CuriositiesAPR 30, 2025
"Looked Better Before": Man's Body Transformation Sparks Debate Between Men And Women
Advertisement
Olly Murs has transformed into a magazine-cover-worthy display of shredded muscles, but not everyone was exactly swooning over it.
The singer's dramatic body makeover has sparked a fiery debate, with many women insisting they preferred his older "dad bod" look.
While most men praised his new physique, most women argued there's such a thing as too toned, leaving Murs in an unexpected crossfire.
Highlights
- Olly Murs’ ripped body transformation sparked a viral debate between men and women on social media.
- A poll showed most men admired his transformation, while most women preferred his softer, pre-gym "dad bod".
- Studies also suggest that women actually prefer less muscle on men than men think they should have.
Singer Olly Murs shared his dramatic body transformation on social media
Image credits: Olly Murs
On April 21, the singer Olly Murs, 40, took to social media to share his brand-new body transformation on Instagram. The star’s video showcases his ripped torso and toned arms along with a noticeable weight loss. His nutritionist, Greg, has also shared Murs’ 12-week fitness progress in a series of posts and videos on his profile.
The dramatic transformation was quickly picked up by online users, who posted it on other social media platforms. Unexpectedly, the transformation sparked a fiery debate among male and female users on what is considered attractive.
The photos were reposted on social media, sparking a debate on what is considered attractive for men and women
Image credits: greg_thenutritionist
Image credits: NameIsSpartacus
On the weekend, the singer’s photos were posted on X by a PhD student named William Costello, who added a poll, asking both male and female users to choose which photo they thought Murs looked better in.
The results? Quite surprising. At 42.6%, nearly half of the respondents who identified as male said they thought the singer looked better after the transformation. While women thought otherwise: 26.8% of respondents who identified as female said they preferred Murs’ “before” photo, and only 7% said he looked better with his shredded body.
While men praised Murs’ shredded body, women preferred the singer’s previous “dad bod”
Image credits: greg_thenutritionist
Image credits: greg_thenutritionist
The posts garnered 83 million views, with many wondering about the reasoning behind women’s preference for the “dad bod” over a ripped gym body.
A dad bod, a common term coined by the internet, is a male body type that is best described as “softly round.” It’s built upon the theory that once a man has found a mate and fathered a child, he doesn’t need to worry about maintaining a perfectly sculpted body. It also implies “comfort” for women.
The women on the platform were accused of “lying about [their preferences]”
Another X user who was convinced that women were “lying” about their preferences, reposted the poll, asking, “Why are women lying about this? Like, what's the actual cause?”
One woman replied, “The left looks like he should lose a few pounds, but the right looks too harsh.”
Another chipped in, “Women don't need ripped guys, dad bods are perfectly fine. We like that.”
One agreed, saying, “Muscles are good, but dad bod guys have muscles too. Can you lift a full cooler? That's swoon-worthy."
One user added that women and men “have different visual preferences”
Image credits: greg_thenutritionist
One user explained: “He genuinely looked better before. I'm not saying he looks ugly after. But he achieved the male fantasy physique, and one thing that may surprise you is that women and men often have different visual preferences.”
“He's more visibly toned in the after, but in the before he looks bigger, and sometimes, with someone that shredded, there can be too much of a good thing - ie, too much definition.”
“Generally, muscles look better and stronger and bigger to women when they have a little bit of padding on them, whereas men tend to value as close to zero body fat as possible where you can see all the muscle fibres,” another shared.
Some users linked perfectly chiseled bodies to personality traits
Image credits: greg_thenutritionist
Others linked ripped bodies to personality traits. One user wrote, “after looks like an extreme personality, high-maintenance, not chill, the type to go on a marathon on a Sunday instead of going to the cinema.”
One man replied, “Women get the ick when a guy cuts too much or too into their fitness to this degree. Signals someone who is vain, won't go out and let them enjoy eating ex. cheese and wine, and the former is likely stronger.”
have you ever seen the comparison of cover photos of when hugh jackman is on men's magazines vs women's magazines? the highly defined buffed out muscles are for men, mostly. pic.twitter.com/rif85IGvkU
One man replied, “Women get the ick when a guy cuts too much or too into their fitness to this degree. Signals someone who is vain, won't go out and let them enjoy eating ex. cheese and wine, and the former is likely stronger.”
have you ever seen the comparison of cover photos of when hugh jackman is on men's magazines vs women's magazines? the highly defined buffed out muscles are for men, mostly. pic.twitter.com/rif85IGvkU
Image credits: Olly Murs
“Former dude makes them feel safe, secure, and he's able to have fun and isn't vain,” he added.
Another joked, “‘let's get a a burger?’ v. ‘are you really gonna eat that?’”
And one woman tried to explain the difference through another fiery debate between the two genders, saying, “You know how y’all hate when we get plastic surgery? This is the equivalent.”
Science says women prefer dad bods, even if men think they want more muscle
Image credits: greg_thenutritionist
Science has officially weighed in on the “dad bod” debate, and it seems soft and cuddly beats perfect abs nearly every time.
A 2000 study by Harvard Medical School found that while male college students aspired to bulk up by as much as 30 pounds of muscle, female students actually preferred men with about 15 to 30 pounds less muscle than guys thought was ideal. In other words, men were already closer to women's ideal physique without even realizing it.
Women think they need to be thinner, thinking that men prefer much slimmer bodies than they actually do
Another ironic twist came from a 2020 study published in the British Journal of Psychology, which showed that while men typically overestimate how muscular they need to be to impress women, women, in turn, misjudge how thin men want them to be, often believing that men prefer much slimmer body types than they actually do.
