a v shaped body'. The following are some of the images that I took whilst shooting, In my opinion, i think i should have spent a lot more time in the studio perfecting my photo-shoot techniques.

The overall quality of my images i was pleased with, however, the general lighting was not what I expected, and i would say if i were to do these photos again, I would definitely use different lighting techniques to improve the overall quality of the images.

Week 3 Monitoring

This week I mainly focused on getting my first DPS, and Front cover finish. I successfully did this as they are all completed and now I am just working on my final DPS and next week I will get started on my Contents page. I successfully completed my homework for this week which was research into some fitness magazines in the industry and collect research together so i can base my double page spreads off. I found a front cover that I would base mine off. Here is the image:

Throughout the production of my front cover, I played around with the images that i took in the studio. THese images were of my model, joe, who was posing with his arms crossed. In photoshop, i played around with various features to try and produce the best effects possible that i would use on my image. I ended up using the dodge and burn tool, curves, and gradient maps to make joe look more enhanced, and to add more colour to his face and body. Here are the before and after images:

BEFORE

AFTER 

I think my product didn't turn out as well as it should have, and this is simply because of how many plain gaps I left in my product. I also think the sizing of my sell lines was a bit bad simply because some were well sized, and others looked very small in comparison.

Here is the final image of my front cover

Week 4 Monitoring

This week was a lot more productive than the last 3,simply because of the fact that I finished off one of my double page spreads and my front cover. This enabled me to go on with my second DPS which is the truth about PEDs. So far, I have made the title for this article, and the breakout box in which i will put random facts and tips about different fitness and diet facts.

I also booked another photoshoot. This photo shoot will be vital as it will be the last one I do, I will take photos for my second double page spread and contents page.

After looking at my schedule, I am very ahead of my plan simply because the start f this week I saw i would have started off my first double page spread, and I have finished it. This is good as it shows I have been putting in the effort needed to do well.

In this week, I finished off all of my articles, this put me in good stead in terms of going ahead and adding my finishing touches to my double page spreads. It also helped as I could not tell how large the text sections of my double page spreads should be. Here are all of my article drafts and the bits of planning and ideas that I have on my drafts.

"Performance Enhancing Drugs Article Write Up

Intro:

The most frowned upon and untalked about topic in the fitness industry, Performance Enhancing Drugs. What do they do? How much are they? Do they really work? In this article you get to know all the answers to the most asked questions on the topic.

Performance enhancing drugs formerly known as PEDs are any drugs that are used to physically, or mentally make an athlete perform better in his chosen event. Performance enhancing drugs are split into different categories, the main few are:

·      

     (PUT INFORMATION IN ABOUT EACH DIFFERENT DRUG)

Excessive steroidal abuse can lead to:

• ·      Death
• ·      Heart Disease
• ·      Liver Disease
• ·      Severe Acne
• ·      High Blood Pressure
• ·      Blood Clots
• ·      Fluid Retention
• ·      High Cholesterol

So you’re in the gym and you hear a group of guys talking about ‘Juice’. The naïve gym goer would think they’re talking about Ribena, but, the more experienced knows they’re talking about Steroids. Many people find talking about drug use very frowned upon, but we went out and took a survey to see how much of the British public actually knows about these commonly used performance enhancing drugs.

These results show how many people know the effects of steroids, but the things that most people don’t take into consideration are the side effects, and believe me, these can be fatal.

How much do the public really know?

We surveyed 50 people form the British public in Darlington, asking them all sorts of questions. Here are all the final questions and answers.

Put into pie chart (50% could name drugs etc. 70% of people knew someone who had taken these. By the age of 18, all 100% of people I asked said they have heard of these drugs.)

On pie charts, annotate them with little circles and lines coming off images. Blow up one image to cover half the page, preferably dark colour.

So, think twice next time you are contemplating taking these drugs, as it could be fatal. "




Also in this week, I started my basic double page spread layouts, this included the guidelines, spacing, fonts I would use, and different techniques which would be effective. 

As you can see, I attempted to do my first double page spread very early on, and in this screenshot you can see that i had just started to space things out, and I put in my header which had a grunge effect overlay. At this stage, I also had very little idea over what fonts I would use for my information. I also had a few of my images on the DPS at this stage, however I was not sure how i would place them, and what effects I would be using on them in InDesign.

Week 5 Monitoring

I think this week was my most productive out of the 5. This is because i finished off all of my production work. This included finishing my 3 double page spreads, the contents page, and my front cover. However, this could reflect badly on my progress and my client may think that I have rushed my product. If i did this in the professional media industry, the client would be sceptical about I did it so quick, and they could think it was done too quickly, if they think this, then they may have a feeling that I stole the information from other sources. However, as i have spent a lot of time out of lesson on these products, i think this will reflect positively on the progress which i have made.

I think the overall productivity level over the week progressed by the day, and this is due to the stress that was mounting up as the week went on. On the monday, i did very little work as we didn't have a media lesson, however, as the week went on and we got to thursday i was sat in the library doing work pretty much whenever i had free time. Then on friday i finished everything off and added the finishing touches to make my layouts looks clean and professional. The following are screenshots of every page of my product. I will start off from the front of the magazine to the back.

Front cover:

Contents:

1st DPS:

2nd DPS:

3rd DPS:

Now that i have completely finished my production, I will have to evaluate all my products and i shall do this in the following weeks.