Will regular cycling make your legs/calves bigger??

[KnottedYet]

Mimi - like the "after" photo! Whooooo-eeeee, check out those gams!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Woo-HOOO!!! Great NEW legs, Mimi!!!!
Biking gals just get better and better as they get older!

[telegirl]

Let me answer that question with a story:

I have a hard time finding ski boots because my calves are quite muscular. In demoing some boots, the sales guy grabbed my calve and said "wow, you have athletic calves". I told him I ride a lot and he hemmed and hawed.....finally found a good that fit me.

This particular guy knows my hubby and one day, about two weeks later, was riding with hubby in a gondola, when he said, 'wow, your wife has REALLY athletic calves. I mean, wow!' Hubby almost fell over laughing.

I tend to build a lot of muscle, therefore leading to rather muscular legs. I agree that it depends on your body type, but hopefully your calves won't make the rounds for discussion on ski lifts.

[aicabsolut]

(Still scratching my head wondering why anyone would not want muscles on their legs....)

I've got a sprinter's body type, though with skinny calves (my only real muscle trouble area), and more muscle on my legs means it's even harder to find pants that fit and are remotely alterable. Perhaps if fashion houses would design more clothes for athletic figures then I wouldn't complain so much

[liberty]

telegirl - I can totally relate... I have big/muscular calves and legs. Forget wearing boots, some rollerblades, and even some pants are no fun either. It has always been a point of low self-esteem for me. I've always wanted slender girly legs. My muscular calves story comes from a few weeks ago when I was getting my clipless pedals at the bike shop. The owner was fitting the bike and so forth. He stopped dead and said, "You've got calves." Pause. "You've got calves." Another pause. "I mean, you've got calves." Pause. He asks me if I play soccer. No. He comes around to the side of the bike and says, "You have calves; nice quads. You've got nice looking legs." Could have knocked me over with a bike pump. Cracked me up. I don't feel so self-conscious about them anymore...

[rocknrollgirl]

Well, my gift from mt biking was more muscle on my legs and a BOOTY!!! It really showed up this summer while I was training. It is not huge, but it is pretty solid and round. My clothes still fit, but I am filling my pants, that is for out for sure.

At first I was totally freaked out. And then I started winning races, and beating guys, and I realized that THE BOOTY, and the quads, are my power source for really hard hill climbing, and going fast.

So now THE BOOTY is here to stay. How can I feel badly about a strong, athletic, competent body, that at 44 has almost no fat on its legs and butt.

I say if you like to ride, don't worry about the muscles that come, if you have a well rounded program, you will not get big, and if you do, be proud of your strength.

Just for the record, my DH LOVES...the new BOOTY.....

Ruth....
sportin' the new and improved booty in NJ....

BTW just for laughs, do you all know they sell undies and pants to make your booty look this way?

[latelatebloomer]

LOVE the photos! What a great change in those legs!

My calves are smaller AND more muscular, but I was a very large woman to start. I like that rather than just losing weight all over as I used to on the diet rollercoaster, my body is completely reformulating itself. And I like looking like a woman who can kick a little butt - or shake it.

[mimitabby]

Ruth....
sportin' the new and improved booty in NJ....

BTW just for laughs, do you all know they sell undies and pants to make your booty look this way?

Wasn't that called a Bustle once upon a time??

Glad you got one. I have a cousin who lacks one. Maybe I should convince her to start riding!!

[aicabsolut]

So far, cycling has made my legs look better and less bulky than in my track and field days. Leaner, more muscle definition, slightly less of a quadzilla.

This is about as shapely as I think my calves are ever gonna get. (skinny calves, quadzilla thighs). It's hard to find boots because they're too skinny..lol. So long as they don't get too wide for my riding boots, I don't care. But I love hot cyclist / soccer player calves on a guy. Maybe it's because I'll never get them myself.

As for the BOOTY... My cycling butt is rounder than my horsebackriding butt--which kind of becomes nonexistent from the endurance nature of using the glutes versus the power climbing on the bike. But it's smaller than my sprinting/hurdling butt. Good compromise, I think.

[CyclChyk]

I for one relish the onset of calve muscles. That means the jiggle is gone

[rocknrollgirl]

This morning as I was typing my response to this thread , DH came in the den and said "whatcha typin' " I said a girl on TE posted that she is concerned about getting big quaddies from biking...he looked at me and said...I swear...

Are you telling them about the BOOTY?

I am still laughing about it........


Ruth

[Melstar]

This morning as I was typing my response to this thread , DH came in the den and said "whatcha typin' " I said a girl on TE posted that she is concerned about getting big quaddies from biking...he looked at me and said...I swear...

Are you telling them about the BOOTY?

I am still laughing about it........


Ruth

lol! Well said.

[makbike]

I would say yes it does, for my chiropractor (a cyclist himself) noted that the muscles in my quads and calves had more bulk and definition - YES!!!!!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, my legs are definitely more nicely shaped than before I started biking.
Before losing the 25 pounds, my legs were rounder all over, no noticable muscles to speak of. Jiggly areas (ugh).

Now (and I'm by no means finished reshaping yet!) the jiggle is pretty much gone. thinner knees by far, no big love handle lumps around hips, air space between thighs (bigtime). I can see nice strong calf muscles and some nice long front thigh muscles where there used to be just flab. Can also see muscles on the fronts of my shins (never had such things before!). I can feel the back thigh muscles. My waist is thinner, my "booty" is better shaped and some excess fat is gone. Shoulders have some muscle and are better defined. My arms are thinner but with more muscle.
And I don't even consider that I ride that much!

It's GREAT. How anyone can object to getting muscles is beyond me. I LOVE the way my body is reshaping itself!!

[KnottedYet]

I just keep getting leaner and leaner. Haven't lost a single pound in maybe a year, but all my clothes (even my "these are too tight but maybe they'll fit later" clothes) are getting too big.

If I could afford it, I'd purge my wardrobe and buy new.

My butt has shrunk and completely changed shape, thighs are tighter (and smaller) calves are tighter and much more defined (but no bigger)

Arms are smaller, with some little tight muscles.

I have tiny wrists and ankles, and I'm starting to look proportionate rather than like I just have tiny wrists and ankles.

And my arms and legs look longer, optical illusion but I like it.

Still have some fat on my butt and hips that I wouldn't mind losing. Got a little fat on either side of my belly-button which I like (makes me look like I have abs!). I worry a little that my face is getting too bony, but some folks like it so I won't complain.

You know those little dogs that look like greyhounds? I think they're called whippets? Think I'm turning into one of them.

Plus I feel fabulous, and am more flexible, getting fewer migraines and less joint pain.

Yay, biking!