Do Muscles Really Make Men More Attractive To Women?

Do muscles really make you more attractive to the opposite sex?

From movies to advertisements in today’s modern media, the ideal man is almost always well built. Stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone still stand out decades after the zenith of their movie careers as the epitome of masculinity, prompting millions of men to start lifting weights and in many instances drive them to extremes such as using anabolic steroids to achieve their goals. Media hype aside however, is there any real proof that having a well muscled physique makes you more attractive to the opposite sex? Interestingly enough, there actually are scientific studies out there that answer that question, though the answers might surprise you.

Our Built In Body Image Bias

As early as when they are in kindergarten, children appear to prefer males with more muscular builds over those that are naturally on the heavier side (endomorphs) or those with inherently lean and thin physiques (ectomorphs).[1] Young children in general have a slight aversion towards a people that are heavyset (sorry, Santa Claus) and in one study children aged  10 to 11 years old related muscular mesomorphs as “all things good”, while attributing less favorable descriptions to ectomorphs and endomorphic body types.

Prejudices Against The Obese

Fatter children generally have a negative perception of themselves , which can lead to  a generalized negative self image.[2] Negative reactions to overweight individuals are an undeniable fact of modern Western life. People that are obese are often discriminated against in obtaining life insurance, getting jobs, and gaining entrance to college education.[3] As much as we might try to ignore it, such discrimination, while not coming from a place of malice or prejudice, still does create serious and almost institutionalized problems for many. A study of 10,000 people aged 16 to 24 that spanned a seven year period found that being obese meant you were less likely to marry, more likely to have a lower income, and more likely to receive less schooling as well.[4] People in this society also perceive the inability to lose weight as a character flaw, which is ironic  given that obesity is a rapidly spreading epidemic that affects almost percent of the population and that 63% of the American population is overweight and almost one third of them can be categorized as being obese.[5]

The Muscle Man As An Ideal Mate

Well it depends on who you are asking. Researchers found that women who saw themselves as conservative and feminine tended to favor ‘muscle men’ while more ‘liberated’ women leaned more towards thinner and more linear bodies. What was also observed was that  big women preferred big men. As interesting as these findings might be in terms of women’s ideal mate choice all these factors fall aside when researchers observed their actual choice of mate. Overwhelmingly bodies of research have shown that the best clue to a women’s favorite male physique is the type of physique belonging to the man who is ‘the most important to her at that time in her life.’[6]  The fact that women prefer the physique of the man that is currently important to them suggests that partners are selected for many reasons besides physical attractiveness, and that people can favor an ideal body type but still not be happy with someone that fits that ideal.

Now there are groups of women that find muscular men incredibly attractive and some go so far as to only date men that are well muscled, however they are small in number relative to the size of the female human population. I myself started out at 125 lbs and did indeed see a tremendous difference in the way I was treated by the opposite sex as I slowly transformed into a 225 lb natural bodybuilder. It was truly an interesting experience to say the least, and I do think muscles do give you the potential of a good first impression- but after that it character, personality and a host of other factors will determine one’s eligibility. It might sound strange coming from me, but I do think that men, just like their female counterparts should focus more on being themselves rather than living up to media driven ideals. The desire for a well developed body should spring from a genuine wish for self improvement and overall health, and certainly not only as a way to pick up  women. Besides, as the studies show, muscles aren’t always everything.

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References

1. Johnson & Staffieri, 1971; Learner & Gellert, 1969, Learner & Korn, 1972; Learner & Schroder1971; Staffieri, 1972.
2. Portnoy, 1993
3. Channing and Mayer, 1966
4. Gortmaker et al., 1993
5. The National Center for Health statistics
6. Beck, Ward-Hull, &McLear, 1976; Lavrakas, 1975; Pertschulk, Trisdorfer, & Allison, 1994; Wiggins & Wiggins, 1969.

Kevin Richardson is an award winning health and fitness writer, natural bodybuilding champion , creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training and one of the most sought after personal trainers in NYC. Learn more about Kevin’s unique and holistic system of body transformation at www.naturalllyintense.net

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In a word, no, but there are some inherent dangers to any type of exercise. All new clients have to sign a waiver freeing me and any agent of Naturally Intense Personal Training NYC from any liability due to the fact that it does indeed have some degree of risk and many have the idea that weight training does lead to injuries. I can say however that in seventeen years of training literally hundreds of clients, I have only seen perhaps two or three injuries sustained in the gym and all as a result of them doing something that they were not supposed to do.

Now you can seriously injure yourself in a gym if you do not know what you are doing, but that is why it is so important to have a good and experienced personal trainer. As a trainer, it is my job to make sure that you get the workout that will give you the results you need without any injury, very much as a pilot works to carry you from place to place safely while strapped in to several thousand pounds of metal moving at almost the speed of sound. It sounds scary, but it really is pretty safe.

Contrast a properly executed weight training program with running, aerobics machine workouts or classes and you will see a huge difference in jury risk. You are almost guaranteed to suffer an overuse injury over time doing those types of repetitive movements whereas the variety and flexibility that a good trainer can offer can ensure an individualized program designed to not only prevent injuries, but strengthen your body to reduce the likelihood of their occurrence at the same time. Think about it, when you get injured, the rehabilitation exercises to get you back on your feet involve weights not aerobic type movements.
Warmest regards,
Kevin Richardson
Founder, Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™
Naturally Intense Personal Training  NYC
www.naturallyintense.net

Spot Reduction

It is a widely held belief that if you exercise one area, it will make the fat go away. I am often told that a client wants to work their arms more or their stomach or butt more since that is their trouble areas and they want to lose fat there. Go to any gym and you will see people on the ab machines everyday and women on hip machines for hours at a time. But it makes no difference in terms of fat reduction since spot reduction is simply a myth and is no more real than being able to turn lead into gold.

You lose fat throughout your body from an increase in muscle mass from a properly executed weight training program and adherence to diet, and you will see the fat loss mostly in the areas where you have the least fat to start with. So if you naturally have a lot of fat in the buttocks area which will most likely be the place that you notice the fat loss last. That is not to say at all that you are not losing fat in that area, but if since there is more fat there, you will see the fat loss faster in areas where there is less fat, like your face and your arms, before you would say in your butt or lower abdominal region (or hips for some women.).

Genetics does play a role in this as does gender as some are predisposed to having more or less fat in certain areas. But the bottom line is that you work the entire body to reduce fat everywhere and as time goes on, you will see that trouble spot go away!

Celebrity personal trainer NYC, Kevin Richardson is an award winning health and fitness writer, natural bodybuilding champion and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training™. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here.

It is all-too-common “I don’t have time to exercise,” or “I don’t have the time to eat properly” . Now our Naturally Intense Personal Training NYC ten minute workouts may go a long way in giving people the option to workout out, since all that is required is ten minutes three times a week- which everyone can more or less afford to do, but the problem comes from the food end of the scale.

The truth is that you have to make the time both to train and to eat correctly. You either make the time or resign yourself to never getting that body you always wanted as well as the risk of medical problems like heart disease, diabetes, or osteoporosis. Believe me it will take a lot more time to deal with these problems than it will to train and eat properly!

Celebrity personal trainer NYC, Kevin Richardson is an award winning health and fitness writer, natural bodybuilding champion and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training™. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here.

My brain says “Do more” while my body says, “Enough!”it is for this reason that it is so important to have someone that knows your limits telling you when to stop.

Celebrity NYC personal trainer, Kevin Richardson is an award winning health and fitness writer, natural bodybuilding champion and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training™. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here.