Leg Muscle Size Discrepancy

forestnot1

Hi Guys,

I am 20 years old and have been riding fairly seriously for around a year now, previously being a footballer. I have noticed that my legs vary in size quite a bit from one to another. My left calf is bigger than my right and my right thigh is bigger than my left.

Does anyone know how this has occurred and how to resolve it?

charliew87

Ha. I was literally about to ask the exact same question.

My girlfriend pointed out yesterday that my right calf looks about 20% bigger than my left, no idea how I've managed this.

imposter2.0

Unless the discrepancy is giving you any performance/functional issues on the bike, I wouldn't worry about it. If your concern is purely cosmetic, then consult a physio.

neeb

You might have a leg length discrepancy and/or pelvis that isn't level - do you tend to sit more to one side of the saddle than the other (possibly evidenced by uneven wear or your thigh chaffing on one side but not the other)?

Or you might just pedal funny.

YIMan

Imposter wrote:

Unless the discrepancy is giving you any performance/functional issues on the bike, I wouldn't worry about it. If your concern is purely cosmetic, then consult a physio.

Don't you mean "leg strength doesn't matter".........so surely it's irrelevant if one is four times the size of the other?

imposter2.0

YIMan wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Unless the discrepancy is giving you any performance/functional issues on the bike, I wouldn't worry about it. If your concern is purely cosmetic, then consult a physio.

Don't you mean "leg strength doesn't matter".........so surely it's irrelevant if one is four times the size of the other?

um, you've lost me there.

Alex_Simmons/RST

forestnot1 wrote:

Does anyone know how this has occurred and how to resolve it?

Did a lot of powerful ball kicking with your right foot, compared to left?
Right foot kicks require balance/stability demands on left calf and the power of the ball kicking action comes from the right thigh.

How to resolve muscle size imbalances is a matter of understanding whether and why it is of concern. It isn't much of an issue with respect to cycling, so it might be you are in the wrong place for advice.

YIMan

What Alex said. I play a bit of football and while I can pass the ball with both feet, I am predominately right footed so hard shots or clearances are invariably taken with my right foot.

As a result my right leg is noticeably bigger than my left.

edten

I used to have this when i first started cycling. Overtime they equalled up. The right side of my body in general builds more muscle when weight lifting (which I dont do much of these days!) and from what I have heard / read it's pretty common.

forestnot1

Thanks for the advice guys.

It doesnt bother me too much, just looks a bit odd.

The football reasons could well be correct as i am right footed. Ill just monitor it for a while see if they even out.

Although i think it might be something due to cycling too as when i do efforts etc. my right thigh and left calf tire and increase in size with blood flow while left thigh and right calf are fine and remain the same.

saprkzz

I have never noticed any size difference in my legs, but when I had a bike fitting it turned out my right leg is shorter than my left and as a result needed packing under my cleat. They said my left would be doing all the work, so something like this could be happening maybe?

charliew87

...went on a wattbike on Sat for first time, that said about 65% of my power was coming from my right leg. Apparently 60%ish is pretty normal anyway.