Submitted 1 month ago by PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works to [deleted]
Basically any word or short phrase I can think of to mean “a lot of muscle” also implies skinny or almost no fat. Fit, or lithe bring to mind more a track athlete’s body, and buff, ripped, jacked, muscular, ect. generally are though of more like a body builder. The closest thing I can think of dad-bod but thats obviously still pretty far off as well as being male-specific. Is there even an English word for this?
Beefy
Beefcake
The english word for it is power-lifter
Bulky
“built like a brick shit house”
“Off-season body builder”
“strongman”
My friends and I like to say “built like a shit brick house”
Fit and padded. I think if you call it a powerlifter build that’s a good description in itself.
Unit
“Yoked to the max”
(Or just “yoked”)
Jacked as fuck
“stout” is the first that comes to mind and isn’t immediately discarded. But because those other forms are so easy to call to mind I’d rather describe the power-lifter as they differ from those norms.
“He was no body-builder. Powerful, yes, but he had traded aesthetics for even more strength. Muscles built upon muscles like layers of a brick house, and nearly as solid.”
Chonky. Not chunky, chonky.
Strongman-build? Barrel-chested?
There’s a lot of words for it. Bulked is the one that floated through the gyms in my area. Even body builders do bulk cycles, which is essentially all that power lifters do. So the term is about having increased muscle mass, with no other factors involved.
I’ve seen beefy used plenty, as well as built. Both get used as a generic term for having big muscles, with the exact usage being variable between a more ripped look and the more massive look. But I see beefy used more for the body type you’re asking about than for body builder types where cutting fat for competition or personal preference changes the appearance of the body. Built rarely has a specific connotation in my area when referring to men.
Terms shift though. Buff, jacked and muscular can fit depending on where you are and when you are. For example, muscular was a pretty common description of a generally athletic build that was less focused on size but still had size, like how boxers and wrestlers (as in not “pro”) get as they go up in weight class.
I’ve actually seen people use the word “powerlifter” for this purpose. Id est using it to describe someone’s physical build even if they are not a full-on powerlifter.
does it have to be a single word?
Or sort phrase. The sort of thing you might introduce a minor character in a book with. Something that would fit in a phrase like, “He was a tall, buff man.”
i think you already have a bunch in the OP - just choose what fits best and add what will cancel misinterpretations of your words.
Stout.
Stocky is what I’d use
bara
Bear only implies that they are large and hairy. Not necessarily muscular.
“a bit flabby and immensely strong”
rumschlumpel@feddit.org 1 month ago
Stocky, stout, barrel-chested? I’d say “buff” would fit, too, it definitely allows more leeway for bodyfat content than words like “athletic” or “ripped”. Also just the good old “very strong”.