Body building is about a lot more than simply turning yourself into the next (1980s version of) Arnold Scwarzenegger. Most people think that body building is about growing your muscles to incredible sizes. The truth is that body building is far more about building your muscle strength and then using tone to create a "good looking" physique. There is far more to the sport than just "getting ripped." It is about getting healthy. If you are thinking about starting body building, here are some hints that you can use to help yourself out a little. Don't ever forget that in body building your health comes first and your physique comes last.

Proper breathing is important. Good breathing is key when you do a body building workout. Holding your breath is not a good idea. Your muscles need oxygen to stay healthy so you need to breathe in a lot of it during a body building workout. Breathing should not be done from your lungs, it should be done through your diaphragm. It is difficult to give your torso a proper work out if you don't breathe correctly because filling your lungs with too much air expands your chest too much to be able to do any real work. If you breathe from your diaphragm, you will sill be able to get oxygen into your system but your chest does not expand. Work out all of your muscles every time you exercise. Do not focus on single muscle sets like arms, legs, shoulders or your cardiovascular system. All of these muscle groups are important and they need to be worked on during every exercise routine. If you want uniform progression with your muscle groups they all need attention in every workout. This will cause a major feeling of unbalance both inside and out. If you truly want to be healthy you need to work everything equally. This is true even of other types of exercise. It is not just body building.

Let yourself have a moment to rest when you transition from one part of your routine to another. If you push yourself too hard too soon you could end up hurting yourself. The best way to build your stamina is to increase the length of your workout by allowing yourself a few moments to rest at regular intervals. Not taking a moment to stop and rest is one of the best ways to dehydrate yourself. You might even strain or pull some muscles. You might get too weak to finish the workout at all. Even the most professional and experienced body builders will allow themselves time to rest between different sections of their workouts. Body building is a great way to get yourself into good shape. For many amateur body builders getting healthy is their main goal. It is only later that they decide to focus more on their outward appearance and the actual building of their muscles. When you are new to body building it is imperative that you take the right approach to the sport. Don't forget that your first priority is to stay healthy. Don't take risks when you don't have to. Don't let yourself push yourself to go too far before you are ready. You will get to where you want to go. Getting there involves hard work and lots of patience.