r/leangains rules, stats, and what to post

This community is built around one specific program. Leangains is Martin Berkhan's method of lifting heavy weights in a reverse pyramid style, keeping protein as the main macro, and using intermittent fasting. The goal people chase here is body recomposition, which means losing fat while gaining muscle and strength at the same time. The people posting are lifters who follow or want to follow this exact methodology, asking for help with their training and diet, sharing progress, and discussing the program. The rules make it clear this is not a general fitness sub. If Leangains is not the right program for someone, the mods would rather they find a community built around the program they actually follow.

The rule that decides everything for a marketer is “No advertising or market research”, which bans blanket advertising of services, products, apps, websites, and fundraisers, and also bans using the sub for market research, polling, study groups, or brainstorming. “All posts must promote discussion, be specific to Leangains, and provide minimum amount of content.” means any post needs real context or a real question with your own thinking attached, and anything off topic or low value gets removed. “Questions/Progress/Achievement posts require relevant information” demands your sex, weight, height, age, detailed diet and routine, and before and after photos for progress posts. “Asking for medical or injury advice is not allowed” removes anything that touches injuries or medical conditions. “Posting rights require minimum qualifications” bans URL shorteners and requires an account at least 5 days old. “Comments align with the Leangains program.” keeps discussion on the program itself, and “Be respectful and civil” gets commenters banned without warning for attacks or ridicule.

For a founder doing respectful marketing, the honest answer is that this community allows no promotion at all, so your post has to be pure value. A good post here is a detailed discussion starter about the Leangains program itself, written with enough context that people can actually respond. If you share a personal experiment, include your sex, weight, height, age, your full diet, and your training routine, because the rules require it for progress and achievement posts and the mods clearly expect substance everywhere else. If you ask a question, do not just wonder aloud, give your own situation and your own thinking first. Write like a practitioner who happens to run a company, not like a company that happens to lift. If your product ever comes up, let it come up because someone asked you in the comments, not because you put it in the post.

Avoid advertising anything, including services, products, apps, websites, or fundraisers, because “No advertising or market research” removes standalone posts that do this. Avoid using the subreddit for market research, polling, study groups, or brainstorming, which the same rule bans. Avoid shortened links like bit.ly or goo.gl, because the spam filter removes them automatically and the post stays removed. Avoid asking for medical or injury advice, including training advice around a known condition or an injured body part, because “Asking for medical or injury advice is not allowed” prohibits it. Avoid thin posts with no context, since “All posts must promote discussion, be specific to Leangains, and provide minimum amount of content” gets them removed. Avoid off topic comments about other training programs, because “Comments align with the Leangains program.” lets mods remove them. Do not post before your account is 5 days old, and never ridicule anyone's physique, exercise choices, or performance, since “Be respectful and civil” says commenters get banned for that without warning.

This is one of the strictest no promotion rules I have seen, because it bans not just advertising but market research and even brainstorming, which closes off the soft sell angles most founders try. I also respect that progress posts require your full stats, diet, and photos, so the bar for posting is genuinely high here. If your product has anything to do with fasting or lifting, this is a room full of exactly your users, and the only way in is to show up as a serious lifter first. Read the pinned program guides before you post, because the mods expect everyone to have done the homework.