Spinning classes!

My gym offers spinning classes. I would just like to know if doing this type of workout would make my lower body bulk up?

TOM SAYS:

Blasphemy! You do know this is fitness training at home don't you?

Haha...just kidding! If it works well for you then go for it.

As to whether it would make your lower body bulk up. That depends on a few things.

1. How strong your leg muscles are currently.


2. The amount of fat on your legs.


3. The intensity at which you workout.

Pre-existing strength

If you're just beginning to exercise then it's likely that your thigh muscles will bulk up a bit. This is just the natural result of untrained muscles strengthening up.

The stronger your legs are in the first place, the less they will increase.

Fat

If you have a decent layer of fat on your legs then you may find that your legs get smaller. The fat you burn from training will reduce the thickness of your thighs and oppose the size increase you get from muscle growth.

This is a good thing if you're looking to reduce that cellulite look. Your body composition will change to have a better muscle to fat ratio. So even if your leg thickness does increase, it will look much nicer (less dimples etc.)

Intensity

High intensity cycling is more likely to build muscle because it's much more stressful to the muscles. If you're just cruising along at a leisurely pace you likely won't get much of a size increase...you also won't get much benefit from it either.

From what I've seen of the gym spin classes, they do look pretty intense. But I guess it depends on how much you push yourself.

Do I think you should give it a shot? Sure, why not? It will probably be lots of fun!

Hope that helps
Tom