While certainly viewed as an indicator of health, body-building represents the act of building the body's muscles beyond the goal of simple physical fitness. Body building typically deals with the desire to maximize the size and visual appeal of muscles, over sheer strength, but can include both goals.

The focus on resistance training and muscle growth has become much more prevalent in recent years. Historically this activity was limited to a small segment of the population, but for a variety of reasons this has become much more common.