This thread is about looking your best.
I've been doing a lot of hard work and research in this area, so I thought I'd post something useful and game-related today instead of talking politics. That's not to say I'm the expert. There are a couple guys in this lair who know more than I do about this stuff, but in my opinion we need a good thread yesterday.
Now I know what some of you are already thinking. "but...I thought that Mystery said looks don't matter in pickup?" Well, we can debate that another day, I for one happen to think that they do make a difference.
And that shouldn't discourage or offend you. Hell, it should fire you up! This is one area of your life in which you have nearly FULL CONTROL, as long as you have the guts and willpower. You CHOOSE your bodyweight. You CHOOSE how much muscle you put on. You CHOOSE your style and dress.
Go out there and embrace it. Be the best you that you can be. I'm on that journey too. Besides, it's almost summertime. Knock em out.
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Lesson 1: Body Composition -
I'm not going to bore you with the details...but let's start by stating the obvious - your body is made up of lean body mass (muscle, bone, etc) and fat. Body composition refers to the percent of your weight that is fat.
For instance, say you have a man who weighs 180lbs at 17% fat. That means he has approximately 30 lbs of fat on his frame (180 x 0.17).
To an extent, having less fat is better. But, where do you stack up, and where do you want to go? First, I recommend that everyone own either a set of body fat calipers, or some kind of device to measure yours. I got one at GNC for $30 and it's been working great.
Then, let's start by geeking out and taking a look at a chart. What this will show you is whether you're underweight, healthy, or chubby.
[IMG]http://www.fitness-lifestyle-solution.com/images/body_fat_percentage.jpg[/IMG]
Here you can see it visually. These men have about the same amount of muscle, but some are carrying more fat than others.
[IMG]http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx157/peterredaelli/Body%20composition/male1.jpg[/IMG]
The same can be done for women.
[IMG]http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx157/peterredaelli/Body%20composition/female1.jpg[/IMG]
One interesting thing you can do - look at where a woman with a corresponding fitness level would fall to get a gauge of how you look to the opposite sex. For example, take the man with 17% fat. You can see that he falls right between the "fitness" and "acceptable" range. Looking at the chart, you can see that is comparable to a woman at about 24-25% body fat. That's how he looks to the opposite sex.
Moving along...
Does everyone look the same with the same body composition? In a word...no.
Here are two men with roughly 10 percent body fat. One is clearly more built than the other. The difference is the amount of muscle carried on the frame. So both have 10% composition, but the man on the left clearly weighs more and has more lean body mass.
[IMG]http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx157/peterredaelli/Body%20composition/10percent.jpg[/IMG]
And here are two women at roughly 15 percent.
[IMG]http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx157/peterredaelli/Body%20composition/15percent.jpg[/IMG]]
What do women find the most appealing, muscle-wise? Well, of course it's different for every woman, and it varies by culture. I think Texas girls seem to like 'em a little bigger. But for the most part, if you can pull off a good "beach body," most studies show that to be the ideal rather than stick thin or bodybuilder builds.
For example, here you have Brad Pitt in his fight club days. He weighs about 165 lbs here at about 8-10% body fat. He stands 5'11".
[IMG]http://www.bodymakeoveronline.com/pitt.jpg[/IMG]
OK, now that you know all that, and knowledge is power, the next thing we'll talk about is how do you get there. What exact steps do you need to take, and how long will it take?