does cycling build leg mass??

daludo

hi folks,as stated in an earlier thread,im new to this sport but keen to build up d mileage!i've been told by those in the know that i have the ideal build for cycling,ie-6ft 1" and 80kg.basically im a skinny guy especially my legs.my question is,will cycling in general build leg muscle and if so is hill work or steady mileage better for this purpose??

Lumen

You are unlikely to build significant leg mass, and 80kg is not skinny for a cyclist.

daludo

even if i combine my 2 cycling spins a week with gym work??squats,lunges etc...

Beasty

It will convert fat into muscle - my legs are quite a bit thinner than when I took up cycling

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

It will convert fat into muscle - my legs are quite a bit thinner than when I took up cycling

It is impossible to convert fat into muscle.

High Nellie

Your friends are not 'in the know' I'm afraid. There is no ideal build for 'cycling'.

Lumen

daludo wrote: »

even if i combine my 2 cycling spins a week with gym work??squats,lunges etc...

Your unstated motivation appears to be to get bigger legs. That's extremely unlikely happen with cycling.

Get over yourself and enjoy the cycling for its own sake :pac:

Tonyandthewhale

You'll probably end up with very defined legs but not necessarily especially big legs. What do you want big legs for anyway? What are you planning on doing with the extra mass?

Stripey Cat

What do you want big legs for anyway?

I think that's what we all want to know.

Beasty

Lumen wrote: »

It is impossible to convert fat into muscle.

I was going to backtrack, and say something along the lines of "fair enough, you can replace fat with muscle mass", but then found this. It's the Telegraph, so must be right, right?:D

el Bastardo

Lumen wrote: »

You are unlikely to build significant leg mass, and 80kg is not skinny for a cyclist.

Ah now! Maybe he's got big bones!

ROK ON

Since I started cycling, my thighs are a bit slimmer & have much more definition.
My calves seem much larger/more muscular.
The area between my ankles and calves are much thinner.

I presume this is as a result of cycling.

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

I was going to backtrack, and say something along the lines of "fair enough, you can replace fat with muscle mass", but then found this. It's the Telegraph, so must be right, right?:D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_adipose_tissue#Presence_in_adults
"Further, recent studies using Positron Emission Tomography scanning of adult humans have shown that it is still present in adults in the upper chest and neck."

This is clearly excellent news if you're able to pedal with your neck. :pac:

PurpleBee

High Nellie wrote: »

Your friends are not 'in the know' I'm afraid. There is no ideal build for 'cycling'.

surely there is an ideal build for cycling! I just can't believe that

Lumen

PurpleBee wrote: »

surely there is an ideal build for cycling! I just can't believe that

You missed the significance of the 'quotes'.

PurpleBee

haha... still have i think

anishboi

Lumen wrote: »

It is impossible to convert fat into muscle.

Yup, but cycling loses the fat and puts on the muscle.

And to you daludo, I'm a long distance cyclist myself and ever since I've started, but legs have got thinner. You may think so, but that's not actually a bad thing, because the fat is going and muscle is building, which means that your legs will appear smaller but will actually be stronger.

And if you stick with it persistently, as well as optionally taking protein mixes (in my view all cyclists should use them), you will constantly be building up muscle in your legs, which means that your legs eventually will get bigger. Not with fat, but with good, hardcore muscle.

This is a long term process, but as I said, it's better to have legs that look smaller but are actually stronger and more muscular, rather that having legs that are big, but only with flab.

Hope this helps you mate. :cool:

el Bastardo

anishboi wrote: »

This is a long term process, but as I said, it's better to have legs that look smaller but are actually stronger and more muscular, rather that having legs that are big, but only with flab.

Hope this helps you mate. :cool:

Sounds great, but I'm 6' 2", 74 Kg, and passers by will still laugh at (what they see as) 'skinny' legs. OP, you are what you are: Cycle for fitness, go to the gym if you want body worship.

anishboi

el Bastardo wrote: »

Sounds great, but I'm 6' 2", 74 Kg, and passers by will still laugh at (what they see as) 'skinny' legs. OP, you are what you are: Cycle for fitness, go to the gym if you want body worship.

To be honest now, as far as I know, as long as you're not skinny to the point of being anorexic, people will envy leaner legs more than wide legs. I'm using the word 'lean' instead of 'skinny', because people notice the significant difference between skinny legs and legs that are skinny but muscular.

biomed32

ChrisHoy_LegsPhSpt.jpg

I believe this is an answer to your question

mloc123

biomed32 wrote: »

ChrisHoy_LegsPhSpt.jpg

I believe this is an answer to your question

Not a result of cycling.... That's a result of gym work for the benefit of cycling.

biomed32

mloc123 wrote: »

Not a result of cycling.... That's a result of gym work for the benefit of cycling.

well it was worth a try, I do realise that it was gym work haha!

