[whitewhim]

I do agree that the extra attention can be unwanted and negative sometimes. For example, I've worked out the whole time I've dated my girlfriend of around ~5 years. However, at the start we were in high school and I was super lean due to MMA and rugby. Now, that I'm older and lifting has finely started to obtain noticeable results/ having lost a bit of baby-face my girlfriend started to become a bit jealous/insecure with herself. No matter what I said, she wouldn't believe that I found her more attractive then everyone else. She understands its irrational but its hard to fight insecurities. At this point she has started going to the gym and is a much harder worker then me there.

With regards to fitness, I definitely agree that I prefer a practical definition of fitness level. I may not look gigantic compared to some of the guys in the gym, but I can both lift a lot of weight, run fast sprints and long distance runs. Its that type of fitness that is great for rugby.