[Paeter]

In terms of your attractiveness to women, I cannot think of another better use of time than hitting the gym. I really can't. A good physique is so powerful. What makes a man attractive? What would be the top three? I'd guess the top there would be: personality, status and looks. Looks are very powerful, and I think you can maintain a nice physique with 3 sessions a week. You just need that fit look, not bodybuilder. You don't need to be huge, just muscular and fit. In order to get there, you have to lift a lot, but once you get the physique, maintenance requires less lifting than what it took to get there. Maintenance is just a matter of keeping the muscles stimulated enough that they have a reason to stay where they are. You can raise protein synthesis, and it won't return to baseline for 48 hours. If you calculate that out over the week, you can go to the gym 3x a week and maintain your physique.

So if you are already muscular, stop trying to get BIGGER, and just maintain your physique instead. You can save some time, and you still have the benefits of a good physique. You might even get away with 2x a week for stretches of time if you want even more time.

Maintenance periods are a nice psychological rest too. There's a huge mistake in stopping going when maintenance requires very little time. I think many guys would be surprised with how little they can get away with for maintenance.