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Do Muscles Really Make You More Attractive?

Published Aug 4, 2024 Transcribed Jul 28, 2026 Jeff Nippard Jeff Nippard
Beginner 7 min read For: General audience interested in fitness, dating, and self-improvement.
AI Trust Score 85/100
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"Title accurately reflects the video's core question, but the answer is nuanced: muscles help, but personality matters more."

AI Summary

This video analyzes survey data from 50,000 people to determine the relationship between muscularity, strength, and romantic success. It reveals that while strength and muscle mass correlate with more partners, the most attractive physique is moderate, and personality traits like kindness are far more important for long-term relationships.

[00:02]
Survey Introduction

The creator surveyed 50,000 people to investigate if more muscle leads to more romantic success.

[01:39]
Bench Press and Partners

Men who bench press more than four plates had an average of 16 lifetime intimate partners, showing a positive correlation between strength and partner count.

[03:39]
Strength Trend for Women

The same trend holds for women: stronger women also had more intimate partners.

[04:07]
Body Fat and Partners

Body fat percentage had zero impact on total number of partners; the graph was a flat line from shredded to overweight.

[05:46]
Body Fat and Romantic Satisfaction

Higher body fat correlated with lower romantic satisfaction; the most dissatisfied individuals were those with the most body fat.

[06:58]
Muscularity and Partners

The most jacked men had the highest number of partners (average 11), likely influenced by steroid use increasing libido.

[07:49]
Muscle and Relationship Status

People with more muscle were more likely to be in a relationship; gaining muscle increased chances by about 20%.

[08:29]
Most Attractive Physique

41% of women found level 3 muscularity most attractive; only 10% preferred level 5 (most muscular). Men's goals (33% want level 5) mismatch women's preferences.

[10:43]
Strength vs. Other Traits

A meta-analysis of 170,000 subjects found that strength and muscularity were the strongest predictors among six masculine traits, but all six combined accounted for only 5% of variance in mating success.

[12:47]
Kindness Matters Most

Being kind, having goals, and being a good person are more important than physical attributes. A classic study showed that even a handsome jerk loses 85% of the time to a kind man.

While strength and muscle can boost initial attraction and partner count, the most critical factors for long-term romantic success are personality traits like kindness, intelligence, and not taking oneself too seriously.

Mentioned in this Video

Study Flashcards (8)

What was the average number of lifetime intimate partners for men who bench press more than four plates?

easy Click to reveal answer

16

02:19

What percentage of women found level 5 muscularity (most muscular) most attractive?

easy Click to reveal answer

10%

08:59

What percentage of men said they wanted level 5 muscularity as their goal?

medium Click to reveal answer

33%

09:36

What percentage of variance in mating outcomes did six masculine traits (height, voice pitch, facial masculinity, testosterone, finger ratio, strength) account for?

hard Click to reveal answer

About 5%

11:50

In the classic study comparing jerks to nice guys, what percentage of women chose the jerk?

medium Click to reveal answer

7%

13:11

What was the most attractive physique level according to women?

easy Click to reveal answer

Level 3

08:43

Did body fat percentage affect total number of intimate partners?

medium Click to reveal answer

No, it had zero impact.

05:18

What is the single most important factor for a happy long-term relationship according to the video?

hard Click to reveal answer

Being a kind person and not taking yourself too seriously.

14:33

💡 Key Takeaways

📊

More Plates, More Dates

Directly shows a strong correlation between bench press strength and number of intimate partners.

02:19
💡

Body Fat Doesn't Affect Partner Count

Challenges the common belief that leanness is crucial for attracting partners.

05:18
📊

Women Prefer Moderate Muscle

Reveals a significant mismatch between men's goals and women's preferences.

08:59
📊

Physical Traits Explain Only 5%

Highlights that non-physical factors dominate romantic success.

11:50
⚖️

Kindness Trumps Looks

Classic study shows even a handsome jerk loses to a kind man 85% of the time.

