Big legs and getting bigger!

I'm just wondering if any of you ladies have the same problem as me. My legs just keep getting bigger and bigger the more I cycle. Mainly my calves, but also my thighs and above the knees. It's got so bad now that I have to go up a size in cycling shorts and they still dig into my legs, but if I go any larger on my sizing then they'll fall down over my a$$ and everyone will get an eyeful of my butt!

I've got the stage that I am really struggling to get any jeans or trousers to fit - I'm having to go up 2 sizes sometimes, just so they fit around my legs and then have to use a belt so they fit around my waist.

Any ideas why this is happening (I know that it does happen, but this seems to be pretty extreme) and is there any way of stopping it happening even more?!? Has anyone else experienced this?

Well, it's happening because you're getting more exercise (gleefully stating the obvious). There's quite a lot of discussion on-line about bodily changes from cycling. Here are some women-specific ones:

[ame="http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=260"]weight gain - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums[/ame]

[ame="http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=23005"]muscle gain - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums[/ame]

[ame="http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=40742"]How cycling changes your body - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums[/ame]

That last link is very useful, thanks Oliver.

I've always struggled with my weight (mostly to have a bit of a bad attitude to food and not being terribly active) have really kicked it up in the last 6 months - cycling pretty much everywhere and going on longer 30/40/50 mile rides at the weekend and swimming at least twice a week.

Am deffo seeing changing and feeling better but not really thought about nutrition which is the key from that last link it would seem!

what's your cadence?

many riders who are regularly putting down 100k still look like a streak of piss.

the trick is to keep your cadence high (harder if you're riding fixed, I know). you should be looking at a minimum cadence of 80-90. New riders often push too high a gear which will end up making them look like a track sprinter. A cycling computer might help with this.

Also, have a think about bike fit. If your saddle isn't over the bottom bracket and your weight isn't sufficiently forward, you won't be working your glutes (ass muscles, where your power is) properly so your calves will have to compensate.

what's your cadence?

many riders who are regularly putting down 100k still look like a streak of piss.

the trick is to keep your cadence high (harder if you're riding fixed, I know). you should be looking at a minimum cadence of 80-90. New riders often push too high a gear which will end up making them look like a track sprinter. A cycling computer might help with this.

Also, have a think about bike fit. If your saddle isn't over the bottom bracket and your weight isn't sufficiently forward, you won't be working your glutes (ass muscles, where your power is) properly so your calves will have to compensate.

^^ this

Reduce your gear inches and spin more.

Make the exercise a cardio work-out rather than a muscle-power work-out.

Then get bike-fitted so that you can be sure that you're engaging all muscles evenly and not over-straining a couple of muscles.

This is, of course, my explanation for why my calves never looked impressive, I spin faster than thou and my bikes fit me.

another thought. Fit clipless pedals, you'll get a much more even power transfer over much more of the pedal revolution, which will reduce the energy you need to put on the downstroke. it takes a while but through the pedal rotation you deliver:

push (down) > drag (back) > pull (up) > rest

When I was trying to tone up (because I put on muscle quite easily), a gym trainer told me that diet has a big effect. Basically if you load carbs and work out you can bulk up, whereas if you really cut them hard you tone up. Previously I thought it was all about the type of exercise.

I'm not a girl, so I don't know if the same goes for you, but I'd have thought so. So maybe look at what you are eating and when in relation to your exercise.

Lentils are meant to be a good way around traditional carbs. Other than that, just try all the usual things.

God knows what my cadence is - I'm a fairly slow but steady 10-12mph type of girl on my Charge Plug which has still got it's original set up of 42:16 and riding it single speed, so my cadence is prob pretty low, in the 70-80rpm region I reckon.

Am however going to switch to fixed and clipless in the next few weeks, so hopefully that will pick up my cadence. Will have a look at where/how I ride set up up style too.

Thanks for tips!

42:16 is 70 gear inches.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

definitely fit a larger rear cog. especially if you're going from single speed to fixed. I ride 69" on long distances fixed at around 30kph (probably).

at 12 mph your cadence will be (at a guess) something like 60 or so?

or get a bike with gears!

