Do athletic women find men attractive? What about unathletic men?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread but hiking? That would be a full stop for me if would be partner hiked.

I have to agree with this. Hiking does not indicate athleticism or fitness to me, it indicates boredom and lack of imagination.

So what’s “creative” fitness then? I’m scratching my head on this one….

Hiking is my go-to first date because it is so challenging. I take guys to one of my favorite mountains and up we go. Always fun to watch them struggle….even the fit ones. Those biceps curls won’t do you any good here, bro…

Only one man was ever able to keep up with me. I miss him, sigh.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

It's like saying, "as a guy, I like bringing my girlfriends to the deadlift platform and watch them struggle to get my warm-up weight up off the ground. It's always fun to watch, even the fit women."

NP. Men have such built-in physical advantages that if a guy can't keep up with you - and not in a sport where there's a big skill component, but just in pure cardiovascular fitness, in an area where you don't specifically have to train for - he's not in great shape. While I don't think it's a particularly kind thing to test your dates like that, it's not the same as having your smaller, non-powerlifting girlfriend try to deadlift. There's also a self-awareness component to agreeing to a physically-intensive first date and then not being able to handle it. I did have a first date like this once and he said he was in good shape and then wasn't at all. If he'd just said 'let's get a drink instead', that would have been fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm married female who works out about 1.5-2 hours per day. If I was ever single again, then the guy would need to be at least moderately active. He wouldn't have to match my level of fitness, but he would at least need to do some moderate exercise and eat a somewhat healthy diet. I'm not a health zealot like I used to be, and now I splurge on higher calorie/fat meals too. I love good food and could never go back to totally clean eating all the time.

My husband and I are both very athletic. Since we met in our 20s we always worked out 5-6 days a week and 22 years later still do. We work out together most of the time.

It’s part of a healthy life, like brushing your teeth.

I can’t imagine being married to someone that didn’t share the importance of exercise. It’s good for you mentally and physically. Your kids will pick up the habit and being active as a family is the best.

Agree. Basic compatibility.

We never resent it when one of us just has to get a workout in...we understand that intense need and help each other find the time in the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread but hiking? That would be a full stop for me if would be partner hiked.

I have to agree with this. Hiking does not indicate athleticism or fitness to me, it indicates boredom and lack of imagination.

So what’s “creative” fitness then? I’m scratching my head on this one….

Hiking is my go-to first date because it is so challenging. I take guys to one of my favorite mountains and up we go. Always fun to watch them struggle….even the fit ones. Those biceps curls won’t do you any good here, bro…

Only one man was ever able to keep up with me. I miss him, sigh.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

It's like saying, "as a guy, I like bringing my girlfriends to the deadlift platform and watch them struggle to get my warm-up weight up off the ground. It's always fun to watch, even the fit women."

NP. Men have such built-in physical advantages that if a guy can't keep up with you - and not in a sport where there's a big skill component, but just in pure cardiovascular fitness, in an area where you don't specifically have to train for - he's not in great shape. While I don't think it's a particularly kind thing to test your dates like that, it's not the same as having your smaller, non-powerlifting girlfriend try to deadlift. There's also a self-awareness component to agreeing to a physically-intensive first date and then not being able to handle it. I did have a first date like this once and he said he was in good shape and then wasn't at all. If he'd just said 'let's get a drink instead', that would have been fine.

I don't know that men have an inherent cardiovascular advantage over women. Upper body strength, absolutely (infuriatingly), but cardio? Nah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread but hiking? That would be a full stop for me if would be partner hiked.

I have to agree with this. Hiking does not indicate athleticism or fitness to me, it indicates boredom and lack of imagination.

So what’s “creative” fitness then? I’m scratching my head on this one….

Hiking is my go-to first date because it is so challenging. I take guys to one of my favorite mountains and up we go. Always fun to watch them struggle….even the fit ones. Those biceps curls won’t do you any good here, bro…

Only one man was ever able to keep up with me. I miss him, sigh.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

It's like saying, "as a guy, I like bringing my girlfriends to the deadlift platform and watch them struggle to get my warm-up weight up off the ground. It's always fun to watch, even the fit women."

