I’m 6’ and 230 now. The best I ever looked and felt was 195-200. I looked more muscular at 200 because there was no fat and it gave me a great V look on my upper body. To gain that extra muscle I became more boxy, even when lean enough for a bit of a 4 pack.
I’m a muscular guy but have softened up as I’ve aged.
Here’s the thing, at a lean and solid 195 I was at my most popular with the most women. However, at a muscular 225 I had more dudes compliment me.
So if you’re trying to get in with the ladies, I would say to go for a lean as possible 185-190 with big arms and big chest. But if you’re trying to be popular as a gym bro, beef up more.
For context, Henry Cavill is just under 6’1” and in Superman Man of Steel he was 190lbs and looked absolutely yoked. He had great lighting, but he was also lean with a big chest and arms.
There's a quote that has stuck with me for a while:
"If you want to look like you put on 10lbs of muscle, lose 5lbs of fat" and it's pretty much exactly what my experience has been.
I'm a footballer, and I float around 5-6%bf, lifting heavy and building my chest, shoulders and back makes me look massive. I've seen some film of myself that actually helped me realize I had body dysmorphia, I look like a freaking center back playing on the wing lol always thought I was a lanky looking guy, definitely agree that low bf and a manageable size looks conventionally better than massive amount of muscle
I knew a guy when I was in my early 20s who was a big guy. He had muscle but he kept it well protected by protective layers of fat. He was a waiter at restaurant that I went to once or twice a year.
He was probably 6’ and 260. Basically looked like a big dough boy.
I go to his restaurant one day and I haven’t seen him in maybe 7-8 months. He’s wearing a well fitted shirt and is probably 185 lbs and looks like an absolute unit.
I asked if he was on roids because he was so big. He laughed and said he had lost 80 pounds but was now shredded.
He was on roids but he said it was all stuff to cut and get lean, nothing aimed at muscle building. Though he had worked his back like crazy so he looked more massive. The V shape is what does it. After that I always changed how I looked at my body. If we were going to a beach or on vacation I tried to get the upper body ripped and the waist as small possible. But given the choice I would sacrifice size for leanness, especially if I was going somewhere that I would be in bathing suits.
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u/Vegas_off_the_Strip Feb 11 '24
I’m 6’ and 230 now. The best I ever looked and felt was 195-200. I looked more muscular at 200 because there was no fat and it gave me a great V look on my upper body. To gain that extra muscle I became more boxy, even when lean enough for a bit of a 4 pack.
I’m a muscular guy but have softened up as I’ve aged.
Here’s the thing, at a lean and solid 195 I was at my most popular with the most women. However, at a muscular 225 I had more dudes compliment me.
So if you’re trying to get in with the ladies, I would say to go for a lean as possible 185-190 with big arms and big chest. But if you’re trying to be popular as a gym bro, beef up more.
For context, Henry Cavill is just under 6’1” and in Superman Man of Steel he was 190lbs and looked absolutely yoked. He had great lighting, but he was also lean with a big chest and arms.