Can Commuting be toning my arms?!

chris_bass

HI

I have recently changed jobs which means i am now commuting 11ish miles each way and i've noticed recently my arms are looking a bit more toned than before? dont get me wrong i dont have massive guns, in fact far from it, i'd go as far as saying my arms are now very small instead of tiny! but there is definitely some progress!!

could this be down to cycling?

cjcp

General weight loss? Mine are thinner since I stopped doing press-ups and stuff.

Zachariah

^What he said. The increased definition from fat loss is giving the illusion of bigger muscles. Cycling does not give you muscular arms. Look at those who do it for a living! (Track sprinters not included in this statement, YMMV).

mtb-idle

you need to get this t-shirt to commute in

deptfordmarmoset

If you've got a sedentary job and don't generally use upper body strength, then extra cycling could be giving your bi- and tri-ceps a little extra exercise, but I suspect that it's nearly all weight loss, or if not weight loss as shown on the scales, then a transfer of body mass to the thighs.

wulfhound

Do your arms / upper body feel a little tired at the end of the ride? If so it's probably giving you some small improvement, however if my experience is anything to go by, the tiredness will soon be gone & your arms won't improve any further. No pain no gain and all that.

EKE_38BPM

I think riding a bike can tone your arms. When I was riding my roadie on the rough roads of Cornwall (good tarmac, but bumpy), my arms were killing me at the end of it. I think it was kind of like using a Power Plate in a gym. The little vibrations give the biceps and triceps their own little workout and give them a tone up.

cjcp

wulfhound wrote:

Do your arms / upper body feel a little tired at the end of the ride? If so it's probably giving you some small improvement, however if my experience is anything to go by, the tiredness will soon be gone & your arms won't improve any further. No pain no gain and all that.

Time to find some cobbles.

acidstrato

its surprising what effort is required to keep your arms in the riding position as opposed to just flopped by your sides. after all they are assisting your back to support your head and torso. wont increase mass but definitely tones it when you do alot of hours on the bike

Initialised

Yeah, mine have toned up a bit more than loss of fat can account for. Still waiting for it to start on my abs!

daviesee

If you ride out of the saddle for a fair percentage then that will possibly give your arms a bit of a workout.
Otherwise, just better body toning.

Bassjunkieuk

Would the pulling on the bars during a big gear race from the lights help? Only ask as I tend to do that and have noticed that as I push down on the pedals I'm tensing my arms to "help". Unless that comes under the track sprinter disclaimer.....

Not sure I can put all the tone in the arms down to purely cycling/playing with the kids as my job is fairly sedentary (IT support so get to lug computers/monitors/printers around sometimes......) but then I've always had a fairly athletic build without much apparent body fat.

Butterd2

daviesee wrote:

If you ride out of the saddle for a fair percentage then that will possibly give your arms a bit of a workout.
Otherwise, just better body toning.

What he said.

On some really steep hills (c.20%) when I am out of the saddle and actually pulling up on the bars to keep moving then my arms feel like they are going to pack in before my legs.

But any prolonged time standing def works the arms.

il_principe

I think so. My arms have toned since I switched to riding SS. Pulling away from lights in 50/16 requires upper body strength and I tend to pull on the bars quite a lot whilst getting up to speed. There are many, many sets of lights on my commute.

Pufftmw

You may get "Arm Pump" from the constant up & down movement of your forearms. Probably more prevalent in MTB off-roading but getting some of the below will help.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/News.aspx?NewsID=323

Butterd2

Il Principe wrote:

I think so. My arms have toned since I switched to riding SS. Pulling away from lights in 50/16 requires upper body strength and I tend to pull on the bars quite a lot whilst getting up to speed. There are many, many sets of lights on my commute.

Chapeau sir from a 48/18 weakling :oops:

El Diego

Muscle tone is really just more visible muscle. Like someone said previously you have probably just lost some fat, revealing the muscle.

Canny Jock

Seems to have made a difference to mine, especially now I'm single speeding. I think it's being out of the saddle more that does it.

Uchiga

Singlespeeding has improved my badminton playing due to increased wrist and arm muscle. And yes it has been noticeable. Due to my amount of cycling on a singlespeed my arms are larger than my brothers who rides full length XC for Loughborough University. Singlespeeding up and down hills definatly helps tone your arms and upper torso. Admitadily You have to be doing it for a long time to be able to notice that large a differance. Unless your running a tall gear. Kudos to the guy riding a 50-16. I ride 44-16 for spinning practise for XC races but it has to be said i can sit down on long hills in that gear now that im used to it cos i can now use my newly aquired arm muscles.