MyPUAJourney Forum

Ok guys here is something I was recently thinking about in terms of physique.

Often times, many people who work out have a preference for cardio work such as running or biking or they prefer adding muscle mass via weight lifting (have you guys seen Hypnotica? He's huge!). It's not very often that you see a guy with huge pecs and lats running a 5k, just like you don't usually see skinny jogger guys trying to do dead lifts. Of course there are exceptions, but I think this is generally true.

And of course doing these two types of workouts result in either being skinny but in great cardio shape (such as Lance Armstrong) or being muscular like a football player.

Now here is the sticky part in terms of how I think females may perceive these two body types:

- For the runner/cyclist, unless the guy talks about what his hobby is, he merely appears skinny. Also, it's hard to really tell if he's being truthful about his activities. For instance, it's possible for a skinny guy to say he runs marathons when really all he does is hit the treadmill for 10 minutes.

- For the weightlifter/body builder, it is readily apparent that this guy is in good physical shape by the amount of muscle mass he has. It's more difficult to "lie" about time spent in the gym. There may also be the added benefit of being perceived as more of a protector when compared to the cardio body type.


The reason this intrigues me is because I have been both body types in my life. In high school I ran cross country so I was extremely skinny. When I got to college I started doing brazilian jiu-jitsu and lifting a lot of weights.

Now, I do both long distance running (generally a few times a week for between 5 to 7 miles each time) and lift weights a few times a week. However what I notice is that the weights and cardio in essence cancel each other out when it comes to having a specific physique. By this I mean I am in extremely good overall shape (I can out-run, out-fight, and out-lift most people), but another person wouldn't really know that unless I told them about my routine.

To be honest I feel like I got the most attention when I was doing nothing but weight lifting, but it sort of sucks when you get winded by going up a flight of stairs.

Has anyone else ever considered this?

Well the reality is that in terms of getting girls, all that matters is appearances when it comes to being athletic. They'll never really know if you can kick anyones ass or outrun anyone, they'll just make assumptions based on your appearance. It seems like you're into being athletic for yourself, you want to be strong, fast, able to take anyone in a fight. I personally only lift for appearances, lets be honest, if I look good girls like it and the vast majority of guys assume that I could kick their asses so they never mess with me. So if you want to be in the best shape possible for yourself, then I suggest you continue doing what you're currently doing. But, if you are more interested in using your body to get girls I's focus more on lifting.

Actually what I suggest to you is that you eat more. If you eat enough to offset the calories that you burn during your cardio and get a surplus of calories, you should be able to do both. Im sure you would suffer in the endurance and agility area being bulkier, but you could do pretty decent with both. The reason runners are so skinny is because they burn off alot of the calories that they take in. Lets say you eat 2500 calories in a day, if you burn off 700 while running that takes you down to 1800 a day. If your a guy of a decent height, you'll be pretty skinny only taking in 1800 calories a day. Remember your body needs an excess of calories to build new mass, so you have to take in (after cardio) more than your maintenance intake. If you just take in your maintenance intake you will be able to maintain your current size, but not really get any bigger.