Bodybuilding is probably one of the most effective ways known to man to increase muscle mass and shed pounds of fat. The weight training itself helps to burn significant calories while the muscles you build will speed up your metabolism and allow you to burn calories all day long even when you're not working out. For those that are new to bodybuilding, you may find that you can gain muscle quite quickly and this occurs to just about everyone as they begin picking up weights. There will be a time, however, where this growth will slow down or even stop and this is called a plateau.

Plateaus occur when your body adapts to the workload that you're placing on it. This is because your body has built sufficient muscle to deal with the stress you're placing on it and it will only continue to grow if you continue to place additional stresses on it. Overcoming these plateaus is the ongoing goal of any advanced bodybuilder.

Advanced bodybuilders know that they have to continually change their routines because of their body’s ability to adapt in even the most stressful situations. This can mean adding additional weights, or changing routines drastically, or even deciding to stop working out altogether to allow time to let the muscles rest and recuperate. But advanced bodybuilding is not just about lifting weights, it is also about nutrition and proper rest.

The main goal for bodybuilding is to maximize the look of one’s musculature by adding significant muscle mass while decreasing the amount of fat you have on your body. The combination of these two exercises can build an impressive physique that will turn the heads of just about anybody in the gym or anywhere else you may be for that matter. In order to achieve significant muscle building or fat loss results, one needs to pay strict attention to their diet especially those who are advanced bodybuilders.

No matter how much you workout and exercise, you may never truly lose your body fat unless you pay close attention to your diet. Any excess calories you eat that are not burned off will be stored as fat. Those stores of body fat that you already had before you begin weight training may be difficult to lose as well if you're not pay strict attention to the types of foods that you eat. As an advanced bodybuilder, protein should probably be the number one food in your diet as it will help to build additional muscle while generally not add to your waistline the way an over abundance of carbohydrates do. That doesn't mean that you don't need carbohydrates, however, because once they are broken down, carbohydrates provide the perfect fuel for your muscles and will help to give you the energy you need while you're in the gym working out. Many people tout low or no carbohydrate diets, but these are seldom used by bodybuilders because it will be nearly impossible for one to attain the type of results they're looking for in the gym with little or no carbohydrates in their system.

Advanced bodybuilding is truly a lifestyle and one that doesn't come easy, but the rewards can be immensely satisfying as you look at the beautifully sculpted physique you have created by following your consistent exercise and diet regimen as an advanced bodybuilder.