The competitive form of body building is mostly a derivative of the 19th century European strongman acts in theaters and circuses. The first noteworthy body building international competition is the Mr. Universe contest which was started in 1947. This competition was succeeded by an even more prominent competition known as Mr. Olympia. Body building competitions for women started in 1970s.



Bodybuilding typically involves weight training as its basic form of exercise and the intake of food and vitamin and mineral supplements that are very high in protein. Workout routines for body builders usually involve exercises designed to increase and define muscle mass. The number of sets, repetitions, and weight are an important matter for any body building workout routine. The manner of splitting the workout is also important. A good rule to follow when going into your own body building workout routine is to make sure to split the training exercises to avoid overtraining. Do not train the same muscle group in consecutive days. Keep in mind that training a specific group of muscles may also affect another group, so try to determine what other muscle groups are affected so as to avoid overtraining that specific area.

For people who are just getting started in the craft of bodybuilding, you may experience very fast gains with any form of training program you use. The best thing for you to do is to gradually introduce your body to weight training while adjusting your diet simultaneously. This should be done to help smooth the progress of gaining muscle. At the initial stage of body building, any workout routine can and will produce amazing results. This is because the type of work out is new to the body and only a minimal amount of stimulus is needed to cause any change in physique.

If, however, you have been body building and weight training for quite sometime, your body will learn to adjust and cope with the body building routine you normally use. Failure to change your body building and workout routine may cause you to hit a plateau - this is a time wherein the body will not respond to the workout routine you are using - you will not gain any muscle and you will not lose any fat also. This can get a bit frustrating since you know you are continuing your diet and training but you no longer see any results. You can break through this plateau by modifying your work out by increasing workout intensity or changing the frequency.

If you want to get into body building but feel that you lack in determination, you may need to reassess your plans. After all, body building is a very demanding sport - one that requires commitment and a complete lifestyle change.