# Ripped men and attractiveness **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869 "2009-03-01T11:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869/101 "2011-09-17T10:59:30Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > Just like to dispel a myth that I’ve seen here stating, If a man is really cut or ripped it’s a turn off to some women because that means for them they spend too much time on themselves and at the gym. > > For some men it’s easy when half the battle is what your eating coupled with a high metabolism. So spending on average 20 hrs a month at the gym doesn’t seem that excessive to me at all. > > I can only speak for myself it isn’t about vanity but about feeling good about myself. I’d second this. It’s also perfectly possibly to get a lean and cut look without spending inordinate amounts of time in the gym, it just requires a lot of discipline and a good routine. Maybe the women in this thread prefer men who can’t be bothered to get off the sofa to get themselves another beer instead. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869/102 "2011-09-17T12:18:51Z")
Just putting some love out there for the couch potatoes. Rightly or wrongly, I just assume I won’t have much in common with the thin, fit or ripped. I like a guy who’ll have second helpings of dessert without fretting about his weight. Vive le bon vivant! ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869/103 "2011-09-17T13:24:57Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > Just like to dispel a myth that I’ve seen here stating, If a man is really cut or ripped it’s a turn off to some women because that means for them they spend too much time on themselves and at the gym. > > For some men it’s easy when half the battle is what your eating coupled with a high metabolism. So spending on average 20 hrs a month at the gym doesn’t seem that excessive to me at all. > > I can only speak for myself it isn’t about vanity but about feeling good about myself. For anyone who is ripped it is 90-95% diet and 5% what goes on at the gym. The reigning Mr. Olympia has his workout regimen posted online at [bodybuilding.com](http://bodybuilding.com) and if you look at it he is in the gym 5 days a week for probably 70-90 minutes. Compare that to virtually any other major hobby out there and it’s a pretty light time investment. You could do 100% the same workout as Mr. Olympia for 2 years and if you maintained your current diet I can promise you that you will not be ripped, you will just be stronger than you are now. Further, Mr. Olympia types are the top 1% (and less) of bodybuilders, and bodybuilders are probably less than 10% of the population of gym rats _or less_. Your “average” bodybuilder, when not cutting for competition and not oiled up striking a pose will look like a fit, healthy guy. He will not look like an exploding muscle freak. Remember those competition shots represent a guy who has been on a starvation “cut” diet for weeks in prep for competition, and then they are also oiled up and in poses that make the musculature extremely prominent. The rest of the year a “normal” body builder will look very fit, but not like an over-muscled freak. Guys like Jay Cutler (current Mr. Olympia) who are professionals will probably look like a muscle-freak 24/7/365, but those guys are almost all extreme juicers. ---
**Author:** ![uuaschbaer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@uuaschbaer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uuaschbaer)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869/104 "2011-09-17T13:42:09Z")
What does it for me is not the amount of muscle but the angle of curves. A body can remind you of a sports car or pair of sunglasses and be beautiful or it can resemble one of those old computer monitors or a brutalist building and elicit no appreciation, lean or muscly. ---
**Author:** ![Wynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Wynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wynne)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869/105 "2012-12-16T07:30:37Z")
My dad’s always been a combination of muscle and flab, so any sight of either gets me thinking platonic thoughts. What I dig is the beanpole type. The kind who’s probably going to be skinny even when he’s at grandpa-age and has those nice, long, spindly fingers. I’m short (five feet and small change, as Dresden would say), curvy, and busty, and most of my guy friends who prefer small breasts have smallish and short-fingered hands, so there might be something genetic or simply practical at play here as well. Maybe we’re all subconsciously attracted to people who look like they can best handle what we’ve got. A scrawny torso and long limbs turn me to jelly. I love touching a flat chest. I love that lanky, gawky, can’t-gain-weight-but-can-reach-the-back-of-the-top-shelf look. I don’t need or want a guy who looks like he stepped out of a bodybuilding magazine or out of a comic book or what-have-you. Give me the guy with all the sharp angles who looks kinda nerdy and I’m a happy woman. Please, guys, don’t feel like you have to be Arnold. Some of us girls (and guys like the OP!) like you just the way you are. You should, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869/106 "2012-12-17T09:39:52Z")
My husband resembles something like Tom Selleck/ Sean Connery in their day (now with a bit more tummy, thanks to my Eastern European cooking). Yum yum yum. I enjoyed when we were both working out more, and a bit more “ripped,” but this is just as nice in its way. I may have to excuse myself for a bit. Ahem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ripped-men-and-attractiveness/487869.md?page=5)