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WORKING WITH FITNESS expert Sam Murphy, Prof. Richard Wiseman polled over 6,000 people to find out which of 15 sports they thought would make a member of the opposite sex more attractive. Climbing topped the list for women with 57%, edging out extreme sports, soccer, and hiking.
I can’t say I’m surprised. Climbing is just a sexy sport in and of itself. It’s adventurous, acrobatic, and takes place in some of the most beautiful spots in nature. Climbers themselves tend to be trim, muscular, extremely flexible people with a penchant for taking their shirts off. Who wouldn’t want that?
Men, apparently. Among the survey’s male participants, climbing didn’t even make it to the top five. Men overwhelmingly picked aerobics (70%) as the sexiest activity, followed by yoga/pilates, going to the gym, and running.
On his site, Wiseman offer a possible explanation for the gender gap:
Women’s choices appear to reflect the type of psychological qualities that they find attractive – such as bravery and a willingness to take on challenges – whilst men are more shallow, looking for a woman who is physically fit but not challenging their ego by being overly strong.
If it’s true, it’s disappointing. I have to imagine that most of the men polled for the survey didn’t climb. In my experience, most male climbers think it’s a huge plus if a woman is into their sport. For serious gym rats, dating another climber may be the only way to get a girlfriend that they’ll ever see.
Photo: Mykl
My gender’s poor taste in sports aside, I’m pretty happy with the results of the survey. It’s nice to see my climbing addiction validated by members of the opposite sex.
Golf is unsexy
Golf didn’t fare quite as well. The sport came in second to last in women’s estimation, just above aerobics. According to Aspiring Golfer, Wiseman suggests three reasons that women find golf so unattractive:
1. Golfers don’t have to be fit.
2. They keep their clothes on while playing.
3. They frequently wear plaid and Pringle jumpers.
As unsexy as these are, I’m not convinced that fit, scantily-clad golfers would be enough to make golf interesting. It would probably boost the PGA Tour’s female audience, though.
Whether we’ll now be seeing more golfers swapping their plaid pants for climbing harnesses is hard to say. I don’t know if it would make a difference for them anyway. To me, the sexiness of climbing is less about muscles and super-hard moves, and more about the passion and commitment that climbers have for their sport. If you’re not feeling it, it’s awfully hard to fake.
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Adam Roy
Chicago native Adam Roy is the former-Editor of Matador Sports and an aspiring renaissance man to boot. For more of Adam's writing, check out his blog at Ill-Advised Adventures.
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all i do, all the time, is climb. you sir have given me hope
bs rugby is boss . END OF
Nice article, awful conclusions by Wiseman though (not living up to the name at all).
“Shallow” has nothing to do with it. What men find sexy is a woman’s appearance because that’s what evolution makes us find sexy. Just like it’s that which makes women care about other aspects. There is no intelligence or culture involved, and so no opportunity for “shallow” or “high brow”.
Likewise, ego has nothing to do with anything here. ‘What sport is sexy’ means what sport makes us think about sex with participants of the sport. For guys that’s mainly about looks. Ego only comes into thinking about relationships; that’s love – a completely different thing.
Likewise, while most men would likely say yoga or anything with tight clothing and lithe bodies is sexier – when looking for relationships watch that drop away and get replaced with stuff like climbing. Who wouldn’t want relationships with like-minded people who’re also active?
Sex vs relationships. Sexy vs attractive. Different. Things.
When i`m climbing i don`t want to have to feel like i should slow down or wait for a woman, one of the reasons i climb is for the freedom that there is in it not to `grow closer` to a significant other. That is not to say i`m not attracted to women who try to climb but i would never climb with one, in the end i just don`t think it matters that much.
Take me for example, im a climber, does that instantly mean women find me sexy? No it does not because im also a chauvinistic misanthrope and if im not climbing or doing some other kind of activity that purposefully excludes other people im getting drunk and being generally quite abusive.
In other words, this is a stupid article written to boost the ego of male climbers and the writer himself (this is especially evident in the last paragraph before the pointless attack on golf) and finally, if you are ugly climbing wont change that fact.
Anyone know where I can find a copy of the original academic paper?
Daarom klimmen we toch.
En gelijk hebben ze. Maar was het ook al sexy voordat wij klommen? Gevalletje kip-eiersalade..
Met ons is het sexy-climbing toch zeker van start gegaan ( ik ben een creationist)…..maar ben ik dan een kip of een ei?
Creationistische kippen leggen volgens de SGP in ieder geval 7% minder eieren dan atheistische. Moeilijke vraag hoor..
En als de kippen verkracht worden leggen ze helemaal nauwelijks nog eieren …. maar ja een haan met zijn broek omlaag rent nooit zo snel als een hen met de rok omhoog..dus dat begrijp ik wel
oh shit…ben en hippster.
But climbers are all homosexual. Why do women always like queers so much?