Andy Roddick was surprised to see that his arms and body were so big when he saw himself on the cover of Men’s Fitness magazine.  He then went on to write on his blog about the altered magazine cover.

The radical Photoshop arms race came to light last week on the Web site TMZ, which also carried the news that Roddick admitted he was quite surprised when he spied himself on the cover.

Aside from the serious bulk, he noted that a birthmark on his right arm had disappeared.

“I spent the last few weeks in Austin, Texas, really focused on my training and getting back into shape - but I’m pretty sure I’m not as fit as the Men’s Fitness cover suggests,” Roddick wrote on his blog, according to TMZ.

“Little did I know I have 22-inch guns and a disappearing birth mark on my right arm. I saw the cover for the first time when I landed after Rome [tournament]. It was pretty funny.

“I walked by the newsstand in the airport and did a total double take. I can barely figure out how to work the red-eye tool on my digital camera. Whoever did this has mad skills.

Pretty Watergate-deceptive when a fitness magazine is altering the body of it’s cover boy.  ‘Big Arms in 5 Easy Moves’?  5 Photoshop moves perhaps.

Neal Boulton, who was the editor-in-chief at the time, resigned for personal reasons about a week ago and was replaced by Roy Johnson. Boulton had approved the cover. At least one design consultant, Mary Anne Bulter, resigned after objecting to the practice and staff design director John Gilman is said to be on the brink of resigning, according to an insider.

Luckily people are losing their jobs and being held responsible for Roddick’s pseudo 22-inch guns.   There are thousands of gyms with tens of thousands of men with great bodies to be on the cover of health magazines.  The magazine industry however has quit using non-celebrities on their covers because they believe and probably do sell more copies with true celebrities on the front.