The ESPN Magazine "Body Issue" is known for showing athletes at their peak levels of fitness and this year's issue is no different.
This year's issue features photos of volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings, motocross racer Tarah Geiger, Miami Marlins player Giancarlo Stanton and 77-year-old golf Gary Player.
"[The athletes] are proud of the work they put into being strong and powerful and we're proud that they trust us to capture that," Chad Millman, ESPN Magazine editor-in-chief, told The Associated Press.
The 34-year-old volleyball player, Walsh Jennings posed for the magazine when she was nine months pregnant and later reposed two months after giving birth to her daughter.
"It's such a scary thing," Jennings told ESPN during the first photo shoot. "It's the body issue. It's people who are strong and at the peak of their fitness and look at me. Here I'm nine months pregnant."
Although the issue showed significantly fit athletes, some felt a more variety of bodies should have been shown.
"I wish they'd feature more bodies of athletes who weren't prefect sculptures to prove that athletes come in multiple shapes and sizes, or more athletes who aren't remarkably attractive," Travis Waldron told ThinkProgress.org. "The bodies that are naturally appealing aren't suitable for all sports. So why not feature those bodies too. Whether they're from bigger athletes like body builders and offensive linemen or smaller ones like marathoners?"
ESPN has previewed images from its 2013 Body Issue online.
"Each year, we stop to admire the vast potential of the human form," read a description on the ESPN website. "To un-apologetically stand in awe of the athletes who've pushed their physics to profound frontiers. To image how it would feel to inhabit those bodies, to leap and punch and throw like a god. To .. Well, gawk. So go ahead; join us."
