Many people who are looking to lose fat don't normally think about body building as much as they think about aerobic activities like running or riding a bike. They generally assume that bodybuilding workouts are only designed for those who are looking to get incredibly huge muscles and get slathered with oil and start posing on stage. This is a common misconception and as it turns out, the activity of bodybuilding may be your best and most effective tool for burning significant amounts of fat.

The reason that bodybuilding is so effective at burning fat is because of the extreme amount of calories burned during the exercises themselves. When lifting heavy weights and doing so in a workout but is performed both consistently and to speed, the body will be burning hundreds and hundreds of calories per hour and can often be as effective at burning calories as a strenuous run on the treadmill.

One of the reasons why bodybuilding can be so effective at burning calories and in turn burning fat is because of the large muscle groups that can be worked when one is bodybuilding. Let's take the squat for instance. The squat is probably the most powerful exercise you can do for your body for both building muscle and losing fat. When you perform a squat, you are activating almost every muscle group in your body. You are certainly targeting the lower body but this includes huge muscles such as your thighs, your lower back, and you're gluteus maximus. As these huge muscle groups are put into action, they use up large amounts of calories in order to perform the work required of them.

Now, as bodybuilders put on muscle as they become advanced in their efforts, they begin to burn fat automatically even when they are not working out. This is because muscle itself speeds up the metabolism and will burn fat just simply by its existence on your body. When you are building muscle, you are actually building little "fat burning ovens" all over your entire body that will help to speed up your metabolism and burn fat on a regular basis. So don't just look at the increased muscle you will develop, but instead think about the decrease in fat your body will experience.

Finally, let's look at the diet of a bodybuilder to uncover one more reason why bodybuilding can be your answer to burning fat. Bodybuilders need significant amounts of protein in order to maintain their muscle mass and build new muscle as well. This is true whether or not you are trying to compete for Mr. Olympia or are just trying to maintain or build muscle for a particular sport that you are involved in. Body building is not necessarily about building huge muscles all the time, but maximizing the muscle you do have so that it is the most effective it can be for your body type. No matter what your goals, you want to increase your intake of protein to make sure that new muscle can be built and that the muscles you do have recover properly after strenuous workouts.

Because bodybuilders often have diets that are heavy in protein and low in carbohydrates, this can result in their body beginning to burn existing stores of fat for fuel as their diets often lack the carbohydrates needed to fuel their intense workouts. As the body burns fat for fuel, your muscles will look more defined and your body fat percentage will significantly decrease.

So if the usual diets and fat burning workouts have not been working for you, you might want to give bodybuilding a try and see just how well picking up a few weights can do to burn fat off your body.