How to stop muscle bulk??

[Noushkin]

Hi

This might sound a bit pathetic, but does anyone have any tips on how to reduce muscle bulking from cycling?? My muscles tend to bulk up quite quickly when I do certain types of exercise. I'm quite new to cycling, and absolutely love it, but I'm finding that my leg muscles, especially my calf muscles, are bulking up quite a lot. I don't want to stop cycling, but would love to hear any ideas on how to curb muscle expansion before I start looking like the Incredible Hulkess! Thanks

[runnergirl]

Welcome to the board, be sure to check in under the getting to know you thread!

You can't look like a vogue model and be an athlete. You have to have muscle to make the bike go, there's no way to not build muscle while continuing to work out (other than having an eating disorder). Embrace it and show of your shapely calves.

My quads have blown up since I started riding and I'm damn proud of it. The idea that women shouldn't be strong and powerful drives me buggy-because if you think about it it's a backwards notion meant to keep women out of "male" spheres.

[bluerider]

Welcome to the board, be sure to check in under the getting to know you thread!

You can't look like a vogue model and be an athlete. You have to have muscle to make the bike go, there's no way to not build muscle while continuing to work out (other than having an eating disorder). Embrace it and show of your shapely calves.

My quads have blown up since I started riding and I'm damn proud of it. The idea that women shouldn't be strong and powerful drives me buggy-because if you think about it it's a backwards notion meant to keep women out of "male" spheres.

Runnergirl, to your comments I say AMEN!

Noushkin, welcome to the board! I'm glad you are enjoying riding but don't fear bulking up. You'll never be the size of the incredible hulk because you aren't made up that way (ie testosterone).

Inevitably your hams, quads, calves, and glutes will get bigger but they are a testament to your hard work and they are there to power you on!!! I know it's easy to be self conscious about getting "bigger" but it's muscle, definition that you are building. Show it off!

If "hams" are really a concern, I do find that spinning at high cadences have really helped to burn the fat and increase definition without building insane bulk. Nonetheless, since I've been riding, I've noticed my calves have gotten bigger and my quads are cut, and I'm hella proud of them!

[Raindrop]

Everyone else is right in that most women don't have adequate testosterone to hytrophy or increase muscle mass easily. (If it were easy, some women bodybuilders would be HUGE without steroids...much less expensive.). Anyway, what you want to look toward is your diet. One-hundred percent of what you look like is attributed to at least eighty percent, diet. Don't fall into the "I'm working a lot harder so I need to eat a LOT more."

Keep a ruthless diary of what you eat and what you eat for your workouts. I've been a personal trainer for years and through many mistakes and re-evaluations of methodolgy have found that the clients that are honest about their intake vs. their actual output (bikeing, weight-training, running etc.) are the most successful on body composition.

Those of us that are cyclists need to eat for their rides, but not overeat. That means, an easy ride needs a regular diet, a more difficult ride...more carbohydryates, an extensive ride or an "intense" ride means a diet heavy with complex carbohydrates and adequate protein for muscle recovery.

Be honest with yourself. That's the only way to find the balance.

[SnappyPix]

Sigh. I wish my calf muscles would bulk up, or even appear from time to time to say hello!

[Selkie]

AMEN to all who embrace their muscular quads, hams, glutes, and calves!! I think you're lucky to put on muscle so easily Compare an athlete (Serena Williams) to a supermodel --- l'd much rather have Serena's strong, powerful body.

[doc]

Noushkin, you will be what you will be. Some of us work out like mad and get no larger and not much definition. Others do a little and look "cut". This is genetic. It is true you'll never be huge because you just don't have the testosterone. In general though, low rep - high weight gives larger muscle mass while low weight high rep gives leaner looking muscles (think runners). So mashing would theoretically give bigger muscles than spinning at a higher cadence with lower resistance. Enjoy yourself and be proud of a healthy you.

[RedCanny]

This might sound a bit pathetic, but does anyone have any tips on how to reduce muscle bulking from cycling?? ...

Well, I'd have to say that the only real successful way that I have managed to de-bulk my legs was during the first few weeks following my ACL surgery on my right knee in 1995: I stayed off my feet (ha, like I could walk!). Completely, the first few days, then as rehab ramped up, the legs got more use. I was AMAZED to look down at my legs during my exercises and see such tiny quads, esp. in the right leg!

Of course, that wasn't a voluntary de-bulking. But it sure opened my eyes to atrophy! I think it also made me appreciate that I can build muscle so easily/quickly, which I notice even after one short run: my jeans get tighter in the butt! (argh).

The advice the other ladies give is good; for the most part, love your muscles!

Not so much related to cycling: the only activities I have found that seem to build longer/leaner muscles for me (or just reduce bulk): rock climbing, yoga, and stopping playing rugby (Funny how cutting out a weekly 80 minute stint of running and pushing/throwing women around can do that...).

[Googlie Wooglie]

totally random observation but "a weekly 80 minute stint of running and pushing/throwing women around" sounds like a lot of fun.

But yeah ... yoga's good too.

[Bike Goddess]

One-hundred percent of what you look like is attributed to at least eighty percent, diet. Don't fall into the "I'm working a lot harder so I need to eat a LOT more."

Thank you Raindrop for the great response! This has been my mantra since I started cycling 2 years ago. AND your advice for diet couldn't be more on the money!

Nice to have a trainer amongst us! Thanks for being on the Forum. Your input does make a difference!

[RedCanny]

totally random observation but "a weekly 80 minute stint of running and pushing/throwing women around" sounds like a lot of fun.

It was good fun. Not very sustainable, though. At least, for longer than 11 years, anyway.

[Eaglewalker]

...Some of us work out like mad and get no larger and not much definition. Others do a little and look "cut". This is genetic. ...

Supporting this with a personal anecdote: I visited a friend for a week and dug her garden for her. After I returned home, I went out with another friend, who teaches aerobics and works out with weights regularly, on a program designed to maximize the show-off quotient. She stared at me and asked what I had been doing? Gardening, I said. She was furious. "I have been trying for two years to get muscles like that!" I apologized for my genetics.

[makbike]

Enjoy it to the max and proudly show it off! We have been taught that woman should not have muscles and that is so far from the truth. You aren't going to end up looking like women who train for body buidling competions, you are simply taking your body back a few years and in turn making it healthier. Continue to work hard and enjoythe returns a 1000 fold.

[kjay]

I think my muscles are underneath somewhere. At some point, with all my cycling, I'd think the fat would start shrinking. It's darn stubborn.

[RoadRaven]

Just popping in to add my two cents...

Def genetics and diet, but two other things to throw into the equation is timing and effort...

If you want to lose weight, you should exercise in the morning (lifts metabolism and it burns more quickly all day)
If you want to build muscle, exercise in the evening, as you rest for 8-12 hours and then another 10-12 maybe before more exercise


Also, effort - watch your heart rate... if it lifts too high on your ride you will not burn fat/lose weight, but you will consolidate muscle mass...


Don't know how these two aspects fit into your regimen, Noushkin.. and others... but the more I cycle, the more of a science I realise cycling is.