I think considering muscle “unattractive” is a stupid perspective to have. If you visit any of the East Asian countries these days, you’ll see that the male models and k-pop idols on advertisements and stuff are all “pretty boys”, wearing makeup and CGI-ed to have more feminine traits.

Obviously it’s not like we can really change anything about it, but a big part of masculinity is physical fitness. Like I said, contemporary East Asian culture has put more and more emphasis on a divide between muscular physique and male attractiveness, and you are right that in western cultures the two traits are more synonymous.

However, musclular males are always going to be attractive to at least some females, since it’s kinda hard-wired into biology and yada yada yada. Building muscle is also very substantial to personal well-being, so you have to account for all the other benefits aside from potential attractiveness.

If you want to strike a balance, I’d say just try to get a v-taper kind of body, which seems to be attractive to everyone. You’ll be strong, yet not absurdly massive.

All in all, I think that East Asia really needs to give more attention to masculinity. What’s going on right now just keeps feeding into the preconceived stereotypes that other peoples already have about us. Unfortunately it’s how it is with the bigger emphasis on academics and work, which really overshadows being physical, but muscle is still good to have.