Disproportionate Muscles?

mudcow007
Posts: 3,861
my mrs noted last night that my left leg is no where near as muscly (is that a word?) as my right leg
i am right footed, if that makes a difference?
all i can think of is my left leg is lazy making my right leg push harder on the pedals?
am i freak??
kinda reminds me of a Family Guy episode
i am right footed, if that makes a difference?
all i can think of is my left leg is lazy making my right leg push harder on the pedals?
am i freak??
kinda reminds me of a Family Guy episode

Keeping it classy since '83
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ahhh, when he discovers internet pron...
My legs are but that is partly due to being on crutches for years so right leg (left hip got fixed eventually) is bigger.
Do you push off on your right from standing start? I'd put money on that being a factor.Le Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]0 -
Its bad habbit on your pedaling - I am concious of using my right to push down more and pull up more with my left. Over time it will affect muscle size on both legs. Likewise, even though I weight train both arms at the same reps/weights there is still a difference left/right with right being the more prominent as that is likely to be that I am right handed & use it more "generally" than the left.
I want to find somewhere to teach me to be a more efficient pedaler too as I am obviously wasting efficiency someplace.1997 Gary Fisher Big Sur
2009 Scott Spark 60
2010 Ghost 5000
2011 Commencal Ramones AL1
2012 Commencal Meta AM10 -
yeah i push off with my right definitley, i think i always have done.
my right calf is about double the size of my left!
i think im going to have to buy a push along scooter and commute on that to build my other leg upKeeping it classy since '830 -
Have you had an injury to your left leg at any point? I injured my left knee last year marathon training, by the time I got myself to a physio it had caused "atrophy" of my left thigh muscle to such an extent that my left thigh circumference was over an inch smaller than my right. Looked very weird! It has sorted itself out more or less though.0
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MonkeyMonster wrote:Do you push off on your right from standing start? I'd put money on that being a factor.
I wouldn't. It's one pedal stroke amongst thousands, and not even that much more effort, unless perhaps you set off in the highest gear all the time. Can't see it having much effect.
I've found my left leg to less defined than my right in the past few years, too. To me, though, it seems as though my left leg is swollen, rather than being significantly less muscular.0 -
no injuries to cause muscle wastage or anything like that, i think it must be maybe just technique? so technically im only powering along at the moment on one leg, imagine how fast i can go with two!!
an there was me hoping to wear shorts to show of my new an improved calfsKeeping it classy since '830 -
It's normal to have dominant sides to the body. I had an induction session with a personal trainer a while back at the gym, he looked at me and quite quickly asked me if I was right handed, he said that he could see that my right "pec" was more developed than the left one.... I had always thought I was quite well balanced!
I try to consciously go through phases of unclipping on the right for a few months at junctions etc and then on the left for a while to try to make sure I'm not always pushing off with 1 leg or the other all the time....Do not write below this line. Office use only.0 -
My left quad is much bigger than my right even though I'm right footed.
It's got nothing to do with which foot I push of with, it's because my left leg is fractionally longer than my right and at the moment I don't have a shim between my right shoe and cleat to even them up.
Since my left leg is longer I it tends to do more work and so get bigger.
I suspect you are the same.
Go and have a bike fitting.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
Headhuunter wrote:It's normal to have dominant sides to the body. I had an induction session with a personal trainer a while back at the gym, he looked at me and quite quickly asked me if I was right handed, he said that he could see that my right "pec" was more developed than the left one.... I had always thought I was quite well balanced!
Sounds like he was trying to size up the quality of your reach-around....0 -
Asprilla wrote:Since my left leg is longer I it tends to do more work and so get bigger.
Go and have a bike fitting.
funnily enough when i was getting "sized up" for the bike the guy doing the measuring was having issues as he got two different measurements for my inside leg/ croach height thing (like a saddle on a pogo stick)
i will go back to the LBS an see what they say
i feel like a bit of a freak nowKeeping it classy since '830 -
Slightly OT, but re calves, I hear cyclists talking about defined calves etc. Personally all my power seems to be in my thighs, which are pretty massive, whereas my calves look relatively normal. Could be that I'm not utilising those muscles properly due to poor technique or something? Are calves really that important to cycling?0
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Rick Chasey wrote:Headhuunter wrote:It's normal to have dominant sides to the body. I had an induction session with a personal trainer a while back at the gym, he looked at me and quite quickly asked me if I was right handed, he said that he could see that my right "pec" was more developed than the left one.... I had always thought I was quite well balanced!
Sounds like he was trying to size up the quality of your reach-around....
I had to look that up on urban dictionary.... Now I feel all dirty....Do not write below this line. Office use only.0 -
BigMat wrote:Slightly OT, but re calves, I hear cyclists talking about defined calves etc. Personally all my power seems to be in my thighs, which are pretty massive, whereas my calves look relatively normal. Could be that I'm not utilising those muscles properly due to poor technique or something? Are calves really that important to cycling?
