Any person taking up body building will likely be looking into the potential of bodybuilding supplements as an aid to bulking up muscle and assisting in the process of advancing in the matter of sculpting and toning the body. There are several available classes of bodybuilding supplement available, including most notably those which provide protein for muscle-building, and those which add or influence hormones which, in their turn, support the physiological process of muscle-building. Of course, in order to be effective, the body building supplements themselves should accompany a program of weight lifting and body building exercises. Protein-based bodybuilding supplements function by providing a large dose of the most basic physiological building-block needed for creating more muscle tissue--the units of protein themselves. Protein molecules are made up of strings of amino acids, from which some body building supplements (such as Creatine) take their names. Muscle fibers are made up, in their turn, primarily of proteins. The process of lifting weights puts those muscle fibers to use, creating a strain on them, to which the body responds by adding additional muscle fibers and gradually bulking up the muscle--provided the body has those muscle-building proteins ready at hand for creating those additional muscle fibers. Whey protein powders in various forms comprise a large section of the market of bodybuilding supplements, and the body builder most commonly adds the protein into their diet in the form of milkshakes or smoothies blended up with a heaping scoop of the protein powder. Every outlet selling bodybuilding supplements will offer a variety of protein powder options, in the form of ready-made drinks, powder to add to smoothies or other recipes, or as fast-absorbing tablets that can be taken just before and after a workout. The other common category of bodybuilding supplement is those which affect the body's hormone levels. The performance-enhancing steroids which are illegal in competitive sporting venues fall into this category, but there are many forms of legal and allowable bodybuilding supplements which also fit this description. A number of herbal ingredients, which will be found in many herbal nutritional supplements for body builders, actually boost the body's own production of testosterone. Herbs like saw palmetto, tribulusterrestris, fenugreek seed, wild yam, ginseng, yohimbe, the aptly named horny goat weed are among the many that act on the body to increase the body's own testosterone production. This, in turn, has the effect of boosting the body's ability to build and sustain muscle tissue. Herbal supplements which affect hormone levels should be approached with some caution, particularly for young body builders or any with pre-existing health conditions. A physician's guidance can be invaluable for the body builder looking to make the right choices about bodybuilding supplements to enhance and improve the body builder's capabilities.