Will Spin Make My Thighs Bigger?
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Posted on March 13, 2014 by Jenny Cromack
So when you read this title you did one of two things – sigh with relief because you’ve always wondered this but were afraid to ask, or laugh and question the seriousness of this article. A smile came over my face when I decided to choose this as my blog topic. It’s a subject close to my heart – I’ve probably been taking part in Spin classes for a good 10+ years, and for 4 of those I’ve been an instructor of Spin. But both as a participant and as an instructor I have heard it all: “I had to stop spin for a while because I couldn’t get into my skinny jeans“, “I’ve heard spin bulks your thighs and I don’t want big thighs“, “will spin make my thighs bigger” and also “will spin make my thighs smaller“. I’m not saying I have tiny thighs, but they are certainly not the thunder thighs some of the articles I have found on this subject would make you believe you will get!
There was uproar in some fitness circles earlier this year when a celebrity trainer claimed that those people who did spin to burn calories would likely end up with bulkier bodies. Of course, if you delve deeper into the articles, it transpires that she actually said “Spin may burn calories in the short term, but if that’s all you’re doing, it’ll bulk up your thighs”. So whilst she does qualify her statement with IF THAT’S ALL YOU’RE DOING, there does still seem to be this dreaded association between spin classes and bulky thighs! Even the Spinning website has an FAQ dealing with Will taking Spinning® classes make my legs bulk up?
There’s no denying that the Quadriceps and Hamstrings are major forces used when riding a bike – but so is the backside; and lets not forget that your hip flexors and extensors, calf muscles and the muscles of the shin play a part too – strangely no one asks if they’ll get big as a result of spin (and no one harps on about this in any magazine, blog or newspaper article)! Your posture on the bike and through the cycle movements, plays an important part in terms of activating specific muscles. I would argue that you also work your abdominals and upper body during a spin class (think of the force you put through your arms when you grip the handlebars!).
(Thank you Chris Hoy for the lovely photo)
We should equally consider that no spin class is the same. Hill climbs, fast sprints, standing climbs or standing sprints, all put emphasis on different parts of the leg and with different resistance loading.
In my opinion, we should not be afraid of the Resistance Dial. People come to a spin class to work hard – you can only do that by adjusting the resistance you work at. There is nothing wrong with lean muscle in your thighs! However, I’m also not going to suggest that spin absolutely won’t bulk your thighs for the following reasons:
- If you just do Spin
Spin is a form of Leg Strength Training. Let’s go back to our celebrity trainer who said “if that’s all you’re doing you’ll bulk”. If you do just participate in spin classes and never do any other form of training for any other body part, then yes your quads may get bigger! Would you go to the gym and just work your arms? If you participate in a spin class a couple of times a week and train in other ways as well, I would argue that it is unlikely that your thighs will bulk – mine are a perfect example!
- Your Body Type
Whether you’re a endomorph, ectomorph, or mesomorph – these somatotypes, or rather the genetics that make up our body composition; play an important factor on whether you will get bulky quads or not. Ectomorphs for example are naturally tall and lean, they generally find it hard to put on muscle. Endomorphs and mesomorphs however, will find that they can gain muscle quite easily.
- Your Diet
Depending on how liberal you are with the resistance in a spin class, you can burn up to 600 calories. This doesn’t mean you can then go and fill your face with whatever you want!
But hey – why not jump on a bike or attend a class and find out for yourself!
For more information:
http://sweat.burnthis.com/health-questions/does-high-resistance-on-spinning-bikes-leads-to-thunder-thighs
http://www.uh.edu/fitness/comm_educators/3_somatotypesNEW.htm