The question about what amount of weight to use for each exercise is a very common bodybuilding question amongst beginners.

It is important to know how to select the weight properly not only due to the fact that too much weight can lead to bad exercise form, and possible injury, but also because choosing the wrong weight may not allow you to perform the amount of repetitions needed to stimulate muscle growth. However, how do you know what is the proper amount of weight to select for a given exercise? That is the topic that is covered in this week's Bodybuilding FAQ - How Much Weight Should I Use for Each Bodybuilding Exercise?

The leg extension is a great way to isolate the quadriceps muscle. Because this is not a multi-joint exercise, it is best used in addition to the squat, the leg press, and/or lunges.

Leg extensions are typically used at the end of a leg workout. However, they can also be used at the beginning of the workout as they can serve to warm up the quadriceps and the knees prior to performing the more basic exercises. Using them at the beginning, also allows the bodybuilder to create a better mind to muscle connection; which then allows for a more isolated focus on the quadriceps during the execution of the multi-jointed exercises.

Due to the fact that the body does not move through space and this is a single joint exercise, the stimulation provided by this exercise is less than the one offered by the leg press. Therefore, this exercise is great when used in addition to the basic leg exercises, but not good enough to be used as a standalone.

In this week's Bodybuilding Exercise Description you will learn how to perform the leg extensions and what the different variations of this exercise are.

Regardless of what your bodybuilding resolution for the New Year is, one thing is for certain: you need a solid plan for achieving your bodybuilding and fitness goals. A bodybuilding plan is like a road map that tells you how to get from point A to point B. However, how do you know if you have a good bodybuilding plan or not?

The first thing you need to do is to have a very clear bodybuilding goal. Without a clear vision of what you want to achieve, it will be impossible to select the right plan for you. For example, if your main goal is to lose fat and gain muscle, it would not be wise to be using a plan whose end result is to exclusively allow for muscle gain and strength. If your goal is more extreme and you have intentions of participating in a bodybuilding competition 12-16 weeks from now, then a typical fat loss plan would not be adequate enough; only a competition diet and training program designed for extreme muscle definition would be.

In order to help you select the right plan for you, regardless of what your bodybuilding goal is, I have created a Bodybuilding Guide which has several bodybuilding plans based on your level of experience designed to achieve all of the various bodybuilding goals; from the most modest ones like losing some fat and toning up for the beach, to the most extreme ones like bodybuilding competition.

To this day, there are many people who argue that bodybuilding is not a real sport and that bodybuilders are not real athletes as we allegedly do not display any skill during a competition. However, is this actually the case?

I can tell you from personal experience that it takes great stamina, practice and skill to be able to step onstage and display your muscles in their various bodybuilding poses properly. And even if you are a non-competitive bodybuilder, it takes a lot of skill to perform the various basic exercises required of bodybuilding such as placing a barbell on your shoulders and performing some deep squats. And finally, any bodybuilder (whether competitive or not) needs to have an incredible amount of determination in order to adhere to a rigorous training program, a structured diet and rest schedule day in and day out.

In order to settle this argument, I decided to get the answer from bodybuilding legend, top Olympian and IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Hall of Fame inductee Lee Labrada to see what his thoughts on the subject are. See what Lee had to say about this subject in this week's Bodybuilding FAQ - Is Bodybuilding a Real Sport and Are Bodybuilders Athletes? Also, feel free to comment and share your own opinion on the subject.