What's the most attractive male body shape? There have been a number of studies, social experiments and surveys on this very specific topic and most of the times the findings point to the lean and toned body that doesn't look too muscular as the winner.
So if you are going to start working out in hopes of increasing your physical attractiveness to women (like 99% of guys do) this is the body shape you should be aiming for. You should lose fat and build muscle, but stick with an average amount of muscle to avoid getting big and bulky.
The Body Shape That Some Guys Falsely Believe Women Like
First of, while the majority of men who get into fitness are focused on looking attractive, not all men who build muscle do it for impressing women. There are a number of bodybuilders who build muscle for the industry and a number of fitness enthusiast who build muscle for themselves.
But there are some guys who believe that having a lot of muscle and looking huge with their gains is the ideal look to attract women. But the truth is women are turned off by bulging, massive muscles. A lot of guys are disconnected from this reality because they choose to mentally stick in the past (during the 70s and 80s) when the big muscle look was the admired male body at the time. Those were the days when actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger were hot in Hollywood and influenced the fascination of the big muscular shape. But the trend of the attractive male body shape has changed since the 90s which is often credited to Brad Pitt in Fight Club.
The Lean Muscular Body Shape
It is believed that Brad Pitt was the first actor in Hollywood to show the masses of guys out there that being really lean with a normal build is more attractive-looking than being huge and bulky.
Pitt's character, Tyler Durden, was able to get a hip look, but had amazing muscle definition when he took his shirt off. This was a winning combination with the ladies and still is to this day. All actors strive for this look when they are required to get in shape for a movie role.
When surveyed, across the board, women were attracted to lean muscular men. They were clear to say that they prefer “normal” rather than "gym rat". The bodybuilder physique was generally unpopular and even laughed at.
