I agree with this. My wife has told me that big guys with abs almost look sick. She likes it when I am lean but not overly so.
I would rather look bigger in a shirt than have a 6 pack.
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Novelty is a confounding factor in that environment, both in the “Omg did you see that girl/guy in such&such lecture…” and in the new environment with an overwhelming exposure rate.
That and everybody is still really young, relatively intact, and hasn’t had much time to become fat, broken, alcoholic, and generally damaged.
And hormones. Lots of hormones.
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I knew a guy who was pretty much a ladies man. Whenever asked why he lifted weights, his reply was, “To look good naked.”
Well, I have never been considered a ladies man or had the desire to be considered one, so I think I’m good.
I think in fact my wife does not, no did not regard me as strong until my most recent comp.
Take the car deadlift; almost 50% of people got 0 reps. At the point we’re most people that entered failed she knew that was a heavy weight. It was like a point of reference was estimated. I pulled 5 reps. Boom - I’m strong.
So I think the issue is 200kg for 20 sounds as hard to her as 150kg for 15.
Not a woman but I think I could find Danny Trejo attractive. The tough guy thing just really does it for me. 
I stand by it.
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He seems cool too. I love his character on King of the Hill.
I guess since he almost always plays a bad guy in movies, he insists on his character getting killed.
They generally don’t prefer a dad bod but they also generally don’t mind it.
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That is my sticking point though. It seems polls make it seem that it is preferred. It might be over a open BBer, but I just don’t believe it is preferred over say a well developed and reasonably lean natural lifter.
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Stats are so easily manipulated they’re honestly not worth listening to.
This one, I have heard over and over (that’s why it is worth discussion). I guess as men (aside from Anna), we are just guessing what the average woman wants.
I don’t think many people hear that though, and think it is accurate.
A wrong thing repeatedly frequently does not make it a right thing…that’s dangerous thinking my dude.
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That is why I sorta brought it up (I didn’t start the thread, Chris did from a tangent in another thread). I am thinking it isn’t right, and it’s worth stating why I don’t think so. Although, I don’t think telling women over and over to prefer something is going to work lol. People are kinda attracted to what they are attracted to.
This is exactly what I meant by my “gender as a monolith” comment. It’s such a silly thing people do.
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Why would you want an average woman 
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I think there are too many other factors to put much emphasis on any single one.
I get about the same type and number of responses now as I did 20 years ago.
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There doesn’t need to be all that much guessing about what women want, or say they want, or think that we think that they say they want. We can check the surveys directly:
"[…] many women report they prefer dad bods because of these assumptions:
- He won’t be too focused on his appearance.
- He’ll be more available for his job or family.
- He’d be easy to cook for and would enjoy going out.
- He’d have a good sense of humor.
- His physique would not be intimidating.
These have nothing to do with attraction to the physique alone. Women are more concerned about the implications of who the guy is and how his body makes her feel."
Score one for Anna telling it like it is.
"Asking if they prefer dad bods is vague, so one survey asked what type of men women would actually date. (8)
- 38% said they absolutely don’t date guys with dad bods.
- 24% reported they’d consider it but noted that dad bods aren’t something they look for.
- 23% would be open to dating a guy with a dad bod.
- 15% said they exclusively date guys with dad bods."
"[…] researchers looked at specific muscles and had nearly 2000 women rate precisely how muscular they would prefer those muscles to be in an interactive model. They also had to answer for every muscle, “Does this muscle affect a man’s attractiveness?”
On a 7-point scale of “not muscular” to “highly muscled,” women rated every single muscle as ideally above average in desired muscularity, usually around a 4-rating or higher, except for the traps. Even the shin muscle (tibialis anterior) was desirable at an above-average level of muscularity.
The abs, obliques, and glutes scored the highest in desired muscularity levels. Every other muscle wasn’t far behind.
When answering which muscles affect a man’s attractiveness, over 80% of women answered “yes” to abs and 70% to obliques, glutes, shoulders, biceps, and pecs"
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Right. I highly doubt women think, “Yeah, a dad bod is so hot. I lust over thin and flat backsides, legs, and arms, and a paunch,” but it is obvious many don’t mind all that considering what their partners look like. Most men don’t have attractive bodies.
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This doesn’t surprise me from an evolutionary stand-point. My point of reference is combat training, but having a big, strong core and hips is crucial. Probably has some biological connection to a male being able to defend his family and ward off predators or rivals.
Agreed. Generally, in nature, excessive leanness is no bueno. A certain level shows a healthy body composition, but too much or too little leanness can signal a lack of health.
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They don’t like big traps? I think big traps are awesome. Maybe we need to start pushing that women like big traps.
Overall, the article aligns with what I think about the subject.
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