I miss Sheldon :(

with this gearing you would have to go at 20 m/h 18.5m/h or 16.4m/h to hit 100 rpm, 90rpm or 80 rpm
I would change gear -bigger cog- I run 47/19

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

Some really useful stuff on here - thanks everyone! I have no idea what my cadence is but I think, by the sounds of it, I'm fallen off the rookie lorry and I've been pushing too hard rather than spinning. For me, it just doesn't feel satisfying if I'm not powering though, but I'll try to start spinning more!
I'm reluctant to change diet at this stage - I just love my carbs so much and I feel empty (physically and emotionally!) without them :) But, if needs be, I'll resort to that.

you will find that if you learn how to spin you will get much faster. According to Friel, speed is the easier thing to train so if you improve your speed by 10% you'll be 10% faster. he thinks that if you don't know how to pedal there is not much gain training power and strenght as those things take more time to get

http://www.trainingbible.com/resources.aspx

download the speed pdf

he thinks that if you don't know how to pedal there is not much gain training power and strenght as those things take more time to get

just for fun go and watch the triathletes thrashing their way round richmond park, overgeared piston like cadence while trying to rip the bars off with their swimmers upper body.
max effort but going nowhere fast.

now now, no need to mention nowhere fast!

My mate Anna, a decent roadie, mentioned that she first developed 'cankles' when she spent the winter training specifically for the National 10 mile time-trial i.e. grinding bigger gears than she'd previously done. Even when I 'coached' her to a victory in the Bec Hillclimb, her calves didn't swell as much (and standing does work the calves a lot). She was also eating more at the time, to gain a little weight/power for flatter riding.

So that reinforces the advice given by people above. Don't be impatient though. Learning to pedal faster (and more smoothly) is a neuromuscular adaptation. Work on it now, and look forward to salient results at the end of the summer.

Cutting calories is difficult, especially lovely carbs, but there are things you can do to help:

• Make sure you get some caffeine during the hour before riding - it doubles the body's ability to metabolise fat as an energy source (though this is also trainable, and improves over time).

• If you want to stuff your face, try doing it in the hour immediately after riding (preferably the half hour immediately after). Your body will be very efficient at restocking glycogen stores in the muscles during this window. If you miss the window, or endulge in too many high glycaemic sugary snacks in the window followed by stuffing down stodgy carbs later on, that's when you'll gain unwanted size.

If you are not gaining fat, you need not worry about your carb intake.

Some of the increased leg size is probably fat from unused/converted carbs. And it is possible to gain strength without gaining size, up to a point. Calorie intake is a key factor, no?

dont worry about your legs we love it,
worry about bingo wings

I don't think the OP's legs issue was one of worry. More one of practicality based around the limited styles/shapes offered by women's clothing manufacturers.

Some of the increased leg size is probably fat from unused/converted carbs. And it is possible to gain strength without gaining size, up to a point. Calorie intake is a key factor, no?

maybe, but where your body lays fat is genetic isn't it? (in my case belly and jowels!), it is more likely that this fat would be laid down elsewhere than the legs....so if the OP is generally slim, it would be most likely that the gain in size of legs is muscle growth.

That's true, which reinforces the idea that slightly limiting calories-in would help to stop increasing muscle mass in the legs (coupled with moving away from a high-force pedalling style that also promotes growth*).

*the growth not being possible without having energy available; energy that's excess to the requirements of riding your bike/daily life

Hmmm, genetics....Well, my mum has always had big thighs but she was very sporty when she was in her prime.
I'm not really worried about them being big and how they look as they're toned enough for my liking at least (and the OH doesn't seem to mind either ;)). As BringMeMyFix said, it's more about the practicalities of finding clothes to allow for this.
Just been out for a small ride and tried the new spinning technique. It's bloody hard work trying to retrain what doesn't come naturally!
I'll try cutting down on the calorie intake a bit as well and see if this makes a difference, coupled with the spinning.
Thanks for all your help guys, much appreciated!