Attention men! This just in: you don’t need to gain 30 pounds of muscle in order for women to find you attractive.
 |
I found this post from back in the year 2000 about a Harvard study in which college-aged men were asked to pick their ideal body from a group of images. Most men chose the body with 30 pounds more muscle mass than what they currently had.
A group of college females were then asked to choose which of the body images they were most attracted to. The majority of the women picked a body with 15-30 pounds less muscle than the men picked.
What a conundrum!
What a Girl Wants
The take-home message here is that if you think you need to gain 30 pounds of muscle for women to find you attractive, you can probably focus on gaining about 10 pounds of muscle and then switch to a fat loss phase in order to get down to that coveted 8% bodyfat range. After all, it doesn’t take a Harvard scientist to tell us that most women swoon over ripped 6 pack abs.
Once you’ve got some muscle and a ripped midsection, then you can focus on strength or performance by training for speed and power. That way you can defend your woman when that 240 pound bodybuilder at the club tries to hit on her because he thinks he can kick your Brad-Pitt’s-physique-in-Fight-Club’s ass.
He might have 20 inch guns, but you’ll be able to smack him down in under a minute by bobbing, weaving, and throwing a couple well-placed hay-makers. Hahaha… this was a fun post.
Questions for Discussion
If you are a man, what is your ideal physique? What are you trying to attain? Personally, this study won’t discourage me from trying to gain at least another 5 pounds of beef.
If you are a woman, what physique are you attracted to? Robert Downey Jr. or The Rock?
Discuss it in the comments!
Tags: Conditioning, fitness, gain muscle, muscle gain, weight loss, weightlifting
No kidding about the info on this post. Also, women’s view’s on their on physique is also really distorted thanks to magazines and the media.
I find females (typically aged 23+) seek a more ‘manly’ physique. I’d estimate 185lbs, 6’1, 8% (ryan reynolds in blade trinity)…
I am only 21 so I have a few years to get to that point (currently 172, 6’0, 8%). The point is to feel comfortable in your own skin, and you probably won’t if you’re 6’0 220lbs especially if you grew up as a REAL ectomorph such as my self.
Nice post. Do majority of women really want muscle on guys though? The question is up for debate. Often times scrawny or fat guys end up with very attractive women too. Maybe it boils down to the person you are. So I think that if you’re going to train, train for self and no one else.
The ideal physique for me would be that of a gymnast. Not necessarily beefy beeferson but enough to get a job done and then some as well as feel good when I take my shirt off. Funny point about the men wanting more muscle weight is that it’s so they feel more comfortable/confidence with their social interactions. It’s not necessary and when the goal is attained, ( most of the time ) they feel that they DESERVE the hottest woman ever. It’s the right now. Completely not true and a laugh for everyone but the idiot. Good post Steve!