How Do You Rate Against Other Dudes at the Gym?
Those who lift know it's all about the numbers. But sometimes the numbers aren't all about the weights. We scoured recent journals, studies, and health papers to determine some new gym standards. Here's where you stand, and where you stand to improve.
Number of Australian Men who Belong to a health club:
Around 8 million.
How much smaller the waists of men who’ve belonged to a health club for more than a year are compared with those of men who have not:
1.6"
Increase in lean muscle mass among people who did high-frequency training (three sets for each muscle group, three times a week):
1.9%
Increase in lean muscle mass among people who did low-frequency training (nine sets for each muscle group, once a week):
2%
The Top 5 Most Consumed Supplements:
- Whey protein and powders
- Multivitamins
- Branched-chain amino acids
- Caffeine
- Creatine
47.7% of men who exercise take a supplement to increase or maintain mass or strength, or to boost recovery
Go to a crowded gym, become more giving:
One study found that guys who smelled androstadienone, a part of male sweat, were twice as cooperative and generous when asked to complete given tasks as a control group who hadn’t sniffed sweat.
Gym Tune Facts:
70.1% of men listen to music while exercising.
At the gym:
70% listen to their own tunes
30% succumb to whatever's playing over the gym's sound system
Popular Gym Music:
“Till I collapse,” by Eminem, is the single song found most frequently on men’s Spotify workout playlists in the U. S.
Kanye West: The rapper appears twice on the list of top five songs on workout playlists created by U. S. men. The top two: "Power" and "Stronger"
Who’s Listening?:
30-39: The age group working out the most, based on Spotify workout playlist streams.
Letting Off Steam:
4-7: Days per week older adults hit the sauna to lower their chances of stroke over 15 years by 61 percent.
A version of this article originally appeared on Men's Health
