Fitness and the Male Body Image

[WithoutaFace]

Recently, a friend of mine found amusement in my feeble attempts to physically sculpt my body with some tenuous weights. To console me, I was provided with a new set of ample dumbbells and a newly installed pull up bar. I have been working scrupulously with his newly proposed workout plan. While I strive for a consummate workout, there are areas that I would like to isolate and focus on. This leads me to the crux of the post.

A question for all MBTI members regarding the male body (addressed to both genders):

Which areas of it attracts your attention the most?
Feel free to elaborate as to why and how this is so. Do you prefer it to be smaller, bigger, purple, green, more defined.... explain. If anecdotes are necessary, help yourself -- and me.

 

[Feops]

I'm not sure what the women think, but I'll chip in my few points.

1. If you develop some muscles and not others, it looks silly.

2. You can only work any given muscle so hard before it needs time to recover, so there's no benefit to specializing unless you just want to make your workouts shorter. But then, see point one. If your friend has you doing twenty different lifts to hit every muscle individually you can probably streamline that quite a bit with compound lifts.

3. Both size and definition are good. If you're skinny, bulk then cut.

 

[Ulaes]

skinnny weist and hips on their own is attractive.
definition in the upper body defiatley helps. just try to have angels in your body, so this doesnt nessarily mean have a jutting six pack.

 

[Rangler]

Haha I'm not attracted per se, but on other guys I notice chests, shoulders, and arms... mainly because that's what I need to work on as my main source of exercise this winter has been yoga.

 

[WithoutaFace]

I'm not sure what the women think, but I'll chip in my few points.

1. If you develop some muscles and not others, it looks silly.

2. You can only work any given muscle so hard before it needs time to recover, so there's no benefit to specializing unless you just want to make your workouts shorter. But then, see point one. If your friend has you doing twenty different lifts to hit every muscle individually you can probably streamline that quite a bit with compound lifts.

3. Both size and definition are good. If you're skinny, bulk then cut.

I gotcha, except for "compound lifts." What exactly are those?

skinnny weist and hips on their own is attractive.
definition in the upper body defiatley helps. just try to have angels in your body, so this doesnt nessarily mean have a jutting six pack.

Okay skinny waist, I figured that much. Hips, really?
Also, is it just me, or are six packs disgusting? I really do not want a six pack, I figured just a slim waist with well developed chest, back, and obliques are more than ample. There's just something about six packs that look emaciated and unhealthy to me. I'm sure most people would disagree. What are you thoughts on that?

Also, I was thinking about legs. How important are the legs to all of you?

 

[Feops]

I gotcha, except for "compound lifts." What exactly are those?

Full body stuff with a range of movement that hits multiple muscle groups. Squats for example.

 

[wolfy]

For a physique that is really nice to look at (think Michelangelo's David) the main points are the shoulders, lats a slim torso and well developed calves.
Also the triceps (especially the long head) and the forearms.

 

[WithoutaFace]

For a physique that is really nice to look at (think Michelangelo's David) the main points are the shoulders, lats a slim torso and well developed calves.
Also the triceps (especially the long head) and the forearms.

Lol, ah yes the classically desired body type and proportion. Just for fun, my friend asked me what celebrity I would model my physique after. My rejoinder was that this would be a good start, lol:

Damn, and my forearms aren't exactly the envy of other guys. They are so skinny, as are my wrists.

 

[WithoutaFace]

I guess the picture didn't come up. But it was supposed to be a picture of Daniel Craig in Casino Royale.

 

[wolfy]

I guess the picture didn't come up. But it was supposed to be a picture of Daniel Craig in Casino Royale.

Daniel Craig has also has pretty well developed traps.
What kind of workout are you doing?

 

[WithoutaFace]

Daniel Craig has also has pretty well developed traps.
What kind of workout are you doing?

1. Three sets of hammer curls.
2. Three sets of push ups.
3. Three sets of "behind the back tricep lifts."
4. As many pulls ups as I can to work the back, triceps, and forearms maybe?
5. 80 sit ups a day.
6. Jump rope five minutes in the morning. Then at least 25 minutes at night before bed.

I really want to develop my forearms, I feel like as if they are the bane of my workout sessions. It seems like they seriously constrain my maximum output. Does this workout plan seem like a good start? Should I augment this in any way?

Also, where are the "traps" located? Are "lats" synonymous with obliques?

 

[wolfy]

1. Three sets of hammer curls.
2. Three sets of push ups.
3. Three sets of "behind the back tricep lifts."
4. As many pulls ups as I can to work the back, triceps, and forearms maybe?
5. 80 sit ups a day.
6. Jump rope five minutes in the morning. Then at least 25 minutes at night before bed.

I really want to develop my forearms, I feel like as if they are the bane of my workout sessions. It seems like they seriously constrain my maximum output. Does this workout plan seem like a good start? Should I augment this in any way?

