Good Advice
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Does spinning lead to bulky quads?
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We’ve heard this comment about eight million times (maybe you have, too): “I love to spin, but I don’t want to bulk up my quads.”
While no one who said this to us wanted to be quoted, we’ve literally heard such comments as, “I can’t fit into my Rag & Bone jeans anymore.”
So amid the growing chatter and concern that this popular cardio workout may be a great way to torch calories, but at the expense of thicker thighs, we wanted to know, is this an urban fitness myth spun out of control? Or does spinning really lead to bigger quads?
We interviewed fitness expert and cycling guru Kristin Kenney, as well as top instructors from rival studios Flywheel and SoulCycle, Holly Rilinger and Kym Perfetto. Their findings? Indoor cycling does not necessarily lead to larger legs—but the following six factors could be behind any perceived bulk. Learn what they are now. —Rosa Levitan
Your Genes
Chromosomes play a major role in whether or not you can fit into your skinny jeans, say both SoulCycle’s Perfetto and Flywheel’s Rilinger (pictured here).
“The size of your quads is highly dependent on genetics. I’ve had strong quads since I was about eight years old,” says Rilinger, who’s muscly from head to toe.
In fact, most spin instructors don’t have her kind of definition!
Your Body Type
Are you wispy thin or athletically built? Body type is a factor, no matter what your workout is, says Perfetto (pictured here). Consider the three main body types—endomorphs, ectomorphs, and mesomorphs—and which you might be.
Ectomorphs are generally tall, thin, and lanky and have a hard time putting on muscle. Endomorphs and mesomorphs, however, respond much more quickly to resistance training and build muscle with relative ease. Doing any sport could create this change.
Your Spinning Starting Point
Your starting point on a spin bike plays a big role in whether and how you build muscle. Perfetto points out that a 115-pound fashion model who’s never cycled will gain muscle from it, while a bodybuilder or a super athletic type may see the opposite effect.
These changes may be short term, says Perfetto. “If your jeans are initially tighter after a few weeks of cycling, don’t freak out,” she says. “Your quads might bulk up a bit at first, but the overall amount of cardio will balance it out.”
Why? Developed quads help you burn more fat overall. The large muscle group responds quickly to activity and increases muscle-to-fat ratio within the body, which in turn increases your metabolic rate.
Photo: Cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
Your Diet
Confirming what we might already suspect: “Cycling doesn’t make your legs bigger, but bread and pasta do,” says Rilinger. In other words, increased activity doesn’t mean you can disregard healthy eating habits.
Turns out, weight gain corresponding to increased physical activity is very common, with new riders falsely thinking that because they just torched 650 calories on a bike, they can eat whatever they want. (Sorry!)
Your Recovery
Fitness expert Kristin Kenney, who's the creator of HIGH GEAR cycling classes at Equinox, says dealing with a boost in appetite due to increased spin sessions can be tricky, too. “New riders may experience a large calorie deficit and lack proper recovery, resulting in an unusual level of hunger,” she says.
Chowing down on Pinkberry after class won’t keep you full, and you’re likely to crave more high-calorie foods later. Kenney recommends eating a small meal of four ounces of lean protein and complex carbohydrates post-workout to stay full and ensure muscle recovery.
Your Cycling Form
While spinning’s a “quad-dominant” workout, to quote actor Max Greenfield (aka Schmidt from "New Girl"), that doesn’t mean only the quads are worked. That’s kind of like saying push-ups only work the arms.
Spinning also activates your abs, hamstrings, glutes, and back muscles. You know when your instructor says to use your abs? Use your abs! And when they say not to grip the handlebars? It’s to activate muscles in the back and glutes. When you focus on pulling up with the pedal (rather than jamming it down), then you’re drawing on the hamstrings.
Riding incorrectly not only leads to injury, but may cause unwanted muscle growth, says Perfetto, whose legs are sculpted but not a bit bulky.
She’s one more reason why we won't let quad-bulking concerns slow us down on the bike: Have a look at the bods of most spin instructors—they’re lean-legged spinning machines, and they’re prob on a bike way more than you. (Not that there’s anything wrong with strong, sexy quads!)
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I like this article as it is important for people to not pass on a great workout due to misinformation.
Just yesterday, a female friend of mine told me “I heard kettlebell’s are good for working out, but I don’t want to look like Schwarzenegger!”
Obviously that won’t happen.
Flat feet … no big quads… easy peasy… ask Jennifer Sage who runs the Indoor cycle Association. She’s been teaching a million years and she doesn’t have big thighs, quads, glutes. Correct posture . I teach 10 classes every week, just toned legs. Flat feet. Don’t point your toes down.
Agreed, it’s all about your form and posture. How you are sitting or standing in your pelvis plays a direct role on your quads. All leg movements should be supported by the abdominals, because your hip flexors reside in your low back and abdomen, not just the pelvis.
You should feel you are cycling from your whole body; back, abs, butt, hamstrings and feet.
As for your feet, it’s ok to point your foot on the extension of the leg to open the hip. Foot flexion is great for lengthening the back line of the body and foot extension is great for lengthening the front line. Move your feet so that they don’t get tight, and cramp up. Cycling should mirror your locomotive leg and foot patterns during walking.
Happy cycling!
Mark, I don¡¯t agree with you, I think the post was helpful and not shallow at all.
As a yoga teacher for many years, this is what I tell my sister, Carol Pratt, an avid spinner at Soulcyle with an equally avid thigh obsession: While spinning demands that one work ones legs, the real demand is in the hips. Ones legs are extensions of the pelvis. Spinners should be sitting on the paraneum, their center, equadistant between the pubis, coxys, and two buttock bones. In this way one fully engages the hip joints, rather than overplaying leg muscles. If spinners only push with their legs and bypass their pelvis, the pelvis gets no oxygen, squishing the organs that are meant to give you access to the biggest joint in your body which gives you stability as well as mobility. If you are sitting on your center, you are basically supporting your most primitive organs: your endocrine glands, adrenals, spleen, pancreas. The glands are your circuit breakers. When you spin in your quads instead of your hips your lower body isn’t oxygenated so your muscles get dense, like hard packed dirt, thus bulky quads. When one works from the hips and pelvis one gets a longer muscle, more air (lungs), a longer battery charge (kidneys), and a heart that pumps more efficiently.
I staunchly disagree with those who contend that we are stuck with our DNA. The body is organic material and like anything else in nature it’s constantly changing in response to weather, diet, habit, thoughts and behavior. Good form can reform, transform and inform the body. Because the body learns through repetition, one can set up conditions differently from what our habits dictate. So as I tell my twin sister, be a wise, esoteric yogi and stick your ass out, sit on the opening of your vagina, and back bend. In this way your are not bulking up your thighs, you are making your lungs powerful. It will make you powerful. Watch my sis to see if she’s listening.
Sorry but this was a completely non committal atempt at negating the big quads and spinning myth which in fact is not a myth.
I am 5’9, 125 pound female and had been in track growing up. On to weights, out door cycling and spinning.
Fact of the matter, if you are spinning corectly you simply bulk up.
Just look at pro cyclist with quads as big as their waists.
No additional pasta or pink berry calories required.
I’ve for gone the spinning over the summer and replaced with power walks and Rag and Bone are fitting again…..3 months later.
First off…what is wrong with strong legs with a little muscle mass on it? Secondly, I have been spinning consistently for 4 months and it anything my legs have toned up a lot. I think in most spin classes there maybe a big emphasis on the climbing and isolation. If you take a good spin class it would be balance all over and less bulk on the thighs. Just my experience.