Bricklin, Rodale, Inc. editors Larry Stains and Stefan Bechtel produced three newsstand test issues.

The results led Rodale to start Men's Health as a quarterly magazine in 1988 and begin to sell subscriptions.

Bricklin, who was editor-in-chief of Prevention magazine, appointed Michael J. Lafavore (born April 28, 1952) as editor of Men's Health that year.

[12] He created the editorial formula, and hired Steven Slon from service journalism and Greg Gutfeld from Prevention.

); body-mass index; fitness training; even environmental factors like number of parks, golf courses, etc.

"[5] Columbia Journalism Review stated the magazine "deals overwhelmingly with self-care and, in fact, exaggerates the possibilities for autonomous personal transformation."

Zinczenko replied that 80 percent of magazine sales are by subscription, and those covers differ from the newsstand version.

"Twenty years of Men's Health has certainly produced several lines that have proven themselves effective at newsstand, which makes up about 20 percent of our print run.

"[22] In July 2010, the magazine was criticized for including tiny credit lines on the cover rather than inside as a possible quid-pro-quo for advertisers.

The director for print strategy at a media firm said the mention was "too small of a plug to get brands excited.

[24] In 2004, Rodale filed suit against Men's Fitness for its redesign, "a copycat version—one that is obviously intended to confuse consumers.

[28] In July 2008, Men's Health became the first to "create the first fully interactive advertising magazine in America," where readers could take a picture of an ad, and a promotional "bounce-back" was sent to their phone.

[29] For its 20th-anniversary issue in November 2008, Men's Health included an interview and photo shoot with president-elect Barack Obama.

Editor-in-chief Matt Bean led the magazine in developing over 40 mobile apps for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.

The Game" won an American Society of Magazine Editors award for Best Interactive Tool and was downloaded 500,000 times in two weeks.

In September 2009, the column "Ask Jimmy the Bartender" was turned into an iPhone and iPad application, which was downloaded 50,000 times in its first month.

[14] He hired Creative Director Mike Schnaidt to redesign the magazine with visual updates inspired by media, such as auto repair guides, hiking maps, and military field manuals, added "The Exchange", "Unfiltered", "Field Guide" and a column by Tim Ferriss.

[40][41] In 2000, MH-18, a youth-oriented version of Men's Health covering teen lifestyle, was spun off but ceased publication in November 2001.

In March 2008, Best Life finished #2 on Adweek's prestigious "10 under 50" Hot List, which recognizes magazines with fewer than $50 million in ad revenue.

[55] In April 2017, under Matt Bean, Men's Health released an online video franchise, MH Films, which has featured people such as Hafþór Björnsson, Erik Weihenmayer and Sam Calagione.

In June 2017, the magazine launched MH Rec Room, specializing in shorter videos for social media featuring various fitness trainers, lifestyle influencers, and authors.

portion of their Web site won the 2010 Digital Ellies award, also sponsored by the ASME, for best Interactive Tool, an award honoring the outstanding use of interactive tools that enable readers to create or share content, participate in communities, improve the quality of their lives, or enjoy recreational activities.

[61] In 2011, Men's Health won an Ad Age Media Vanguard Award in the Print-to-Digital Best Reader-Service Website category, a Society of Publication Designers Award for design and photography, and an ASME Ellie in the category of Personal Service for "I Want My Prostate Back" by Larry Stains.

In 2013, Men's Health won the James Beard Foundation Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards for Cooking/Recipes/Instruction and Food Coverage in General Interest Publication categories.