Photo: © 2009 AFP/AAP/Armend Nimani

An Australian study has found the average-sized bloke is just as appealing as the classically sculpted underwear model.

The study asked 600 males and females in their late teens to rate mocked-up advertisements starring male models of all shapes and sizes.

The results: neither sex preferred musclebound men, with less-toned male models rating just as highly as their ripped counterparts.

Study leader Phillippa Diedrichs says men, just like women, have changed their ideal of the perfect body over the years.

"[It] is now characterised by a mesomorphic body type, with large defined muscles, low body fat and a v-shaped upper body," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.