big thighs - myth or reality?

[stacie]

harder gear and a low cadence...which is why mountain biking can really build those muscles, often we are pretty much doing track stands and balancing slowly through obstacles and then pushing hard over them without a whole lot of momentum...yah, so get into a harder gear...good luck!

I have to disagree with you. J Friel has a picture in his book of a sprinter and a climber. Which has larger thighs? The sprinter. A body builder uses significant weight and few reps to build muscle. And, it's actually pretty hard to add muscle mass. Climbing, or using a big gear would be the equivalent of lighter weight and many, many, reps. Cycling is an endurance sport and does not build muscle mass. That being said, we can be genetically predisposed to strong muscular thighs.
Embrace your body for what it is and appreciate the beauty in her strength.

[Bluetree]

Kinda off topic here, but I work with all kinds of racehorses. Sprinters and Stayers (endurance runners) are built very differently.
Sprinters have shorter legs, shorter backs, and well developed muscles, esp in the hind area. Helps with adding propulsion. Shorter legs enable faster turning and higher cadence.
Stayers are long, lean, greyhound-like, without an ounce of added weight. Long, loping, ground-eating strides are desired in a distance race.

As for big thighs, I think a big part is genetics. The collegiate women athletes in my family all had disporportionately big thighs, as do I. But hey, as long as my "engines" do what I ask and more, I can't complain about the packaging.

[AutumnBreez]

I don't mind getting strong muscular legs but the back of my pelvic bones (love handles-blah) have more padding then desired and it is not muscle, but spot reducing is not possible to my understanding....only liposuction! I have heard too many horror stories but have thought about joining in the nightmare once or twice-phewy! Any pointers on the padded back syndrome?

[KnottedYet]

I did some PT work with a patient who'd had a botched back lipo. And she had been in really good shape!

I don't reccommend it unless you have a serious deformity to correct.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

You're better off just losing a bit more weight. My love handles were quite pronounced when I was 30 lbs overweight. Then I lost abuot 23 pounds of fat and they are WAY smaller and not very noticable now. I know if I lose another 5-10 pounds like I want to, they will be pretty much gone. P.S. you don't want no curves at ALL, though!

[spudfun]

I have to disagree with you. J Friel has a picture in his book of a sprinter and a climber. Which has larger thighs? The sprinter. A body builder uses significant weight and few reps to build muscle. And, it's actually pretty hard to add muscle mass. Climbing, or using a big gear would be the equivalent of lighter weight and many, many, reps. Cycling is an endurance sport and does not build muscle mass. That being said, we can be genetically predisposed to strong muscular thighs.
Embrace your body for what it is and appreciate the beauty in her strength.

Hmm...I don't know, I look at Lance and all his buddies doing the long haul; climbs, flat etc. and they're pretty long and lean. The guys and women mountain bikers around here have big thighs and calves. We're doing few rotations and a lot of pushing and climbing in hard, slow gears. We're not spinning.

[five one]

I'm your basic mesomorphic body type. I have muscular thighs and butt, but I also have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat which prevents the muscles from showing through . It was this way even when I was in my teens and weighed 100 lbs. (30 lbs. ago) It's discouraging sometimes. I don't mind weighing more than I appear to because of the muscle. It's only a number, after all. But I wish that muscle could actually be seen in those big thighs. Now that I'm in menopause, I don't think 20 lbs. of fat is going to go away without some severe compromises to my lifestyle. I eat well, ride, lift weights 3X/week. I get stronger - and bigger. Not fair! Sure makes finding pants and jeans that fit a challenge. I don't have any real health issues, so I probably shouldn't be complaining at all, but...

*Sigh*...If I had a smilie blowing a raspberry, I'd insert it right here :-P:::::::

[spudfun]

I totally understand! too bad stronger and in better shape didn't translate to looking that way! Bigger is not always better looking....I take consolation in knowing that my heart is in great shape, I feel good, have tons of energy and am happy...what else can we do! (I'm approaching menopause too...that has to figure in to this!)

[fatbottomedgurl]

I was in this morning for my first PT session after my car accident. I asked if he could take a look at my healing quad where I bashed it going over the bars five weeks ago. When I pulled up my pant leg he said, "Wow, you have cyclist's legs." That was the first time I have EVER felt proud about my thighs.

[roguedog]

I was in this morning for my first PT session after my car accident. I asked if he could take a look at my healing quad where I bashed it going over the bars five weeks ago. When I pulled up my pant leg he said, "Wow, you have cyclist's legs." That was the first time I have EVER felt proud about my thighs.

Oooh.. I'm jealous. I'd love to have something even slightly cut (or some definition of some sort) so I can see the fruit of my labors.

Have always had big thighs and rear and calves. Just the way I'm built, I guess.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

i am 5feet and 5 inch tall,have 106lbs,and ave a musclle tighs .i think it is pretty and i am proud of it.fat is much less attractive than huge musscle legs...

I think the MOST attractive thing is to have a good balance between fat and muscle. That looks really good. Having no fat at all is not healthy and doesn't look good either, like those scary skeleton supermodels.

[missymaya]

heck, those super skinny supermodels dont even have muscle. I was browsing through the stations the other night, taking a little mental siesta from studying and stumbled upon americas next top model and apparenlty the cool thing about this year was that they picked 2 "plus size" models. These 2 ladies looked pretty normal and, hold onto your seat for this one, healthy, to me.
Besides, anybody standing next to those ladies, with their winky dinky thighs and twiggy arms, would look plus sized.

[spudfun]

ya, i agree, emaciated is not a good look and i would take ours over that. plus there's the whole unseen healthy thing like lower cholestrol, happy heart, etc from cycling...not to mention the emotional benefits...it helps keep my anxiety in check.

[annie]

So much is due to genetics. We can only work with what we have to begin with. We can change/improve to a certain point through our own efforts and then try and be satisfied with it. Personally, I think nice strong thighs are awesome looking!

Annie

[Bluetree]

These thunder thighs are part of my genetic legacy.

I had always wanted to be lean and lithe, and even though I wore small-sized clothing, I was never going to be so. I will always have short, thick legs, and with cycling, they now look like the ones on the collegiate (female) athletes on my mother's side of the family.

Dad's family got the lithe, svelte gene, of which I was soooooo envious. All my girl cousins looked so good in jeans with their long, skinny legs. Well, I used to be envious. Not anymore. None of my cousins on my dad's side can climb 4000 ft. on a bike. So phooey to them!

Be proud of those thighs, gals... we earned 'em.