There’s probably no one more well-known in the body building world than the governor of California.  Arnold Schwarzeneggar made body building a household phenomenon with the release of his 1973 movie “Pumping Iron”.  He has been granted the honor of single handedly making body building an everyday term.

When Arnold first started out in his body building career, he was just a young man.  He started out as a “98 pound weakling” and grew into Mr. Universe.  His transformation was an incredible display of body building might along with some amazing dedication.

There is probably no better body building story than that of Arnold Swarzeneggar.  He worked a variety of jobs including that of street worker in Santa Monica, California.  The entire time, he was also devoting all his off hours to honing and sculpting a beautiful body.  In 1970, he was awarded the ultimate body building title of “Mr. Universe” and became a household name.
He kept on with his body building until he decided that a film career was the way to go.  He found success as an actor in such films as “The Terminator”, “End of Days”, and “True Lies”.  While he never won any type of award for his acting work, he still garnered the respect of many Hollywood elite for his strong performances in these films.

Arnold's first approach to bodybuilding was fairly atypical. When he was 13, he played soccer, but felt very dissatisfied with a team sport. "I didn't like the fact that I couldn't be personally gratified" he declared. He tried other endeavors: track and field, boxing, javelin throw and weightlifting. But only when his coach suggested he tried working with weights (to strengthen his legs), Arnold found his true vocation.

When he first walked into a gym he was literally awed. "I found myself in a gym, in awe of muscles I had never seen before and of which I didn't even know the correct name. The bodybuilders were powerful, Herculean. Before my very eyes, my true future opened up: I had found the answer I had been looking for." Thus began, at 16, the career of the greatest bodybuilder of all times, the man who would be crowned Mr. Olympia for a record seven times.

As his physique started developing, so did his self-confidence. Very soon he discovered the thing somebody described as the "power of size". And, as his muscles grew, so did the respect he was receiving from his peers. The growing of his muscular mass, started influencing his relationships with other young men and, of course, with women too. He realized that some women were decidedly turned on by his physique, whereas others seemed to be disgusted by it. "I wanted to become even bigger, so that I'd be able to really impress the girls who dug muscles and... irritate even more the ones who disliked them."

Arnold Schwarzeneggar is quite possibly the epitome of the body building ideal.  When you are serious about your body building goals, you could do worse than following the advice of the great governor of California!

Natural Body Building

In the sport of body building, there are many supplements that can be used to grow muscles quickly, but many of these substances are man-made like steroids.  Natural body building is done without the benefit of artificial substances being put into the body.  That doesn’t mean not using body building supplements as many of these are natural products.  What it means is staying away from man-made hormones and steroids to aid in building body mass.

The body building industry has taken a very firm stance on the use of illegal and artificial substances – especially in competitions.  There are even specific contests geared toward natural body builders.  Most competitions will test participants prior to allowing them to compete, and if someone is found to have an illegal substance in their body, they are banned from participating.

While synthetic products will grow your body very quickly, they can have horrible side effects.  The trend toward natural body building is about growing your body, maximizing your nutritional intake, as well as staying healthy while you are growing your muscles.

When you decide that natural body building is the route you want to go, it’s important that you get the right amount of nutrients and vitamins that will maximize your workout sessions.  That means taking a multi-vitamin and eating properly in ways that will send muscle building proteins to the right parts of your body.

It is more than possible to grow your body naturally through an effective weight training program coupled with good nutrition.  There is no reason why steroids or growth hormones need to be introduced into the body for ultimate muscle mass.

One of the key components of a natural body building program is to eat healthy and maintain a positive mindset when it comes to your workout program.  Supplements are also important when you want toned, fit muscles.  The ingredients in supplements like creatine and glutamine are naturally produced in the human body anyway.  What the supplements do is increase or enhance those substances that are naturally there anyway.

Proponents of natural body building will agree that an effective workout program coupled with effective supplements and nutrition can make for a healthy, toned body.  Natural body building is definitely the way to go if your goal in a body building program is to get healthy and feel good.  Steroids and growth hormones should be avoided at all costs.

Body building the natural way is best for everyone.  Steroids are not.  Don’t take the chance that you will suffer ill effects from steroid use.  Just know that a strong workout program and a commitment to your body building goals will grow your body in a natural way not an artificial way.