13:11

[00:02] the main reasons that people get into lifting is to attract a partner but are all those hours in the gym actually worth it I wanted to find out so I asked 50,000 people do you think more plates equals more dates girls care more about

[00:17] much weight you're lifting if you're really strong I think that's very attractive it can definitely help your odds get more dates by becoming more confident and getting really good at any craft and just being and you man

[00:32] no I like the more you live the less days you go on I told them to select their body type on this chart and then choose the body that they found the most attractive probably 57 are you serious I was so surprised by what people said

[00:45] that I had to ask some more questions would you be more likely to go on a date with a guy if he can bench press at least two plates I don't care and would you be more likely to go on a date with a guy if he has more muscle yes do you

[00:58] think that people who are leaner are more happy in relationships well I think it depends how lean I think your sex drive is the end of the survey what I found out was that having more muscle could

[01:12] partners and having a bigger bench press might help with romantic success but there are a few things that really hurt your attractiveness and there's one chances of being in a long-term relationship in this video I'm going to

[01:26] tell you what level of muscularity women find the most attractive whether or not people with a six-pack actually score more romantic partners and explain the single most important factor for scaring a happy long-term relationship so let's

[01:39] start with everyone's favorite exercise the bench press do more plates really equal more dates all right this is how bench press surveyed most guys could bench press around two plates per side as a one rep

[01:53] max which I'd consider intermediate level strength only 5% could bench press three plates and only a tiny sliver of you animals have ever put up four plates my all-time best bench press is 380 lb by the way so just under four plates all

[02:07] right now let's see if the bigger benchers are actually scoring more Partners again here on the x-axis is how much you can bench so one plate per side all the way up to four plates per side and on the y- AIS is how many lifetime

[02:19] intimate Parkers you've had as you can see more plates does in fact equal more dates men who benched more than four plates had by far the most partners with lifetime average of 16 I found this shocking honestly I don't know why I

[02:34] just really didn't expect there to be a trend like this if anything I figured so focused on the gym that they wouldn't have as much time or energy for getting around I was wrong but now that I see it this way I think it can be explained by

[02:47] the fact that stronger men are perceived as more attractive by heterosexual women reason it really shoots up for the four plate benchers is probably because they're more likely to be on steroids and steroids increase libido by a lot of

[03:00] was also thinking that maybe the bigger benchers have just been training longer and are therefore older and more likely to have had at least a few relationships maybe but my audience Falls very strongly within the 18 to 34 age bracket

[03:14] with most of my followers being 25 to 34 so while age probably plays some role in this relationship I don't think it's enough to fully explain the trend it benchers are getting more intimate Partners but if your bench press is your

[03:26] weakest lift don't worry because when you look at every single a respondent people with a low bench press who've had loads of Partners and clearly there are people with a big bench press without as many oh and the same Trend held for the

[03:39] squat and deadlift more strengths meant more Partners the specific lift doesn't you're strong that seems to count but what about women do you think stronger women had more Partners too or did being stronger actually lower the partner

[03:52] count for women nope women showed the same Trend as men more strength meant more Partners so yes your strength does predict your partner account but it's definitely not the worst thing we'll get to that all right so what body type does

[04:07] the best this part was actually the most surprising to me I want you to point to the body that you think is most attractive so as you go down here there's more muscle and as you go across here there's more body fat

[04:21] I prefer a little bit of a like not too much muscle okay I think somewhere in this area over here this 43 43 okay we're getting somewhere one of these so pick she just points to him let's start with body fat does having a six-pack

[04:37] actually help or do guys with more of a dad bod get more attention for this question I ask men to select their level of body fat from a lineup of physiques ranging from sixpack shredded to overweight and then I ask them how many

[04:50] they could skip this question if they'd rather not say then I made this graph to their body fat with one being the most shredded and eight being the most overweight I honestly expected it to look something like this where the most

[05:04] because I don't know maybe they're a little too gy obsessed or narcissistic Sweet Spot somewhere around level three which is about 10 to 15% body fat I was totally wrong this is what it actually

