cycler56

Hello,
Is it possible to build abs and muscles only by riding? I can't find any trustable source about it.
So is there anyone who gain those only by cycling?

wolfchild

The short answer is: NO....and anybody who tells you that it is possible is lying.

wilson_smyth

The old saying "abs are made in the kitchen" is as true now as it has ever been.
Most people, with the right diet will be able to see some ab definition without much exercise.
If you're eating right for your body, so that you're not putting on fat, or exercising enough to burn off enough calories by any method (cycling, running, weight lifting, etc) to be in a deficit over a long period, your body will burn fat and show some ab's.

Dedicated ab exercises ( and again, the right diet with enough protein) will give you bigger abs, but again, even with big abs a thin layer of fat will conceal them.

Get your diet right and ab's will eventually just show up.

hsuBM

“Cycling”: no. Not at all. It won’t even “build your glutes” like many people think it will, no matter how hard & long you ride. It can be really great cardio work, though.

bmxing (sprinting/climbing while standing up & bunny hopping as big as you can over/up onto everything you can 40-80 times per ride, at least three rides per week): yes. It’ll cut & build your entire core. Stick with it for a few years and you’ll even develop “back-abs”.

———

It’s a lot cheaper to build your abs doing boring prison cell exercises than to do it via bike. You really need 48 spoke doublewall rim wheels $$$ built and bolted onto a non-kids Pro-level bmx $$$ which you’ll probably find yourself needing serious 3 piece cranks $$$. $$$+$$$+$$$=$,$$$

———

You really should try to connect with an Athletic Physical Therapist (not at all the same thing as a “trainer” at a gym) to collect the whole batch of core strength exercises and how to do them correctly so you don’t over build some muscles and underbuild others in a way that has you being forced by your doctor to go see a Physical Therapist due to back pain fifteen years in the future. Ask me how I know.

These biomechanically correct exercises will build your abs and everything else really well.

wolfchild

Actually abs are build by using them for what they were designed for and if you don't use it you loose it... Eating right won't make your abs stronger, it may make them visible but it won't make them strong. Abs and core need to be used in order to make them stronger.

wilson_smyth

dont confuse bodybuilding with seeing abs. everyone has abs. the internet is full of skinny guys with abs because they have a low body fat. the right diet and any exercise will let you get your body fat down to a level where abs are visible.
if you want bigger abs, thats body building and again massively dependent on diet, but also more dependent on training than simply losing fat to show your skinny abs.

DorkDisk

Its the other way; abs for cycling. Burn fat and do stomach crunches and your cycling will improve.

Kapusta

Not only is it true that “abs are made in the kitchen”, but cycling by itself does little for core strength, though it benefits greatly from it.

friday1970

Mulberry20

Yup, and the benefit of studio spin classes is that it is easier to "pull stroke" thus adding to the core workout, especially the lower core.

topflightpro

There is truth in this. General road cycling, no, you won't gain large muscles. But there are some cycling disciplines, like BMX, where you are going to build and strengthen your core.

Random11

From my experience, yes. I see most people answering no, but I've been cycling for three years now and have noticed my abs have developed over that time. I was running before I gave that up (bad knees) for cycling, so I wasn't moving from couch potato to cyclist but from runner to cyclist. I don't think I'm imagining this, and I certainly didn't expect it.

Kapusta

This is not my experience. Been riding for 20 years and my core is weak unless I am doing core exercises.

Yes, riding does call on my core, but it does not really strengthen it, it just gives me back problems if it is weak.

rsbob 

OK busted. I am lying around tonight.

Flip Flop Rider

it might reveal them but it wont build them

BFisher

Just get the jersey

noimagination

Maybe a tiny bit, because you may use your abs to a small extent to help stabilize your core while pedaling (road cycling) - but your abs are probably the core muscles you use least while cycling so they will see the least benefit. If your abs and core are so weak that they will actually get a benefit from this, however, it is far more likely that cycling will cause you back problems before you see any tiny benefit in your abs.

As many people have said above, it is your cycling (and your back) that will benefit from a strong core, not the other way around.

Lemond1985

Cycling builds up the back, glutes, and legs, but not the abs really at all, IMO. You can end up with back problems from this unbalanced situation just like I did, because the abs can't counteract and counter-balance all the forces being exerted elsewhere.

I like doing planks for abs, very simple, they work the abs right where you need them for cycling, and a minute or so is usually enough.



"Bird Dogs" are also helpful for strengthening the lower back, and lower abs to some extent, so that the two areas have somewhat equal strength and can balance each other out while you're on the bike.

Trakhak

You're about 120 pounds, or so you say. Your glutes can't be all that big. In any event, look at the glutes of pro cyclists in the tours. The glutes of the best climbers are all but nonexistent.

Trakhak

Precisely. Except for short durations of sprinting and attacking on hills, cycling doesn't (and shouldn't) invoke much use of core muscles. I've never done any weight training or "core" training, and until I reached 65 years of age 4 years ago, I was always able to keep up with the strongest cyclists I'd ridden with, including guys 30 years younger.

ofajen

It’s been my experience the last three months of riding SS only that I have at least been able to tone and strengthen my core and upper body with relatively few other workouts (too nice out not to bike!). I doubt that I’ve added a lot of muscle mass but that isn’t my intent.

When I’ve used the elliptical or done my circuit training, I’m able to work with more intensity and for longer, so that hasn’t suffered for the heavy rotation on biking. But I’ve changed a lot of things up to make that happen and riding more like BMX than road.

Edit: it occurs to me that beyond the much higher fraction of standing work, there is probably a lot more core and upper body work needed because I raised the bars to be about an inch above saddle height. Since my trunk weight isn’t helping as much, I have to maintain more tension on the bars through the arms and core to keep from sliding back off the saddle.

Otto

rsbob 

Ab development is ridiculous. I ride to develop my pecks... and they are awesome.

Alan Bikes

You could just ride with your core engaged. As you ride make sure you engage your abs, and then release, maybe make a game out of it.

SVTNate

No. I do sit-ups, bicycle crunches, and flutter kicks daily. At least 100.

I also do various types of pushups, working up to doing hand stand pushups, plus lunges.

I love riding, but I don't want a cyclist's body either.

shrimp123

cycling to build 6-pack is like eating potato chips for ur daily protein intake (with the 1g of protein in them).
ok, may be not... u might get a 6-pack with enuf cycling... but chips? yummmm, LISA, where is that blue colored pack of salty stuff?