Cyclist's Legs
Jordan93
Posts: 336
How do some of the pro's get big legs? Obviously part of it is genetics but do they spend alot fo time in gym? Or is the majority of it built from riding the bike.
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i reckon they must do gym work to improve muscle mass , in 20,000 miles of cycling over the last 4 years my thighs and calves have not really got any more mass but the definition has improved a lot, i believe you need to pump heavy weights to improve mass and lots of reps with lighter weights to improve definition.0
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Ride bike a lot + good genes = pro cyclist legs.More problems but still living....0
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pop a few tins of spinach down you0
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Some pro cyclists have bandy legs, it's just part of their make up. You can put on muscle weight in the gym but why? Unless you are riding track there's no real need. A friend has bandy legs and rode 261 miles on a 12hr with legs like pipe cleaners.
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Crikey!
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Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.0
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Lots of protein after long rides?
Bollocks will Bran Flakes help you get ship pistons though......0 -
as said, big legs aren't really a roadie thing, more for track
maybe sprinters and some of the tt specialists have bigger legs, and there are the bulkier riders, but imho most pros look normal to thin
it's the lack of body fat making their legs look muscly, but these guys are usually in the 70kg, +/- a few kg, range, so there isn't enough there for them to be really big
if you look at bradley wiggins in his track days, and compare to how he looks now, i think he dropped 10kg from the olympics to 72kg at the 2009 tdf, he was looking scarily thin at timesmy bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny0 -
Eat more.
If you don't eat an excess of calories (more than you burn), you will not get bigger muscles. I would think most cyclists are either staying the same weight or losing weight - neither of which will you end up with bigger muscles.
Bare in mind though that you will add get fatter as well as having bigger muscles, the trick though is to not overeat to keep the fat gain low
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robbiedont wrote:Eat more.
If you don't eat an excess of calories (more than you burn), you will not get bigger muscles. I would think most cyclists are either staying the same weight or losing weight - neither of which will you end up with bigger muscles.
Bare in mind though that you will add get fatter as well as having bigger muscles, the trick though is to not overeat to keep the fat gain low
Eh?
I'm eating a deficit of calories at the moment yet I'm getting bigger (and stronger) muscles...0 -
Are you sure they are bigger? Or are you losing fat and they are looking bigger?
I didn't say you couldn't get stronger on a calorie deficit.0 -
robbiedont wrote:Are you sure they are bigger? Or are you losing fat and they are looking bigger?
I didn't say you couldn't get stronger on a calorie deficit.
My Quads measure bigger.0 -
Are you weight training? Is it a fairly new thing? You get some growth initially but it will stop.
Its a common question on body building forums - why am I not getting any bigger and its nearly always because they aren't eating enough. I know we aren't talking BBing but muscle growth is muscle growth.0 -
I've never read such idiotic foolishness.
HEAVY WEIGHT - low reps gives huge strength, low stamina. Big muscles.
LIGHT WEIGHT - high reps gives stretched and longer muscles, less strong but last longer.
100m runners need power, fast.
Marathon runners need little power, but have to last.
TDF riders have to balance the demands, and the best have the all round muscle set up that best fits the disciplines - like boxers it depends on your category. Fab TT riders in shorter races may struggle in hills etc.
Big legs will only come from pushing big weight, or grinding powerful sprints.
As for food - this is secondary. You need to cover your requirements, with the right food groups. Eating alone doesn't give you muscle. Eating just helps priovide the resources to cater for the training you do. Not enough, and your training will be wasted as you haven't got the building blocks to cope. Diet never gave anyone power.
As for the calorie intake, you can eat less than you use if you have fat reserves to burn up. The key is not to burn or waste muscle, so you have to plan your intake to make sure the body uses other stores of energy as it seeks the extra.
Want huuuge legs? Ride lots, and Do some power lifts (squats, lunges etc, with heavy weights). Then tie several tyres to you and do some sprints.
Some of the stuff above is just funny... As for pro legs, with the reps they do muscle definition will be excellent, and the absence of any sub cutaneous fat means it is all there to be seen!0 -
Measuring your muscles is for fools.
It is all proportionate - you can only really compare gain relatively, to yourself. Power to weight ratio means you may have less muscle size, but be "better".0 -
It's not new to me i've done BBing before and know how to gain muscle. My question was is how do some of them get big legs(roadies) but i think now as someone said they have little fat and its all there to be seen so it looks bigger than it is. I have fairly big thighs anyway.
Like i saw a video of Cancellara and his thighs looked pretty big, then again he is a time trial specialist :twisted:0 -
The current cover of Procycling really demostrates how pros' legs depend on specialty (sprinter, climber etc) as well as individual build. Compare Thor Hushovd's legs, or even better, Tyler Farrar's (inside cover) with Wiggins's.... and someone should have told him not to wear those trainers for that shot...
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sungod wrote:as said, big legs aren't really a roadie thing, more for track
maybe sprinters and some of the tt specialists have bigger legs, and there are the bulkier riders, but imho most pros look normal to thin
it's the lack of body fat making their legs look muscly, but these guys are usually in the 70kg, +/- a few kg, range, so there isn't enough there for them to be really big
if you look at bradley wiggins in his track days, and compare to how he looks now, i think he dropped 10kg from the olympics to 72kg at the 2009 tdf, he was looking scarily thin at times
Nail on head. The muscles are more defined due to low body fat rather than them being bigger although obviously the muscles getting most use become larger. It's the same with body building, they bulk up out of competition by eating more and working their muscles then have extremely reduced carb / fat intake in the build up to a competition to enhance definition.0 -
Is it chicken legs
or
sparrow legs?
Whatever, still quicker then me ...
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