[05:18] looked like your amount of body fat had zero impact on your total number of Partners it was a flat line all the way from six-pack shredded to most overweight leaner guys weren't doing any better than heavier guys but just

[05:31] Lifetime Partners doesn't necessarily mean that you're more happy with your romantic life and I think it's romantic satisfaction that matters more so to fix this I ask people to rate the Romantic satisfaction on a scale of one to seven

[05:46] with one being the worst and seven being the best then I made this graph this time your level of body fat did predict your romantic satisfaction I separated out all the people who ranked the Romantic satisfaction of one so the

[06:00] see if the people most frustrated with the Romantic life were leaner or not as you can see the people with the most body fat also had the most people who rated the Romantic satisfaction a one the same was true for women the most

[06:14] romantic dissatisfaction was found in the men and the women with the most body fat next I'm going to reveal if being more jacked can help you land a happy long-term relationship but I want to quickly shout out

[06:31] last year I used it to help me transform my own physique and improve my health nutrition coach and you'll get individualized updates to your diet each goals you can download a two-e trial for free at the first link below or you can

[06:45] scan this QR code on screen and input code Jeff when you download the app okay code Jeff when you download the app okay so what about you'll have a better love life well let's see first this is a graph of your

[06:58] muscularity in your number of intimate Partners the most jacked guys had the highest number of partners with an average of 11 why is that well again other research does show that muscularity is positively associated

[07:11] with quote meeting SL reproductive success and I suspect the fact that it shot up again for the superjack guys has something to do with steroids because to get to a level eight on my scale most people would probably need anabolics but

[07:23] what about women did the more jacked women also have more intimate Partners or did it flip the other way well let's see there you go same Trend here the more muscle that women had the more Partners they had but let's be

[07:36] honest who really cares about your total number of intimate Partners what people really want is a loving and healthy relationship so the real question is does being more mused increase your chances of being in a relationship let's

[07:49] bring the data here as you can see the people with less muscle were also less likely to be in a relationship and the people with more muscle were more likely it's pretty incredible that simply gaining some muscle could increase your

[08:02] chances of being in a relationship by about 20% I mean even getting to a level five or a level six seems to help and that level of muscular development is well within the natural range of course all these graphs are just correlations

[08:15] could be that people who are more muscled are more confident and therefore more likely to actually approach women it might not be the muscle per se so to figure out exactly which body type women like the most I figured I'd just ask

[08:29] them straight up which body do you find most attractive just point to what level of muscularity you think is most attractive this one okay as you can see one is the least muscular and five is the most muscular with four being around

[08:43] the upper limit of what's achievable naturally these results were pretty wild the most attractive physique was level three over 41% of women said they found level three the most attractive only 10% of women found level five most

[08:59] attractive in fact more women prefer the second level of muscularity than the fifth level of muscularity and that's coming from my audience women presumably already more into the gym and possibly biased toward a more muscular look I

[09:11] think men should be encouraged by this because level two is easily attainable with a relatively healthy diet and just one or two full body workouts per week while to get to level five you not only need to spend a lot more time in the gym

[09:24] you'd also probably need to supplement anabolics and deal with her less than desirable side effect effect but here's the incredible part next I asked men which level of muscularity they wanted for themselves what was their goal level

[09:36] of muscle I want you to notice how different it is from what women said they found the most attractive most men said they wanted a level four muscularity a level five wasn't far behind at 33% onethird of men said they

[09:50] want in the highest level of muscularity I think this is worth highlighting only 10% of women said they found level 5 most attractive while 33% of men are chasing this physique that's a big gap almost no nobody selected down so what's

[10:04] that's what that's what I'm trying to tell you um honestly I had uh two sandwiches today I I started here and now I'm here I would love to now I'm here I would love to be honestly 28's pretty great yeah 28 do

[10:18] the most attractive she definitely picked eight she picked eight no I'm obviously not saying that men should only train to impress women but since many men do train at least partly with the goal of attract in women and on

