Skinny or muscular legs?
akcc05
Posts: 336
It's been bugging me for while now: Some of us cycle and have huge thighs and calves, but some of us also get super skinny legs, why is that? Is it down to the type of training and nutritions etc?
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I think genes account for a lot of the difference. Training and nutrition are also important.
I will always be of slight build with nice calves...unless I take drugs
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Calves: Apparent size depends on the insertion point of the calf muscle - actual function is not affected.. There is therefore a limit to how much you can do to change the size0 -
genes my friend
maybe training methods will improve muscular performance but genes are the main thing here. Coveryourcar.co.uk RT Tester
north west of england.0 -
I didn't know that about the calf muscle insertion point thing. I guess i will stay skinny, not that it is a bad thing. Nice to know though. Thanks guys!0
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Body fat % makes a massive difference. Mine look like sticks now, but were like tree-tunks last year, despite my muscles being smaller back then.0
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Bhima wrote:Body fat % makes a massive difference. Mine look like sticks now.
I sometimes wonder how mine actually manage to turn the pedals!0 -
akcc05 wrote:It's been bugging me for while now: Some of us cycle and have huge thighs and calves, but some of us also get super skinny legs, why is that? Is it down to the type of training and nutritions etc?
I stand to be corrected, but it is down to genetics what body type you 'inherit' whatever 'short term training regime 'you might undertake.0 -
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What about these ones from Brad Wiggins at paris-roubaix earlier this year. Didn't he lose more wight after this? Those legs seriously look as though they are gonna snap. Brad in general looks like he needs a decent feed too.
Do you have any Therapeutic Use Exemptions?
No. Never have.
Never? What about the cortisone?
Well, obviously there was the cortisone0 -
The camera angle makes Wiggo look even thinner. Look again and his feet appear to be as long as his chest, his lower legs look longer than the distance from the ground to the top of his helmet.0
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Look at his arms though, I'd hate to have arms that thin looks like twigs.0
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I've got big legs and always have, even before taking cycling more seriously. Think it must be mainly genes, but obviously training affects it. Size isn't everything. Guy from work has really prominent calve muscles but only because he's got stick thin legs.0
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The size of your muscles is also dependent on how tall you are (and the length of your limbs).
Both examples here (The Schleck and Wiggins) are 6 foot plus."A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"
PTP Runner Up 20150 -
Tall and skinny here. Since I've started riding I've definitely got better muscle definition, but I'm not convinced they're bigger.
But I like being tall and skinny "I hold it true, what'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost;
Than never to have loved at all."
Alfred Tennyson0 -
Chunky - even after losing a couple of stone, my legs are still huge - "Rugby players thighs" so I've been told. Though as I understand it, that kind of a compliment is a bit like when someone says "You've got doctors' handwriting" - which just means you've got a really scruffy indecipherable scrawl.....!Cannondale Synapse 105, Giant Defy 3, Giant Omnium, Giant Trance X2, EMC R1.0, Ridgeback Platinum, On One Il Pompino...0
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Got big thighs here, lower legs/calves are smallish. Used to have skinnier legs until I started cycling. Bit of a pain sometimes, I find it hard to fit into some jeans etc. But I guess that's my engine. Upper body is fairly slight, but I can put on muscle there very easily too if I do any upper body work. I'm 5ft 9in, 145-150lb race weight.
Has to do with your body type (mesomorph/ectomorph/endomorph) more than anything I believe.0 -
Tonymufc wrote:akcc05 wrote:It's been bugging me for while now: Some of us cycle and have huge thighs and calves, but some of us also get super skinny legs, why is that? Is it down to the type of training and nutritions etc?
Genetics my friend.
And pies....Cannondale Synapse 105, Giant Defy 3, Giant Omnium, Giant Trance X2, EMC R1.0, Ridgeback Platinum, On One Il Pompino...0 -
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ShockedSoShocked wrote:The size of your muscles is also dependent on how tall you are (and the length of your limbs).
Both examples here (The Schleck and Wiggins) are 6 foot plus.
im 6' 2", 70kg. reckon I could lose a few more pounds in the belly area!
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If the size of legs had anything to do with cycling performance then i would probably be world champion. I am 5ft 8ins tall and 84Kgs. Not an ounce of fat and legs as big if not bigger than Chris Hoy. On the occasins that i have visited a gym people have always commented on the size of my legs. The only downside is very often i have to buy pants/jeans that are to big, and have them turned up at the leg and in at the waist to accomodate my thighs. According to my Dutch colleagues my legs are attributed to the climbing of big hills, which i find hilarious.Actually i have always had very big legs, even before taking up cycling at the age of 14. I am now 46 years old.
Ademortademort
Chinarello, record and Mavic Cosmic Sl
Gazelle Vuelta , veloce
Giant Defy 4
Mirage Columbus SL
Batavus Ventura0 -
isn't it more to do with the fast twitch v slow twitch fibres? Slow twitch fibres (marathon runners) give you skinny legs, fast twitch fibres (sprinters) bigger -[http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/anatomyandphysiology/a/MuscleFiberType.htm]
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OMG Andy and Brad look SO skinny, how on earth do they develop so much power out of those twigs!! LOLCycling never gets any easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond0
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that photo of wiggins is photoshopped. deffo. no way he looked like that0
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I dunno, if it was they did a very good job, plus they did another angle here... either covering their back to make it look real using 2 pictures, or it is real?
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/photos/2 ... IC20455761Cycling never gets any easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond0 -
The photo taken from an awkward angle, but Wiggo's 'physique' is certainly not helped by the way the road dirt has stuck to his legs, creating false shadow.
He is very lean, though... :roll:Start with a budget, finish with a mortgage!0
![[Pic]](/home/leaving?allowTrusted=1&target=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cyclingweekly.co.uk%2FimageBank%2Fa%2FAndy%2520Schleck%2520ToCal%2520TT%25202009.jpg){kind=link}