But yes, a couple months after I began cycling I did find the muscles began to build up on my legs

Hungrycol

Legs skinnier but more defined. Now I just need to pedal with my belly and I'm sorted.

lovelyoner

Suppose it could depend on what kind of cycling your doing too, ie your more likely to build up leg muscle hammering it around a track than you are going for a 70k up the Wicklow mountains?

My legs have definitely gotten both bigger and more defined since I started cycling, but that being said I do row a hell of a lot too

edit; always thought Forstemann were some shveet quads

Dubba

good pain fully sport rowing up there with cycling.

blorg

You will develop muscle mass in your thighs from sprinting and cycling up mountains on a fixie, in my experience. I did, and I have never been inside a gym. Not from long cardio- although that will help your overall fitness and endurance. As others have said 80kg at 6ft1 is not skinny, it's normal, even heavy for a cyclist.

Cookie_Monster

I've put a noticeable amount of leg muscle on in the last year. Plenty of hills is what you want...

Harrybelafonte

How about:

High cadence + smaller gearing = toned lean muscle

Low cadence + higher gearing = larger leg muscle mass

Pretty similar to marathon runner vs sprinter?

blorg

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

How about:

High cadence + smaller gearing = toned lean muscle

Low cadence + higher gearing = larger leg muscle mass

Pretty similar to marathon runner vs sprinter?

That is what I have found, yes. If you look at photos of sprinters versus climbers legs it is quite obvious.

lovelyoner

Dubba wrote: »

good pain fully sport rowing up there with cycling.

It's even worse IMO, but there's no rowing forum on boards so I just have to make do with cycling...:rolleyes:

daludo

thanks for the wide range of responses guys.dont get me wrong,i dont want to end up like some circus act,just more defined legs and a little more mass maybe..ill continue to hit d gym twice a week and d bike on weekends for now.;)

nomdeboardie

blorg wrote: »

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

How about:

High cadence + smaller gearing = toned lean muscle

Low cadence + higher gearing = larger leg muscle mass

Pretty similar to marathon runner vs sprinter?

That is what I have found, yes. If you look at photos of sprinters versus climbers legs it is quite obvious.

Would it not be a case of
Sprinting = [High cadence + High gearing] for a short time (primarily anaerobic effort) --> hypertrophy of fast-twitch (type I) muscle fibres = bulkier?

(Disclaimer: never been near a cycle racing track in my life )

Lumen

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Would it not be a case of
Sprinting = [High cadence + High gearing] for a short time (primarily anaerobic effort) --> hypertrophy of fast-twitch (type I) muscle fibres = bulkier?

Not likely. A 30s sprint involves about 50-60 "reps". Try pumping iron for sets of 60 reps and see how big you get.

nomdeboardie

Lumen wrote: »

Not likely. A 30s sprint involves about 50-60 "reps". Try pumping iron for sets of 60 reps and see how big you get.

But 30s still << several hours of a road event, so I suppose I'm suggesting the analogy with sprinting running versus long distance running (although both sprint athletes would use low rep weight training to enhance their power and make their legs bigger than they would be otherwise, I assume)

Lumen

nomdeboardie wrote: »

But 30s still << several hours of a road event, so I suppose I'm suggesting the analogy with sprinting running versus long distance running (although both sprint athletes would use low rep weight training to enhance their power and make their legs bigger than they would be otherwise, I assume)

Feel free to research what's out there, but from what I understand sprinting performance is governed by things like neuromuscular performance (twitching) and ATP supply (fuelling) rather than muscle size.

I think that as non-scientists we tend to look for performance in the things we can see (big muscles) and feel (lungs) rather than the things we can't (mitochondria, nervous impulses and complex biochemistry).

Harrybelafonte

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Lumen wrote: »

Not likely. A 30s sprint involves about 50-60 "reps". Try pumping iron for sets of 60 reps and see how big you get.

But 30s still << several hours of a road event, so I suppose I'm suggesting the analogy with sprinting running versus long distance running (although both sprint athletes would use low rep weight training to enhance their power and make their legs bigger than they would be otherwise, I assume)

You talk about it as though the big legs were the required result rather than a side effect.