NP. Men have such built-in physical advantages that if a guy can't keep up with you - and not in a sport where there's a big skill component, but just in pure cardiovascular fitness, in an area where you don't specifically have to train for - he's not in great shape. While I don't think it's a particularly kind thing to test your dates like that, it's not the same as having your smaller, non-powerlifting girlfriend try to deadlift. There's also a self-awareness component to agreeing to a physically-intensive first date and then not being able to handle it. I did have a first date like this once and he said he was in good shape and then wasn't at all. If he'd just said 'let's get a drink instead', that would have been fine.

I don't know that men have an inherent cardiovascular advantage over women. Upper body strength, absolutely (infuriatingly), but cardio? Nah.

A woman's VO2 max is on average about 20% lower than a man's. There is certainly more overlap between men and women than for upper body strength, but men still have a significant advantage. If you're an elite athlete and your expectation is that men will keep up with you, that's one thing, but I was just a normal in-shape young person who worked out hard a few days a week, so a guy who couldn't keep up with me wasn't very physically fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m married to an athletic woman. We’ve been together 20 years now. I was always a lifelong fitness advocate but I was never even on the same planet as her fitness wise. I’ve seen some of the people she dated before me and she dated the full spectrum from really built guys to heavy set guys.

Over the years I’ve quit racing bicycles (its a scrawny mans lifestyle) and split time between bikes and the weightroom. Now that I’ve put on a good amount of muscle and we’re in outlr late 40’s - I’d say we’re a little closer to fitness parity.

I think there are a few misnomers about fit women:

1. That they’re single dimensional and only care about their routine. In my experience she leads a pretty balanced life - solid career, built a solid side business, very engaged parent, etc.

2. That they’re overly strict about food.We don’t miss any fine, or even sometimes crappy dining. No one ever seems to say no to wine around here either.

3. That they require their spouse or kids to be strict about what they eat. We both allow each other the space (time and financial) to pursue anything that keeps us healthy. We both work out and mostly eat well. This has rubbed of on our 15 year old who also lifts and plays sports at his school.

2.

I think you mean misconceptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread but hiking? That would be a full stop for me if would be partner hiked.

I have to agree with this. Hiking does not indicate athleticism or fitness to me, it indicates boredom and lack of imagination.

So what’s “creative” fitness then? I’m scratching my head on this one….

Hiking is my go-to first date because it is so challenging. I take guys to one of my favorite mountains and up we go. Always fun to watch them struggle….even the fit ones. Those biceps curls won’t do you any good here, bro…

Only one man was ever able to keep up with me. I miss him, sigh.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

It's like saying, "as a guy, I like bringing my girlfriends to the deadlift platform and watch them struggle to get my warm-up weight up off the ground. It's always fun to watch, even the fit women."

PP here. I’d have a blast if a guy did that!

Bottom line is I want someone with similar interests and lifestyle as me. A guy can’t or doesn’t want to hike, isn’t compatible with me. I don’t want to spend my weekends hiking alone while he sits at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread but hiking? That would be a full stop for me if would be partner hiked.

I have to agree with this. Hiking does not indicate athleticism or fitness to me, it indicates boredom and lack of imagination.

So what’s “creative” fitness then? I’m scratching my head on this one….

Hiking is my go-to first date because it is so challenging. I take guys to one of my favorite mountains and up we go. Always fun to watch them struggle….even the fit ones. Those biceps curls won’t do you any good here, bro…

Only one man was ever able to keep up with me. I miss him, sigh.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

It's like saying, "as a guy, I like bringing my girlfriends to the deadlift platform and watch them struggle to get my warm-up weight up off the ground. It's always fun to watch, even the fit women."

NP. Men have such built-in physical advantages that if a guy can't keep up with you - and not in a sport where there's a big skill component, but just in pure cardiovascular fitness, in an area where you don't specifically have to train for - he's not in great shape. While I don't think it's a particularly kind thing to test your dates like that, it's not the same as having your smaller, non-powerlifting girlfriend try to deadlift. There's also a self-awareness component to agreeing to a physically-intensive first date and then not being able to handle it. I did have a first date like this once and he said he was in good shape and then wasn't at all. If he'd just said 'let's get a drink instead', that would have been fine.

I don't know that men have an inherent cardiovascular advantage over women. Upper body strength, absolutely (infuriatingly), but cardio? Nah.

What kind of hikes are these that a man in shape enough to have impressive biceps* (which, let's be honest is not that many by mid-30s and beyond) but can't keep up?

* the stereotype of the kind of person with a prison build who only does curls and is otherwise out of shape doesn't match the people I've see in gyms for a long time. That person has been replace bit the gymgoer who is treadmill only.