Men Vs. Women

A study completed at the University of Arkansas surveyed over 400 students about exercise, health, body image and sexual performance. Among men, those who worked out every day felt they were highly attractive and were very satisfied with their sexual performance. Women, on the other hand, were not nearly as kind to themselves - only 63 percent of those who worked out everyday rated themselves above average in attractiveness and sexual performance.

Tina Penhollow, a doctoral candidate who completed the study, believes part of the reason for this difference is that men and women both work out for different reasons. “Guys do it mostly to ‘bulk up and get bigger,’ whereas females do it mostly for health reasons.” [1]  She also thinks that women who work out everyday may do so because they already feel insecure about their body image and no amount of exercise is going to make them feel any better.

But no matter the reason, those who worked out thought of themselves as more sexually attractive. For example, 80 percent of men who exercised two or three days per week described themselves as sexy and all of the men who exercised six or seven days per week believed they were sexy. Penhollow believes the study showed that the better we feel about ourselves, the more likely we are to think of ourselves as sexy.