# going to start cycling - leg muscles



## thevoice (21 Jul 2008)

Hi,

I have been advised to give up running and heavy impact sports such as football and basketball due to a problem with one of my knees. The advice is I can cycle as much as I like at any resitance. My legs muscles have basically shrunk and become very weak from not using them other than walking around in recent years ( i havent done impact sports in recent yrs hence them shrinking in size). Weight lifting exercises on the legs are also out of question except for leg extensions and hamstring curls (advised these are ok as long as you dont go full 90 in the range of motion). 

I am going start cycling - will start slow at first but want to build up over time to hills and low gear rides etc 

Has anyone found cycling an excellent way to build up leg strengh and conditioning?

many thanks


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## Young Un (21 Jul 2008)

tbh i dont think you will find any cyclist whose legs have not become more muscular from cycling.

i used to ride bmx a lot and that did strain your muscles but did also bulk them up.

perhaps ( i might be wrong) it its just muscle you want then perhaps ride a singlespeed or foxed wheel bike??


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## fossyant (21 Jul 2008)

You'll get legs like pistons mate....... then you'll become a typical cyclist - big legs, 'relatively' skinny arms.....

Despite going from a 36" waist to 32 adain in the last 12 months, I have to buy 34" waist pants as I fine 32's too tight on the legs/thighs...

You'll also get very fit - as mentioned, it's a low impact sport, but that doesn't make it easy !


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## Danny (21 Jul 2008)

Welcome.

You'll build up your fitness just fine through cycling - you don't need to worry about supplementary leg exercises.

Just start off slowly and gradually build up your mileage. Make sure you have a bike with good low gears to begin with so you "spin" your legs rather than have to push hard against the gears. That is the most efficient way to cycle and will reduce long term wear on your knees.


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## Chris James (21 Jul 2008)

The best advice for building up your leg muscles is to bike lots. 

You may be tempted into selecting massive gears and pedalling slowly in the belief that it will act like weight training on your legs. Don't do this as it isn't necessary and is not great for the knees.

I agree with the advice that have plenty of gears and select one that allows you to pedal about 90 revs per min on the flat.


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## Keith Oates (21 Jul 2008)

If you have a weak knee through other sports cycling will be fine, but as others have said stay away from grinding the high gears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## bigguy (21 Jul 2008)

Hello... Like yourself, I had my knee injured many years ago putting an end to my sports activities! At one stage I found ascending stairs even difficult, having to put my best leg forward to step up.. I have tried to keep active by walking, progressing to hill walking, then mountain biking, and now recently started to do road journeys, hoping to commute to work in the future. At the first I found the hills a killer, but now i can ride up hills that at first I had to walk up... so I am improving... In light of this I'd say, Yes, with effort, leg muscles can be built up. I have found cycling a wonderful and relaxing way to exercise and as everyone here has said " is relatively easy on the knees"

Go for it!!!


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## thevoice (21 Jul 2008)

thanks for the replys everyone. 

I look forward to a furture of healthy cycling (fingers crossed). I am glad to hear that I will be able to build up my leg strengh and muscle mass through cycling - at moment my bad leg is litrually skin and bone


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## jgulliford (22 Jul 2008)

I have a weak right knee, thanks to me growing too quickly a few years ago. Went to physio as everytime I got in my car my knee would feel like it was about to give way.

Probably doesn't have as well as cycling I have football for 2 teams and play 4 times a week. I'm only 19 so i'm expecting my knee to give me some real trouble in later years


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## marinyork (22 Jul 2008)

thevoice said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have been advised to give up running and heavy impact sports such as football and basketball due to a problem with one of my knees. The advice is I can cycle as much as I like at any resitance. My legs muscles have basically shrunk and become very weak from not using them other than walking around in recent years ( i havent done impact sports in recent yrs hence them shrinking in size). Weight lifting exercises on the legs are also out of question except for leg extensions and hamstring curls (advised these are ok as long as you dont go full 90 in the range of motion).
> 
> ...



Great for you. I'm not trying to spoil the party and positive words, I hope you really enjoy cycling and get everything out of it you want. I used to do running and other sports a lot when I was a teenager, I had to stop for a long while and had fair muscle wastage. In my twenties I've taken up the walking I always did and cycling. My muscles have grown very slightly in these years of cycling. If I were doing it all again I'd definitely supplement cycling with other leg building exercises and cut out cycling on the flats altogether. 

Then again everyone is different. I always did have pretty weak quads and if people said I didn't put in quite enough effort as other people at some times that's probably fair enough too. There are others that have had roaring successes too.


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## 4F (22 Jul 2008)

Yeah I knackered my knee playing football and injured both my cruciate and medial ligaments. I didn't fancy the 9 months wait for an op, nasty scar and further 9 months to recover so gave up and got my bike out and have had no problems since (10 years ago).

Take it slow to start with and make sure you spin rather than grind the gears and just watch those muscles strengthen.


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## jgulliford (22 Jul 2008)

Dumb question...What do people mean by spin rather than grind the gears?

Us silly footballers messing our knees up


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## ColinJ (22 Jul 2008)

jgulliford said:


> Dumb question...What do people mean by spin rather than grind the gears?
> 
> Us silly footballers messing our knees up


The dumb questions are the ones that don't get answered because they were never asked !

To 'spin' means to use a easy gear (biggish cog at back) and pedal quickly with light pressure on the pedals, rather than a high gear (smallish cog at back), pedal slowly and have to use brute strength to force the pedals round. 

If you used to watch Lance Armstrong ride up mountains when he was winning the Tour de France - he was 'spinning'. Relative to him, Jan Ullrich used a much higher gear and would grind his way uphill.


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## jgulliford (22 Jul 2008)

I had a feeling thats what it meant, but thank you for clearing that up for me


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## marinyork (22 Jul 2008)

I found this somewhat interesting http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
if you can't be bothered to calculate cadence yourself it's great. Plug in the details and you get an idea what sort of speed you should be going at in particular gears.


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