Hopefully you have been spending your free time at the gym lately, because a recent study has shown that women are more attracted to men who have muscles. While you have probably figured that out for yourself over the years, researchers have discovered why women go ga-ga for overinflated body parts.

If you haven't been beefing up then you have probably missed out on a multitude of sex-capades. Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles interviewed 99 male undergraduates about their sexual histories and found that muscular men were twice as likely to have had more than three sex partners than less-muscular men.

Their study, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, suggests muscles in men are similar to elaborate tail feathers in male peacocks: they attract females looking for a virile mate. "Women are predisposed to prefer muscularity in men," said study author, David Frederick of UCLA. "Most research is focused on what men find physically attractive in women and the career traits women find attractive in men. Much less research is devoted to what women find attractive."

The good news for the muscularly-challenged is that, while women may be more physically attracted to muscles (especially for a fling), when it comes to finding a long-term partner, they tend to pick the average Joe over a body builder. Frederick asked 141 college women to look at six silhouettes of men ranging from brawny to slender and most preferred a toned man who was more likely to commit over a muscle-bound man, whom they perceived as more volatile, aggressive and dominant. "On the one hand, it makes them more sexy to women. On the other hand, it makes women more suspicious about their romantic intentions," Frederick said.

This study shows a win-win situation for most guys; if you are skinny, you have a chance at a fulfilling, long-term relationship, if you are muscular, you have probably gotten around over the years. If you aren't in shape at all, you probably need to start working those love muscles.

» From beer belly to six pack.