I ain't a scientist so bear with my simplistic reasoning here. You mention that hours of racing is more than a thirty second sprint, but you're missing out on the training for that 30second sprint.

If I could use another analogy, road racing is more like having a 5 kilo weight that you have to carry for 5 miles, while track sprinting is like having a 300 kilo weight you have to carry for 500 metres. There are completed different requirements of the body. There's a reason that the pro track sprinters only do long spins at a speed at which they can chat away and that they don't train on long climbs.

Tbh, saying that 30s is less than hours road racing would indicate that you may not have tried a standing start track sprint for 30 seconds. The effort and feeling afterwards is completely different to a few hours on the bike racing.

nomdeboardie

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

You talk about it as though the big legs were the required result rather than a side effect.

No, God no - that was the OP

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

... There's a reason that the pro track sprinters only do long spins at a speed at which they can chat away and that they don't train on long climbs.

OK, I assume they don't want to over-develope the slow-twitch when they're doing this general conditioning. But would they not do some short high intensity training also

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Tbh, saying that 30s is less than hours road racing would indicate that you may not have tried a standing start track sprint for 30 seconds...

You're 100% correct - let me quote my own disclaimer (post 32):

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Blah blah yadda dodgy-sports-biology-wonderings yadda ...
(Disclaimer: never been near a cycle racing track in my life )

Edit: by "less than" I meant that 30 seconds is less time than several hours

Harrybelafonte

nomdeboardie wrote: »

[
OK, I assume they don't want to over-develope the slow-twitch when they're doing this general conditioning. But would they not do some short high intensity training also[/]

Course, sorry should have been clearer.

nomdeboardie

Lumen wrote: »

Feel free to research what's out there, but from what I understand sprinting performance is governed by things like neuromuscular performance (twitching) and ATP supply (fuelling) rather than muscle size.

I think that as non-scientists we tend to look for performance in the things we can see (big muscles) and feel (lungs) rather than the things we can't (mitochondria, nervous impulses and complex biochemistry).

Of course all those aspects factor in to determine performance, but I was just discussing the end result in terms of muscle hypertrophy, as was of aesthetic interest to the OP.

Lumen wrote: »

... mitochondria ...

(I remember them well :pac: - spent many years thinking about and handling the little buggers, albeit not from animals, and not dealing with their energy-production biochemistry per se.)

lalorm

The quickest way to get larger quads is to do heavy weight squats in the gym. High intensity will strip the fat away and lots of Protein and rest will help the muscle repair and grow. Cycling will give endurance and hill work will add strength with a little growth in muscle size, but if you hit the gym hard and recover well and take on protein, you will build muscle. Do it every 3 days for 8 weeks and you will see a big difference.

anishboi

If you want to get big and defined, try doing a few jump sprints when you're cycling. I'm sure you know what they are?

daludo

anishboi wrote: »

If you want to get big and defined, try doing a few jump sprints when you're cycling. I'm sure you know what they are?

enlighten me please.

anishboi

daludo wrote: »

enlighten me please.

Ok, so it's basically this. First of all, always do this on the gym bike or any other stationary bike, not on a real bike.

Cycle at a fairly high speed and with a substantial amount of resistance. Get your stopwatch ready and set it for 1 minute. Now, while you're cycling, cycle while standing up on the bike for 5 seconds, and then sit back down and cycle seated for 5 seconds, and then repeat. Keep doing that at high speed and resistance until the end of the minute, and then take a thirty second break. Do three sets like that (1 minute jumps, thirty seconds break).

If you do this for a while, you'll be flying!

Hope that helps, ask me if you need me to explain anything.

kumate_champ07

Lumen wrote: »

Feel free to research what's out there, but from what I understand sprinting performance is governed by things like neuromuscular performance (twitching) and ATP supply (fuelling) rather than muscle size.

I think that as non-scientists we tend to look for performance in the things we can see (big muscles) and feel (lungs) rather than the things we can't (mitochondria, nervous impulses and complex biochemistry).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsotvad5nA

petethedrummer

Hang on I'll ask my guns.....

Hey legs, how did you get to be so big and awesome?

Harrybelafonte

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsotvad5nA

Theo Boss, every video I watch of him reminds me that he is.... a boss.

doozerie

petethedrummer wrote:

Hang on I'll ask my guns.....

Hey legs, how did you get to be so big and awesome?

Beware of communicating with your legs via the Internet. They might describe themselves as big and burly but the harsh reality could be that they are more like the spindly pins of a pre-pubescent teenager.

kumate_champ07

I wish my legs were as fast as they looked