Comments on: Does spinning lead to bulky quads?

By: SpinLover

SpinLover — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 22:18:42 +0000

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.

By: dori

dori — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:39:23 +0000

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.

By: Abbie Galvin

Abbie Galvin — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 02:13:58 +0000

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.

By: Stain From White Pants

Stain From White Pants — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:01:56 +0000

Mark, I don¡¯t agree with you, I think the post was helpful and not shallow at all.

By: kinelogica claire

kinelogica claire — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:08:51 +0000

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!

By: mairead

mairead — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:21:47 +0000

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.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:09:47 +0000

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.