Lifting takes a large amount of effort. Building a good physique can often take years to achieve. All this work must be motivated by something.
For some guys, this motivation comes from wanting increase their value as a man to women. The logic often is that a better physique equals better chances when trying to get a girl.
This logic is partly true but when broken down is not so simple. The relationship between how good your physique and how attractive you are to girls is not linear. This essentially means that getting into shape after not having been in shape will be very helpful but after that point the progress you make in the gym does not continue to highly correlate with getting girls.
This is because women are more attracted to the ability to build muscle than the muscle itself. This means that the ability to build muscle is more attractive than the actual muscle mass on your body because there are not many modern practical reasons to be in standout shape.
Generally, attraction is based off the value you provide in terms of protection and lifestyle. Being muscular does not necessarily mean that you can improve the lifestyle and protection of women who may date you. A large amount of money or high status are both going to help more.
For example, DJ Khaled is attractive to women despite a very poor physique because he is high value due to status and wealth. The local guy at your gym may not be very attractive to women despite his good physique because there are no other aspects of his life that elevate him to girls besides the body he has.
This is not to say that lifting weights is not worth the time. Lifting can spill over into other areas of your life that play a significant role in how you are perceived. Generally, having a good physique will increase how well you do with girls but will not be the sole reason you do well with them.
A Good Physique and Having More Confidence
One of the most important traits for a man to have is confidence. Confidence can override other, less attractive traits because it tells other people that you are self-assured, self-sufficient, and high value.
If you are highly confident, others will assume that you know what you’re doing in life, you have everything together, and you have a lot to offer as a person.
This study examined different emotions being displayed by men and how they affected women’s attraction. It found that men who looked proud were rated the most attractive. This is because looking proud and confident is a sign that you are high value as a person.
To reach that point of confidence, lifting can be helpful.
For many men, lifting is able to propel them into having more confidence, having a higher ego, and being more self-assured.
If you like how you look, you will portray that and people will pick it up. If you are insecure about how you look, that will be noticed as well and will hurt how attractive you are to the opposite sex.
Additionally, having a passion is going to make you enjoy your life more and exude positivity in interactions with other people. If lifting gives you a sense of purpose and is rewarding for you, you will be happier and more confident because your life will be something you can be proud of.
Lifting and Higher Social Proof
Along with confidence, lifting weights and having a good physique can increase your status and the amount of social proof you have.
Social proof is the phenomenon where people will be more inclined to do something if it appears that other people have already done that thing as well.
Having social proof, or having it appear that you are attractive to other women, is one of the most impactful factors for how attractive you are to women. This is because if it seems that other women have already found you to be attractive, the girl you are talking to is going to require less evidence that you are high value since it will be assumed that you are “worthy” based off the fact that other women have already decided this.
This study confirms this by showing that girls find men more attractive if the men appear to have already been found attractive by other girls. They found this by showing women pictures of men either by themselves or with other women, the men pictured with other women were rated as being more attractive than the men by themselves.
Lifting ties into social proof in that muscular men are assumed by women to have had more partners. Men with good physiques also are more respected by other men which is picked up on and seen as “proof” that he is high value.
Diminishing Returns Past a Point Where Your Physique Is Acceptable
The ideal physique for most women is simply athletic, muscular, and in shape. Past that point, there is not going to be significantly more attraction just from 5 more pounds of muscle mass on your frame unless that girl specifically is into muscular men.
Pushing past that point where you have an acceptable, athletic physique is going to, in some cases, narrow the amount of women that will find you attractive. Having a bodybuilder-tier physique is going to require a lot of dedication and will set you apart from other men. Women do not fawn over the contestants of Mr. Olympia.
There have been studies which have been done to see if muscular men are more attractive to women. One study which showed women pictures of guy who were either “weak” or “strong” found that 100% of the women favored men with muscle. It also found that there was a positive correlation with appearing strong and how attractive a man is.
This study found that women saw muscular men as being more dominant, sexier, more unpredictable, and less committed. Overall, however, moderately muscular men were found to be the most attractive while very muscular men were considered to be only suitable as short-term partners.
Based on these studies, women find muscular men much more attractive than men who are not muscular. Once you have a good physique however women will not find you even more attractive if you pack on even more muscle.
Summary
Overall, a good physique matters to girls but only up to a certain point. Once you are well built and not skinny or fat, adding more muscle and size is not going to give you more of an advantage over other males.
The point at which you have reached the maximal advantage from your physique is around where you have clear and well-defined muscles and abs. Your shoulder to waist ratio is also one of the most important physical traits screened for.
Every man should lift. Even if lifting weights does not directly help with women it still has a positive impact on your life and will improve everything from your confidence to your posture to your overall enjoyment of life. These are all things which can combine to improve the value you have, ultimately drawing the conclusion that yes, lifting does help with girls as long as it’s also something you’re doing for yourself. A good physique will improve your life but you are still the driving force behind what that good physique is capable of achieving.
For more on lifestyle and lifting, such as how to keep gains while traveling and how to increase testosterone by decreasing cortisol, click here.