Also, where are the "traps" located? Are "lats" synonymous with obliques?

This site is really good for learning about the different muscle groups.
ExRx
Traps=Trapezius Upper fibers
Lats=Latissimus dorsi

Is that the order you do the workout in?
How many times a week do you train?
Do you have a bench?

 

[WithoutaFace]

This site is really good for learning about the different muscle groups.
ExRx
Traps=Trapezius Upper fibers
Lats=Latissimus dorsi

Is that the order you do the workout in?
How many times a week do you train?
Do you have a bench?

Thank you very much for the links.

I usually start off with one set of push ups, and then move on to one set of curls, then to another arbitrary exercise, until I hit push ups again. I go in a circuit until I hit the third set of each exercise. I am trying to implement a concept called "circuit training" into my sessions. The idea behind this is that supposedly giving yourself little rest between workouts will keep your heart rate up, allowing you to burn calories while building your targeted muscle groups. Usually my sit ups and pull ups are at the very end.

Now that you've defined traps, I have to say that you are definitely right in mentioning that Daniel Craig does have very developed traps.

 

[wolfy]

Thank you very much for the links.

I usually start off with one set of push ups, and then move on to one set of curls, then to another arbitrary exercise, until I hit push ups again. I go in a circuit until I hit the third set of each exercise. I am trying to implement a concept called "circuit training" into my sessions. The idea behind this is that supposedly giving yourself little rest between workouts will keep your heart rate up, allowing you to burn calories while building your targeted muscle groups. Usually my sit ups and pull ups are at the very end.

Now that you've defined traps, I have to say that you are definitely right in mentioning that Daniel Craig does have very developed traps.

I don't know if you have a bench. If you do then I would do dumbbell presses.
You sound like you are lean and want to put on some muscle.
If so I would separate your aerobic training from your weight training.

You are training at home. With what you have this is what I would do...

1 Dumbbell lunges 3 sets of 8
2 Single leg calf raises 2 sets of maximum reps. (Try and beat your record each time)
3a Push Ups (feet on a bench) or Incline Dumbbell Presses 3 sets of 8
3b 3 sets of 8 pull ups ( if you can't get 8 do as many sets as it takes to get 24 reps total) vary the grip you use.
4 Dumbbell rows 3 sets of 8
5a Dumbbell Shoulder press
5b Dumbbell hammer curl 2 sets of 12
5c Dumbbell extensions.

When I wrote 3a 3b etc it means to superset the exercise. Do one set of a and then do one set of b and then a again. Take a minute between exercises it's not a circuit.
You could do some shrugs for your traps but I think it's overkill. If you want to and have the energy do some shrugs after rowing.
Do abs whenever you feel like it. Do leg raises more than sit ups.
Try and increase your total reps until you get to 3 sets of 12. Same for the 12 rep exercises. Try to get to 15.
Do the workout 3 times a week. Never lift to muscle failure the training frequency is too high on this program.

Try doing this for 3 weeks and let me know how it went. I subscribed to this thread.
If you don't know any of the exercises look them up on that site.

 

[Biaxident]

For a physique that is really nice to look at (think Michelangelo's David) the main points are the shoulders, lats a slim torso and well developed calves.
Also the triceps (especially the long head) and the forearms.

Check on all of that, except the slim torso. No matter how hard I work I can't make my waist smaller than 36", and that was in eighth grade. My genetics have determined that I look like a tree trunk.

 

[wolfy]

Check on all of that, except the slim torso. No matter how hard I work I can't make my waist smaller than 36", and that was in eighth grade. My genetics have determined that I look like a tree trunk.

Nothing wrong with a solid torso. You need a thick torso for strength. Those are good genetics for lifting.

 

[Biaxident]

Nothing wrong with a solid torso. You need a thick torso for strength. Those are good genetics for lifting.

But it isn't aesthetically pleasing.

But you're right.

I'm going off into a corner now, to convince myself I don't need to attempt my own version of liposuction.

*Leave the vacuum alone...*

 

[laintpe]

Which areas of it attracts your attention the most?

physically... i tend to like skinny guys, i think tone is ok, but bulging muscles... ehh no. although even at marathons, i will think that some of the distance runners look too muscular... i just don't find it attractive.

Exhibit A: no.

Exhibit B: well, i realize that last picture looks worse for other reasons, but i didn't want to waste a bunch of time looking these up. anyway, least muscular picture i could find of him:

 

[JocktheMotie]

^^Finally someone that agrees with me! Troy Brad Pitt can't hold a candle to Fight Club Brad Pitt. My sister says I'm crazy.

 

[laintpe]

^^Finally someone that agrees with me! Troy Brad Pitt can't hold a candle to Fight Club Brad Pitt. My sister says I'm crazy.

she's crazy! plus, troy pitt would never be able to pull off the bathrobe.