does cycling make ur legs big?

so i started cycling for the past week everyday for about 30mins-1 hour because i really need to improve on my fitness and lose some weight too...

i was just wondering if cycling makes your leg muscles bigger? im a girl so i want to lose my leg muscle lol! well not all of it...i just want it to be slimmer and im worried if cycling will make my legs all muscular like a man!

i tried running but i get so tired after just 15 minutes running and i enjoy cycling much more! maybe im just lazy lol

thanks

Reply 1

redluc

Sadly, cycling is a sure-fire way to give you legs like Arnie.

Reply 2

friendsfreak88

No your legs will not become like that. Women don't have the testosterone to build muscle in the same way that men do.

Also you can only build muscle if you are eating more calories than you are taking in. Muscle cannot grow from nothing.

I wouldn't advise you to go cycling everyday as you body needs at least one day of rest per week. Also try to do some other activities apart from cycling so that all of your muscles get a workout and so that your body doesn't adjust to the exercise too quickly. If this happens, you are likely to reach a weight loss plateau where you will need to make some alterations with diet and exercise in order to lose weight.

If you want to lose weight 90% of the solution is diet. You will need to be eating less than you are burning off (cycling will also help with that) but not eating less than 1200-1500 per day.

Good luck!

Reply 3

username47781

Well Cycling will definiatly improve your fitness and stamina, i used to do alot and it made my legs bigger in the terms of having bigger muscles.

Reply 4

Galatea

I've been cycling for about 45 minutes a day, mopst days for the past couple of months, and my legs haven't got noticeably bigger. I don't think cycling would have that effect; it affects muscular endurance, rather than muscular strength, and burns a lot of calories at the same time; so keep it up! Try go for longer stretches, but going slowly or on flat land.
Anyway; just look at the tour de france people; they don't exactly have chunky thighs do they

Reply 5

crema

Ofcourse it will make your leg muscles bigger (like any activity where you use your legs) but they will also make your legs nicer shape. Obviously if you also burn fat your legs shouldn't get drastically bigger, just nicer looking. I do loads of cycling and I like my muscular legs =P

Reply 6

rozzy

ok thanks guys! i was just worried about my legs turning into Arnie legs lol! all muscular and...manly!

anywya, i think il keep up cycling just for some fitness and endurance, but probably wont do it everyday!

Reply 7

CaptainMorgan

It may bulk out your thighs more than your calves, which makes you more of a womanly figure anyway - men are programmed to go for curves - esp. toned ones!
Also, remember your health is more important than your looks!
But if you do something like swimming too, that should even out the muscle and make you less 'bottom-heavy'

Reply 8

*titanium*

Unless you have a wide frame, it wont make your legs big, but if oyu have a low body fat % your calves might become more defined then you would like, which would show if your in a short skirt or shorts.

Keep in a low gear and you will be fine, if anything did happen, it would not happen over night so you could stop cycling if it happened (which it probably wouldnt) and everything would go back to normal quite soon.

Reply 9

bedbug

Semi related - what's most likely to build up your calf muscles - running or cycling? I've been doing more of both lately than I used to and my calfs (calves?) are now a lot more defined, while my thighs look more toned but are no bigger than they used to be (probably smaller). I'm just wondering whether it's one of these activities in particular or a combination of them both?

Reply 10

Galatea

Muscle takes up less space than fat; and cycling will be burning fat. So theoretically your legs should be getting smaller and more toned.

Reply 11

myoriginalname

Yes, cycling makes your legs really long and crazy. I've seen it happen.

Only joking; you'll be fine; i cycled 5 miles a day, everyday for a year and i had the best legs ever (well, near enough). But sadly i now have a car and so my days of leg wonderment are over :frown:

Hope that helps/is coherent.

Reply 12

star-rach

contrary to what you said, you wont lose your leg muscle, your legs will become more toned!! but you may lose fat, so your legs will become smaller...

Reply 13

Robcampo

all exercise has got to help tho... surely, so like exercising leg muscles must help tone/build leg muscles... it would halppen quicker if doing other things aswell, leg curls etc