Cycling muscles
- Thread starter ooky
- Start date
This reminds me of the attitude one of my friends expressed a couple of decades ago. She saw me riding and thought she would like to try it but she was afraid she would get "big muscles" and not be able to wear her tight jeans. I swallowed my contempt and told her I didn't think it would be a problem. We went out on our bikes a few times and she became hooked, rode with a social group and then with the training (racing) group that I rode with. Within a few months, she had been elected president of the racing club, became an outstanding racer and bicycle advocate.
Twenty years later, she is proud of her bicycling muscles. She has great quads in particular and, even though she is now 50 years old, attracts a lot of attention because of her competent, muscular and graceful physique. Her appearance is a great advertisement for bicycling.
Cycling will only make your muscles more attractive -- unless you like the marshmallow look.
Van
Twenty years later, she is proud of her bicycling muscles. She has great quads in particular and, even though she is now 50 years old, attracts a lot of attention because of her competent, muscular and graceful physique. Her appearance is a great advertisement for bicycling.
Cycling will only make your muscles more attractive -- unless you like the marshmallow look.
Van
My adult daughter got into road bikes in order to keep up with me. She was worried about the same thing as you are. Early on, I got her used to spinning the pedals in the easiest gear that is appropriate for the wind and terrain (ie. she isn't pedalling in a void or like an out of control windmill). No problems so far.
this is my story...
I weigh 108 pounds and stand just under 5 feet tall.
EVERY ounce of fat on my body went directly to my thighs.
I hated it. When I started cycling...I had amazing shrinking thighs!!!
Sure, they are still bigger with muscle (but not even close to being unsightly haha)
But its a lot bigger than fat thunder thighs haha
I weigh 108 pounds and stand just under 5 feet tall.
EVERY ounce of fat on my body went directly to my thighs.
I hated it. When I started cycling...I had amazing shrinking thighs!!!
Sure, they are still bigger with muscle (but not even close to being unsightly haha)
But its a lot bigger than fat thunder thighs haha
Honestly, you are kidding with this inane throwback concern, right?
1) how big do you think you can get unless you are taking testoterone on the side, and 2) just how toned and muscly is Ok for women anyway?
What you need to worry about is not building your muscles up, but building your self confidence about yourself.and your appearance.
1) how big do you think you can get unless you are taking testoterone on the side, and 2) just how toned and muscly is Ok for women anyway?
What you need to worry about is not building your muscles up, but building your self confidence about yourself.and your appearance.
Just lay off the mountains of pasta and gallons of carbo drink and all will be fine. Most people don't eat enough protein in their regular diets to cover what their bodies need to 'repair' the micro damage from previous training sessions, let alone support building muscley thighs the size of Miss Universe whilst out on the bike...
When I started doing this cycling thing seriously a little bit ago, I saw a doctor about a thyroid issue.
I kinda mentioned it casually that I was doing a lot of exercise/biking and if I would develop more muscles.
Doctor said, more or less that big muscles cannot develop w/o T (as in Testosterone). Now every woman's body produces a small amount of T via the ovaries and adrenal glands. So even if you've had a hysterectomy your body will still make a little T.
It helps with energy and libido plus a little bit with some small muscle gains. But it is a very small amount of T we are talking about here. I think the max, normal female T number is about 10x less than the min, normal male level.
You won't get big muscles unless you put some nasty chemicals, meaning steriods, in your body!!!
I kinda mentioned it casually that I was doing a lot of exercise/biking and if I would develop more muscles.
Doctor said, more or less that big muscles cannot develop w/o T (as in Testosterone). Now every woman's body produces a small amount of T via the ovaries and adrenal glands. So even if you've had a hysterectomy your body will still make a little T.
It helps with energy and libido plus a little bit with some small muscle gains. But it is a very small amount of T we are talking about here. I think the max, normal female T number is about 10x less than the min, normal male level.
You won't get big muscles unless you put some nasty chemicals, meaning steriods, in your body!!!
I had pretty big quads back in my track cycling days, and I definitely wasn't on any steroids. Mind you, I also could push 500 lbs on the leg press sled in the gym in the winter. Explosive sprinting and heavy weights both build up fast twitch muscle, which tends to be a lot bigger than the slow twitch endurance-type muscle that you'd get from ordinary fitness riding.
The theory is, you are born with all the muscle fibers you'll ever have and can only get as big as your genetics will allow. Also, some women have more natural testosterone than others and do build up muscle easily. If a woman hasn't built up a lot of bulk fairly quickly from other forms of exercise, she won't put on a lot of bulk from cycling.
Then again, who the heck says it's "unsightly" to have muscle??? Some anorexic fashion icon?
The theory is, you are born with all the muscle fibers you'll ever have and can only get as big as your genetics will allow. Also, some women have more natural testosterone than others and do build up muscle easily. If a woman hasn't built up a lot of bulk fairly quickly from other forms of exercise, she won't put on a lot of bulk from cycling.
Then again, who the heck says it's "unsightly" to have muscle??? Some anorexic fashion icon?
jheri said:I ride every day and am thin with very tight legs. They are certainly not huge. Come and visit Denmark some time. A huge percentage of women ride and we have the best legs and butts in the world
Without a pic(s), they don't exist...
I gain 1-2" in my thigh during the summer from biking. It is toned though, it isn't noticeable. I just know because I measure every other week. I lose up to an inch every soccer season, so it ebbs and flows between biking, fall soccer, spinning, and spring soccer. I like my legs, muscles and all.
first off, this depends on testosterone. I am a twenty-something competitive natural bodybuilder, and use biking for quad separation versus more boring forms of cardio for contest prep. I have naturally high levels of testosterone, so this does have a small amount of validity. However even if you have high testosterone, you will next need to eat a lot of protein(much more than i assume you girls eat). Your legs will actually shrink due to the constant pedaling...however this brings me to the final bullet point-I ride at a low cadence on the hardest gear the majority of the time to truly get an anabolic effect and not spin at 100rpm's constantly-HIIT training works well. I am not so much worried about speed as I am effectiveness, for what it's worth to my profession. I am only 5'2 with a 27"inseam, so genetically my legs are larger in the muscular sense as well. So there are a few factors that play into this... good luck
