Calves anyone?

[LBTC]

Hi, Liz! While I've seen many cyclists with great calves, I think they all achieved them some other way (especially since I've seen many strong cyclists with spindly little calves, too)

jump rope will help. calf raises, standing repeated until you can't stand them any more....on each side, then together. I have a trick that makes this bearable in kickboxing class when we do it, and it helps develop a better defined musculature....do the first portion (say 10 reps) with your weight on the outside of your foot, the next portion with your weight on the inside of your foot, the last portion with your weight right in the middle. Make sure when you stretch to twist your upper body too to help stretch those bits, too.

If you do weights, do your calf exercises everytime, to exhaustion. and do different exercises.

I was blessed with rather "muscular" calves (that was a joke when I was 25 lbs heavier, but true now!), but I still push them hard because I want them to be defined and amazing, like my DH's.!!

good luck and have fun!!

Namaste,
~T~

[sarahfixit]

If you pull on your pedals instead of pushing it will work the calves more. When you pedal through the stroke, work your ankles as much as you can instead of your knees.

[LBTC]

hey, Sarah - cool tip! I do that already, never really thought that it works the calves more, but, logically, it must!

thanks!

Namaste,
~T~

[lyz2814]

great ideas! I'll be trying some of them today

[RoadRaven]

Lyz... I have something for you to think about... a question if you will...

If your legs are doing a great job at the moment, and taking you the way you want them to on a bike, why do you want to change the muscles to do something else?

Shouldn't our bodies be about being fit? And doesn't "fit" come in all shapes and sizes?

Forgive me if I offend anyone... (points at low post count and recent joining date) but I really do believe women should be guided by how well their bodies work, not by how they look.

[doc]

Shouldn't our bodies be about being fit? And doesn't "fit" come in all shapes and sizes?

...I really do believe women should be guided by how well their bodies work, not by how they look.

[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Hear Hear!! Yes it SHOULD be, but the reality is sadly quite different. I have 2 young daughters and I am always trying to make sure they know their worth is in their thoughts and actions not their bodies. If anyone knows a surefire way to make sure they believe it, I'm all ears.

[RoadRaven]

Hi Doc!!!
*waves and grins*
Here at the same time as another - super!


Women and their body perceptions - this is one thing I cover when teaching ... I always challenge the women in my classes to think about when they started having a "problem relationship" with food and almost inevitably it is about puberty when someone close to them (parent, sibling, grandparent etc) makes a throw-away comment about their weight.

Suddenly its time to stop eating and start believing that the models in the magazines look exactly as they are portrayed and got that way naturally and with healthy choices... therefore, if I eat less (or puke what I eat) or excercise like crazy... or whatever... I too can look like that.

And we do it to ourselves as adults, we have a baby and look at a celebrity who had a baby about the same time and we just don't recover like she does ... forgetting of course she has a nanny so she can work out with her personal trainer and eat the special diet designed by her nutritionist.

Having been victom to the puberty epiphany that I was grossly fat (thanks to my grandmother who suggested my thighs and upper arms were a bit chubby - so I stopped eating) I have been really concious that I give the right messages to my children, but most particulary my daughter...

So talk with your girls about air-brushed photos, nutritionists and personal trainers...
Talk about how Marilyn Monroe - still a part of mens fantaisies even though many are young enough to be her sons or grandsons - was a 14-16 - not a size 8...
Talk about healthy food choices and increasing physical excercise if they want to change shape, not reducing food intake...
Talk about how women put on weight around puberty (that dreadful phrase to young girls - puppy fat) but if they walk or bike and not drive everywhere, if they spend time being active rather than in front of TV or PC, then it will drop away as they near 16, 17, 18...
Treat food as normal and natural - as fuel and don't obsess about calorie counting, or fat intake - just provide the right stuff in your home...
Talk to them about how women have a higher fat to muscle ratio than men, and this is essential to their health, and that fat is an importtant parrt of their diet while they are growing...
And, once they like boys... tell them how most men prefer a woman with some curves... not a woman with no fat at all, cause a woman with a few curves is more comfy to cuddle...

