Training & Nutrition - Building leg mass (skinny legs)

I've been training a while now and my legs are really tone, but still really thin.
Whats the best way to gain mass in the leg muscles?
Longer rides in a hard gear?

Right now im running 3 days a week and i've noticed a slight
difference.

any tips?
or am I stuck with these twigs?

If you're looking to build muscle mass, you have to ensure that you're eating more calories than you're burning. You especially need to make sure that your protein intake is adequate (if you eat meat and drink milk you're probably fine on that front). Also eat immediately after workouts.

If your diet is fine, the best way to add muscle mass on a bike would be hill repeats. Find a steep hill and hammer up it. Coast back down. Repeat.

Off the bike, the best leg exercise is generally considered to be the squat. I like the deadlift and incline leg press too.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that huge legs are necessarily going to make you a speed demon on the bike, however - on an upright bike, you can never press harder on the pedals than your own weight. And if you can stand up with one leg, which I assume you can, you have that much strength already. Becoming faster is more a function of muscle tone, pedaling efficiency, cardiovascular conditioning, aerodynamics, and good bike handling.

Alberto Contador, the winner of last year's Tour day Frantz, has thin legs.

It's an American obsession with large things that assumes that larger always means more powerful.

I have huge legs and I'm weak as a baby kitten with the sniffles.

Embrace your genetic strengths and get on with it. If you're genetically skinny, you're going to spend a lot of time and effort on very little benefit. As my dad used to say, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken *****".

Az

A photo of Ned Overend usually pops up in this discussion. One of the most gifted cyclists ever:


http://bikemag.com/features/overend300.jpg

Cycling, no matter how hard, will not build any muscle mass worth mentioning. The load is too low.

Lift heavy weights and eat a lot, and your legs will grow.

Why do you want to getter bigger legs?
If it's for the looks, do bodybuilder!
If not "just" ride your bike and your legs may get bigger or not. But you will be able to ride longer and/or faster, depending on your training. And that's what matters right? ;-)

fair enough, I notice I gain more leg muscle and strength by riding in 2 gears to hard (rpm between 60 and 70, the lower the better) do this for the middle 10 mins of every 30 and do 2 hours of this training roughly once a week. But like the guy says, there are too many repetitions and too little load to become really big!

Be glad you are skinny. It will pay off in a few decades. I drank Weight-On in high school but I am sure glad for the high metabolism now.

Thanks guys!

Cycling, no matter how hard, will not build any muscle mass worth mentioning. The load is too low.

Lift heavy weights and eat a lot, and your legs will grow.

+1, but le me also add that cycling is a CATABOLIC activity. This is what so few people on this forum understand. long distance aerobic workouts (running/cycling) are detrimental to muscle mass. You LOSE muscle mass when cycling.

All you have to do is look at the olympic sprinter's legs versus the marathon runner's legs.

If your most important goal is to build bigger legs, then you need to stop doing rides above 20 miles, and keep all those shorter rides as hard HIIT sessions. 3 days a week max, off days when you're not lifting heavy. A calorie surplus is also critical for muscle growth.

I developed really large thighs and calves by cycling. I have known nationally ranked body builders whose legs really are not much better than mine. But I never ever intended to get them. They just happened when I put on the miles. I think some people do and some people don't. Keep up the work and eat an adequate diet and if it happens, it happens.

Cycling, no matter how hard, will not build any muscle mass worth mentioning. The load is too low.

Lift heavy weights and eat a lot, and your legs will grow.

Two words:

HEAVY Squats