[10:30] average women don't prefer level five as much and since getting to level five would potentially impose health risks for some it might be worth reconsidering your goal but out of all of this I still haven't told you what helps the most and

[10:43] most out of everything I analyzed in my survey the strongest correlation with survey the strongest correlation with dating parameters was oddly enough bench more likely still to go out with a guy if he could bench press three

[10:57] plates yeah that's pretty impressive men who could bench more seem to go on more relationship and just do better romantically overall but then I started thinking maybe there's something even more important that I missed after all I

[11:10] didn't ask any questions about height or facial masculinity so I did some digging entire field of science dedicated to answering this exact

[11:23] than 170,000 subjects it took six stereotypic masculine traits and figured out which one was most closely linked to mating and reproductive success the six traits were height voice pitch facial

[11:38] masculinity testosterone levels index finger to ring finger ratio and strength physical traits which do you think was most strongly linked to meeting success

[11:50] maybe it was height or voice pitch it was actually strength and muscularity but if you dig into the data all six of these traits combined only accounted for about 5% of the variance in mating outcomes in other words these six things

[12:05] that everyone fixates on don't account for 95% of what goes into romantic success so the non-physical stuff is more important to you yeah 100% you can't have a great body if he's like stupid or just like doesn't have

[12:19] values it's like you're out of course physical attributes do matter and I in this regard are making sure that you're well groomed you smell good you practice good hygiene take care of your teeth you find a hairstyle that works

[12:32] for your face and you dress with a style that fits your body shape but even more important believe it or not is being a good person being kind to others is attractive qualities for people of all genders and sexual orientations the real

[12:47] reason that women seem to dislike nice guys is that when women picture a nice guy they're thinking of someone who is needy clingy and desperate but it's the neediness and the clinginess that's unattractive not the niess if you're

[12:59] someone who has their together meaning you take care of yourself you set goals you have other cool stuff going on in your life and you're kind to others attractive than someone who's just a

[13:11] jerk or an in my searching I uncovered this classic study researchers compar jerks to so-called nice guys only 7% of women picked the jerk and the Kinder the man was portrayed the more desirable he was and even when the

[13:25] researchers made the jerk more handsome he still lost 85% of of the time and to this myth this study surveyed heterosexual bisexual and homosexual men and women in all cases intelligence and kindness were ranked as being more

[13:40] important than physical attractiveness except for heterosexual men who ranked kindness and intelligence still for women of all sexual orientations kindness and intelligence matter the most and being mean or a bully to other

[13:54] attractive things you can do I'm not when like when there's when you see a guy that's like so lean so muscular like I've had like instances where like they're just so like I'm sorry like full

[14:07] of ego you know and it's that's like for me that's for sure a turn off like I know talk to me like yeah but then rather like yo yo I'm like you I'm strong guy yeah obviously I'm not saying that the physical stuff doesn't matter

[14:19] it does but the physical stuff that matters the most is probably more within your control than you realize like just working out seems to help and there's that might matter even more it's what's on the inside that will make me stick

[14:33] going to be initially attracted to but that's not going to last forever so definitely personality is what I'm going to look at the most as far as I can tell being a kind person and not taking yourself too seriously is probably your

[14:46] quickest way to becoming a more attractive person especially if you're looking for long-term romantic success becoming the best version of yourself and your Fitness so if you are interested in losing fat building muscle

[14:59] or both I strongly recommend checking out my gold standard nutrition app

[15:19] other aspects of your life and still achieve your goals mfactor uses the most up-to-date scientific literature to power its algorithms and its recommendations custom tailored to your metabolism specifically if you'd like to

[15:32] QR code over here next to my head or you can click the first link in the description box down below and enter code Jeff after you download that'll get you a 2E trial for free so you can try it out first before you commit all right

[15:44] to leave me a thumbs up if you enjoyed the video subscribe if you haven't already and I'll see you guys all here in the next one

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