Hopefully, if you keep giving these messages, they will get through being teenagers, and come out the end feeling ok with themselves.

They have you as a role model and that is a huge gift, to see mum keeping fit, and learning that food is an important parrt of fuelling the body. They are learning that exercise and nutrition are fitness... that being skinny and inactive does not equate to fitness

Good luck, Doc... western women of all ages fight a constant subliminal battle with the media images that surround us

[Dogmama]

If you pull on your pedals instead of pushing it will work the calves more. When you pedal through the stroke, work your ankles as much as you can instead of your knees.

If that is true, why don't gyms have calf pull machines instead of pushing machines? I have to disagree. Pulling up works your ankles if you keep a flat foot, but I don't see how pulling is superior to pushing in calf development.

[RoadRaven]

Ummmm... anyone looked at the body of a rockclimber? Hear are people at the peak of overall muscle fitness, demanding their fingers or wrists or toes hold their entire body in place...

Their bodies are not hugely muscled, more subtely defined

Our bodies are made to be the way they are... and I ask again, if it works well, why mess with it?

[Technotart]

Dogmama - try pulling the pedals for a bit and see where you feel the pain - in your calves and the backs of your upper legs.

Since I finally got the hang of spinning, my calves ahve become MUCH more defined! They dont look like marshmallow calves anymore.

When you stand on the edge of a box and dip up and down on your feet with the weights on your shoulders, (gyms do have those) you are doing essentially the same thing and working the same muscles in the lower leg. This misses the upper leg however, for that you have to use another machine

[Dogmama]

Pulling up on the pedals (pedaling in a circle) works hamstrings (back of upper leg.) The standing calf press that you're referring to works calves because the concentric action (pushing) in pushing the weight up. When you lower it, you are using eccentric action (fighting the weight from going down too quickly) which is very different from pulling.

Your calves may be more defined because you've lost the body fat covering them from riding - not from pulling up on the pedals.

[swlsue]

Our bodies are made to be the way they are... and I ask again, if it works well, why mess with it?

I respectfully disagree with some of the statements you haveposted here.

I like changing my body. I like working on the look and the internal process. I like to lift weights. I LOVE the changes it has made to my body. Not that I was unhappy with my body before - but if I have the power to change the look, for the fun of it, why not? I love the look of a sleek, athletic cut body. I also like how healthy I am because of it. I like learning about my body and how it responds to different nutrient ratios and exercises.

Not everyone who exercises or diets is obsessive or influenced by the media. There are many internally driven good reasons to change the way you look.

I think you are making huge generalizations about people and their bodies.

[RoadRaven]

Fair enough Sue

I fully acknowledge our desire to change the way we look - that is one of the motivating factors for me getting on a bike...

I'm just always interested in fit people who have a body that functions well and does what is asked of them (for example, useful cyclists who want to just cycle) who choose to cross train, not for another sport/discipline, but for purely cosmetic purposes.

See, when you explain it like this...
but if I have the power to change the look, for the fun of it, why not? I love the look of a sleek, athletic cut body. I also like how healthy I am because of it. I like learning about my body and how it responds to different nutrient ratios and exercises.
I can see its more than just a cosmetic thing, its art to you, and its science, and thats cool

Maybe its the laziness coming out in me yet again - I just couldn't be bothered cross-training without a practical purpose.

I am asking WHY mess with it because this way of thinking is not my experience
I am not saying DONT mess with it

Raven

[Technotart]

My calves are sore after riding as well - along with the hamstrings so they must be doing something!

It all depends on where you focus. A lot of the cylclists I see out there have very well defined calves - including my son - and I can say for a fact that he hasnt seen the inside of a gym or a weight training program since February.

Cycling DOES have some effect on your calves, maybe just not the effect you are looking for?