Quote:
Originally Posted by waterbottle
I am not a man but thought I would share something that has happened to a good friend of mine she says through biking.
She had a bypass and was 540lbs when she started, she started biking and has lost alot of weight but her muscle is so high that her weight is slowed down now and her bulk is getting to much?
I would be worried about starting biking as my thighs are my problem area now so do not want any further BULK on them.
Has she got this information right
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Oh for heaven's sake. John is being very kind - but think for just a moment - in fact, take me for instance. I weighed 288 and lost 135 pounds. Is there any way on earth that my thighs could look bigger now than they did 135 pounds ago?? uh - no.
It is not possible to add so much muscle while you're losing weight, that you'll look like you're bulking out, ESPECIALLY coming from being morbidly obese. That is just crazy. And ESPECIALLY with cycling, as it is not dependant upon strength. You don't need to have strong legs to bike, really - it isn't like other sports where you carry your weight around. The bike carries you. Cycling is a cardio sport.
Now there is an adjustment for the first 6 weeks when you go from being sedentary to active. (You need to draw this) So, draw a small circle, then draw another circle around it, and a third circle farther away, around that. The inner circle is your bone, the next, your muscle, the last is fat. When you first start working out and developing muscle, that second circle will expand, partly though to relase the inter-muscular fat, but mosty because to build you muscles, you tear them and they swell - don't worry - it is suppose to be that way. It will then lean up and get more efficient as you keep using it. But if that muscle expands faster than you're losing weight, it might momentarily look like your legs are getting bigger, but the problem is not the muscle - it is the huge layer of fat in there. Nothin but weight loss will save you there.
When the fat is gone, you'll have nice, toned, developed legs.
Having once been as heavy as I was, I carry about 20 pounds of extra muscle on my legs. I sure as heck didn't build that much muscle cycling!! I built it carrying 135 extra pounds on my ass for 20 years. It takes a lot of strength to be obese!
So no damage can be done to you cycling. It won't "bulk out" your thighs, but it may help lean them up so that when you lose the fat, they look good. Other wise, you'll lose the weight and have...well...
As far as weight loss slowing down, yea, that happens but not because you're too muscular. The muscles burn more calories than fat anyway.
So tell your friend to get back on the bike and ride harder! The gift we have as having been obese is that we do have adequate muscle to really move the bike when we've lost the weight. I mean think of it - I spent 20 years training my legs to carry 280 pounds, then took 135 off of them. Yea - I can ride fast!
And biking is THE sport. You can ride till you're 100 - there are a multitude of bikes to fit your needs and it is all so adjustable, you can always find a way to be comfortable.
Cycling rules!!
