Training and Diet Analysis

We now know what kind of subscribers does r/bodybuilding have. Let’s now move on to their training and diet, these two are an integral part of bodybuilding as its the routine that shapes the body.

Respondents by Gym Membership

Not all training requires a gym but for bodybuilding, it’s a big plus if you’re in one. So we check on the respondents gym memberships and majority only has one gym membership, of course who would need two or more gym memberships anyway unless you live in two different cities miles apart. We also have respondents who have their own gym at their home and apartment and people who have none which I assume uses the objects around their surroundings to train!

Respondents by Training Routine

When training, following a routine is the most effective and safest way to do things. Here we see how the respondents do their training routine, majority follows a set of program weight progression which I believe is the most effective way as you will be force to train one set of program until you achieve a target weight where you will move onto a next program.

While most people following a single routine, there are a few respondents who does multiple routines which includes 2 or more sets of programs, that’s intense training!

Respondents by Days per Week of Mod-Intense Training

Speaking of intense training, we’ll now see how do the respondents like doing moderate to intense training in a day-to-day basis per week. We can see that most of the respondents prefers doing moderate-intense training 5 days a week! Wow! That’s real intense, no wonder these guy are buff as hell!

While it seems that 5 days of moderate-intense training is intense, you’ll see that we have around 70 people doing 7 days per week, crazy! I guess no one’s crazy if it’s about achieving your goal.

Respondents by Training Goals

Goals are as important as your mindset, it keeps you going and majority of the respondents have a goal of gaining muscle bulk and cut while half aims for maintenance and body recomposition. No wonder they mostly do 5–7 days of moderate-to-intense training per week.

This is also the common goal specially for those who are just starting to lift or do bodybuilding, mostly to gain shape.

Respondents by Diet Approach

Of course, no training routine will be completed without a proper diet plan. After all your training will make no sense if all you’re eating is fatty foods.

From this graph, we can see here that majority of the respondents usually takes on “If It Fits Your Macros” or IIFYM which generates a plan using a macro calculator on their website based on your body and activity information, and clean foods such as fresh fruits and veggies, unprocessed meat, and unrefined grains.

There are also some who only cares about proteins and calories, mainly these people focus on building up muscle mass as proteins and calories are building blocks for muscles.

Respondents by Hours of Sleep

Your number of sleeping hours is also a big part in a training routine, having enough sleep gives you enough energy to use throughout the day and gives you better mental alertness. Sleeping also produces the most growth hormone which is vital if you want your muscles to heal and recover from extensive exercise.

From the graph, we can see that majority of the respondents sleeps between 6–7 hours which the normal for adults. While there are few who sleeps only for 4–5 hours, that is unhealthy and more likely to cause sleep deprivation. For my case, I belong to the people who sleep 10–12 hours.

For more info about recommended sleeping hours, you can visit the National Sleep Foundation website.