You already know there are a ton of reasons to get fit. Improved energy, strength, athleticism, mood, confidence, heath, longevity… the list goes on.
 
No doubt at least one of these reasons got you off your ass and into the gym.
 
But a big driver for a lot of people, which they won’t always admit, is to become more attractive to the opposite sex (or same sex, whatever your preference). 
 
While attraction is multi-faceted (meaning there’s much more to it than just what you look like), whether we like to admit it or not, this biological hardwiring is still an undeniable part of the attraction equation.
 
Today, we’re going to look at what the scientific data says on the subject, so you can stack the odds of this particular attraction metric in your favour.
 
As we’ve evolved, mate selection has been a key part of our survival in ancestral times. This is why certain qualities have become more attractive than others.
 
For women, a man’s formidity (ability to fight and protect) was an essential part of her own survival strategy. Upper body strength, therefore, is a crucial visual que that demonstrates a man’s ability in these areas. 
 
While protection is not as important for women in the modern era as it once was, the evolutionary preferences still exist in our monkey minds.
 
According to the latest research by a group of Australian scientists, there are three physical attributes that women find more attractive in men. Strength, height and leanness(1).
 
Using pictures of men’s physiques, it was possible to almost perfectly predict how attractive a man was based on these 3 attributes(1).
 
But surprisingly, looking strong was far more important than height or leanness, making up for over 70% of male bodily attractiveness(1).
 
For men, it’s more about the perceived fertility of a women being attractive for successful child bearing(2).
 
One study found that visual ques of a lower waist > hip ratio (narrower waist and wider hips / booty) represented sexual maturity and adequate key reproductive resources(2).
 
For both men and women, these qualities can all be enhanced as a by-product of consistent dedication to training program and diet. 
 
While there are many more reasons why you might find someone attractive, the physical aspects are undeniable factors in the scientific literature.

That’s great news for you action takers out there - wanting to be more attractive is a perfectly legitimate reason to get after it! Let’s go!

References

Lassek, W. and Gaulin, S., 2019. Evidence supporting nubility and reproductive value as the key to human female physical attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 40(5), pp.408-419.
Sell, A., Lukazsweski, A. and Townsley, M., 2017. Cues of upper body strength account for most of the variance in men's bodily attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284(1869), p.20171819.