Some people who get into bodybuilding do so with the intention of entering a bodybuilding contest at some point in the future when they feel they are good enough.
Bodybuilding is an art in itself in that through a diet and a workout routine, one sculpts the body increasing the size and strength of the muscles.
In a competition, the contestants display their physiques to a panel of judges by posing their body in specific ways.
The whole routine is set to music and the judges assign points based on specific criteria.
The art of bodybuilding is not a recent one as it was developed somewhere between 1880 and 1930 by a man named Eugene Sandow.
He was from Prussia, a country that was to become Austria - the homeland of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a well-known bodybuilder who went on to become a movie star and now is governor of California.
Sandow used the phrase "like a Greek god" and used the perfect physique created by the ancient Greek and Roman artists to come up with what he believed the perfect body to look at.
He judged all men according to this "perfect" model.
The very first bodybuilding contest took place in London on September 14, 1901 at the Royal Albert Hall.
Sandow, himself, actually organized this event and the judges were none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, and Sir Charles Lawes.
Sandow was also a judge.
The trophy for the winner was a bronze statue of none other than Sandow.
The bodybuilding contest still exists today, but it has a new name - Mr.
Olympia.
The bronze statue of Sandow is still presented to the winner of the competition.