OK, so you've built yourself into a hulk of a man, enjoying formidable bodybuilding benefits such as being able to crush walnuts with a single twitch of your pecs. Bet you never knew there were other important bodybuilding benefits – maybe not as impressive as being able to dead lift a Cooper Mini, but important nonetheless.

You probably lowered your cholesterol. A lot! The byproduct of inactivity and excess flab is an LDL level that's way too high, HDL level that's too low, and triglycerides off the charts. Essentially, a heart attack waiting to happen. One of the best bodybuilding benefits is getting all these cholesterol readings to a healthy, normal level. Of course, if you mess around with steroids, this one's a goner.

Strong bones. Again, unless you're doing bonehead diet or drug stuff that's leaching calcium from your bones. In that case, better invest in a good rocking chair and cane, because you're going to crumple like a soda can in old age. Among the many benefits you get is that all this movement and weight-bearing activity helps to prevent osteoporosis.

Flexibility. OK, you're probably not ready to join the city's ballet troupe, but you're not part of the pretzel club either. Of course, this doesn't apply to the muscle-bound among us – the guys who haven't trained through a full range of motion. If you've trained right, you're the poster boy for four areas of bodybuilding success: strength (duh), flexibility, endurance, and balance.