Yeah I agree, calves seem fairly secondary to the quads and hams for me. I do calf strengthening exercises at the gym to try to balance them out a bit!Do not write below this line. Office use only.0 -
BigMat wrote:Slightly OT, but re calves, I hear cyclists talking about defined calves etc. Personally all my power seems to be in my thighs, which are pretty massive, whereas my calves look relatively normal. Could be that I'm not utilising those muscles properly due to poor technique or something? Are calves really that important to cycling?
I would guess that it depends how much you flex your ankles in a normal pedal stroke, as well as whether you tend to mash or spin. Souplesse, innit.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
i "think" calfs only come into play during hill climbing
my quads an glutes are quite chunky but again my right quad is way bigger than my leftKeeping it classy since '830 -
BigMat wrote:Slightly OT, but re calves, I hear cyclists talking about defined calves etc. Personally all my power seems to be in my thighs, which are pretty massive, whereas my calves look relatively normal. Could be that I'm not utilising those muscles properly due to poor technique or something? Are calves really that important to cycling?
I think it depends on your pedalling technique. If you're more of a spinner than a masher then you do use your calves more. Or at least I find I do when I'm trying the wiping shit/kicking the door down technique.0 -
Since I have commuting since moving here my calves have got bigger as I am a spinner, even my mate who I bike with up in scotland mentioned it, I hadn't even noticed. Apart from that I think I am pretty balanced.0
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Right, more spinning required then by the sounds of it. I definitely need to be in decent climbing shape by July - Marmotte could be tricky otherwise!0
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BigMat wrote:Slightly OT, but re calves, I hear cyclists talking about defined calves etc. Personally all my power seems to be in my thighs, which are pretty massive, whereas my calves look relatively normal. Could be that I'm not utilising those muscles properly due to poor technique or something? Are calves really that important to cycling?
High gear - mashing - thighs
Low gear - spinning - calvesNone of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0 -
daviesee wrote:BigMat wrote:Slightly OT, but re calves, I hear cyclists talking about defined calves etc. Personally all my power seems to be in my thighs, which are pretty massive, whereas my calves look relatively normal. Could be that I'm not utilising those muscles properly due to poor technique or something? Are calves really that important to cycling?
High gear - mashing - thighs
Low gear - spinning - calves
I would have thought spinning wouldn't particularly help in building muscle mass though, but rather build definition. It's the equivalent of doing heavy weights/short number of reps at the gym to build mass and size vs lighter weights/high reps to define...Do not write below this line. Office use only.0 -
Headhuunter wrote:daviesee wrote:BigMat wrote:Slightly OT, but re calves, I hear cyclists talking about defined calves etc. Personally all my power seems to be in my thighs, which are pretty massive, whereas my calves look relatively normal. Could be that I'm not utilising those muscles properly due to poor technique or something? Are calves really that important to cycling?
High gear - mashing - thighs
Low gear - spinning - calves
I would have thought spinning wouldn't particularly help in building muscle mass though, but rather build definition. It's the equivalent of doing heavy weights/short number of reps at the gym to build mass and size vs lighter weights/high reps to define...
Burning calories leads to definition, be that though high weight / low rep or vice versa; it's just that the guys who are bulking are usually eating calories by the skip load. You can't bulk and cut at the same time.
Mashing is a much 'squarer' pedalling motion that sminning and so concentrates on the quads while spinning, being more circular, is more of a full leg motion.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
My thighs suffer by comparison when I look down.....
No not my stomach...Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.
What would Thora Hurd do?0 -
That'll be why you've been struggling with the SCR Greg - just extra weight. You need to learn to pedal with it.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Asprilla wrote:Yeah, oversize tops tubes are all the rage these days....
Am I happy to see you or is that a CO2 inflator in my pocket?
Sorry I meant track pump . . . . . .
edited to add . . . .RJSterry wrote:That'll be why you've been struggling with the SCR Greg
Struggling . . . is that right princess . . . .Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.
What would Thora Hurd do?0 -
Only going off your recent posts. Been doing no better myself recently.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Headhuunter wrote:I would have thought spinning wouldn't particularly help in building muscle mass though, but rather build definition. It's the equivalent of doing heavy weights/short number of reps at the gym to build mass and size vs lighter weights/high reps to define...
Probably a better definition than mineNone of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0 -
I'm just fed up with having muscly legs and the upper body of a five year old. Maybe I'll invest in a recumbent arm-bike for my winter commute.0
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Headhuunter wrote:I would have thought spinning wouldn't particularly help in building muscle mass though, but rather build definition. It's the equivalent of doing heavy weights/short number of reps at the gym to build mass and size vs lighter weights/high reps to define...
Pretty sure Armstrong had the biggest thighs and calves I've seen in the peloton in a long while and he hardly mashed....0 -