My wife + cycling: a couple questions
 

Ok, I'm not a veteran cyclist by any means, but I've been at it a little over a year, and do mainly scenic road rides and the occasional century. My younger brother and I ride together.

My wife is in great shape. She's about 26 yrs old, 6'1", 155lbs - decently fit. She goes to the gym abou 3-4x a week and works out with her yoga/abs DVD every weekday morning. She's done this routine for a few years, it's not like she's just starting to get in shape. However, as thin as she is, she can't get her legs/butt to slim down. I hear about it ALL the time. That's all she really cares about is, in her terms, "getting hot legs." So, she's willing to try cycling - although she hated riding with me the few times shd did it last year (granted, she has a walmart special, and isn't in riding form, and I am - so that could be part of it). Question 1: Will cycling help her slim down her legs like she wants (obviously toning comes from using those leg muscles, but what about burning celulite?)

Question 2: Bike. As I am only 2" taller than her, and once you get into our height range, bike size is usually limited to "XL," the thought had crossed my mind to just reconfigure my 2003 Specialized Sequoia Sport (Size XL, 61) for her , and buy that new Roubiax I've been eyeing. Option 2 would be to find her a used, entry-level, relaxed-geometry bike, like my Sequoia was ($400), and have her use that. I don't want to get her a 'beater' though, and have it be 'unpleasant' to ride to the point she won't do it.

On the flip side, one of my fears is she won't really take to cycling, and I'll have 'her' bike sitting around unused. If she just uses my current bike, and dislikes it, I'll have my new bike, plus my old one to use for rainy days / change of pace / why not have 2 / etc. Of course, there's also the $1000 difference in the 2 options.


Any and all opinions/comments are welcome. Thanks.

1. Based on your description of her, she can probably kick your butt. My wife is 5'2" and 115# and I would NEVER broach the topic of getting her legs and/or butt in better shape. I'm cautiously watching over my shoulder as I write this message now!:eek:

2. "I would expect cycling to make her legs and butt bigger and even more shapely--if that is humanly possible." Regardless of what actually happens, I recommend my previous sentence as the response to any future questions from her on this topic.
Good luck!:D

Haha, thanks - but she actually told me to "go ask those internet people," so I think I'm safe to sleep tonight *cautiously looks over shoulder* Her severe dislike of bike riding (again, poor conditions) made her want to know if doing something she dislikes will have any positive benefit.

Odds are that if she dislikes it, she will not realize any benefit. Will she burn cellulite? I don't know, that's not my area of expertise. I do know that it takes a lot of accumulated miles of riding to accomplish anything physical from riding a bike.

put her on a bike on a trainer & she can spin her legs & butt to her (your) heart's content.

I doubt she'll lose any, well, padding, but she might do a swell job of toning the muscles. Still, if she has that severe dislike of bicycle riding, I would look upon this as an opportunity to save some money.

Well, cellulite is generallly not amenable to toning. However, if she's willing to spend a fair amount of time on the bike and eat well, she can reduce her fat percentage.

On the bike, it's going to be about fit, and finding her a saddle that works for her.

In answer to question #1 ... no. Cycling builds muscle, muscle gets bulky.

In fact, nothing she does in terms of exercise will cause her legs to slim down ... everything she does will build muscle to some degree or another. There is a very common misconception among women that the more leg exercises they do, the slimmer their legs will be. Quite the opposite in fact!

I just did a quick calculation. If she is 6'1" and 155 lbs, her BMI is quite low. Therefore she can't have thighs and butt that are all that heavy ... she hasn't got the weight for that! What cycling can do for her is to help develop muscle definition ... and then it is up to you to tell her she has "hot legs".

Send her to spinning class first. There's more of a chance she'll like that than cycling.
Eventually she'll get curious about the real thing.
Her legs/butt are like they are because she doesn't have muscle there and she'll never have muscle there until she does something tough, like cycling.

A golden opportunity presents itself to get the bike you've been eyeing out... and you have to ask?:rolleyes: :p

Let me make it perfectly clear - when presented with two (or more) options, whichever option leads to you getting a new and better bike is the preferred option. :D capish?;)

I agree with the having 2 bikes idea.

My gf tried to get into cycling because I love it so much. Long story short, it's a (more of a) point of conflict now. If she doesn't want to do it, she will not like it and there is no forcing it.

Cycling, nor any other sport, will slim down her legs or butt. It will, however, make her butt more "perky" and her legs more defined (so she will look good in heels). Best of luck and DON'T FORCE HER TO DO ANYTHING SHE ISN'T READY TO DO. Trust me and every other guy who tried getting their S.O. to ride.

*This thread is worthless without pics!*

that said, i'm 6'2" and a little over 100lbs heavier than your wife (i'm a dude though) if i lost 50 lbs, i'd think i was in shape, if she weighs another 55lbs less than that, at an inch shorter it is my assumption that she has a smokin' hawt body.

i think a lot of it is genetic. i have a huge butt that stays huge even when i used to be thin. no ammount of excercise short of cocain addiction or bulemia is going to make that go away. sounds like you wife already looks fine, womenses are supposed to have curves.

good luck, and we are patiently awaiting pics. lol.

(i hope i haven't offended you, i was just trying to be funny)

If you want her to ride (regardless of the reason) let HER pick out the bike. And my suggestion is to let her try something with internal gears that is easy to shift...even when stopped. My wife has a nice multi speed hybrid that we bought about 6 years ago. It has been ridden maybe a dozen times in those 6 years. Last year my wife "won" a Raleigh 3 speed in her size. That bike has been ridden more in the past 6 months than the hybrid was ridden in the past 6 years. In fact she has asked to keep it at her store so she can ride places around town:p I am just tickled to death that she is that interested in riding. Now as to the original question...I don't think bike riding is going to be the magic bullet. I am not going to delve into the psychological make up of a woman's mind and why they think a certain portion of the anatomy is not pleasing...I KNOW better:D

Aaron:)

You say she already goes to the gym, so why not suggest spin classes. They will help her to get some tone in her legs and get her riding without getting her riding. If she enjoys the spin classes she may want to move on to the real thing, in which case you're gonna have to take her bike shopping. ;)

Thanks everyone for your responses. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with the way she looks. This all comes from her trying on a few pairs of pants that were probably from when she was still in college, and they were tight on her legs and butt. Since then, she's been obsessed with trying to slim down her legs.

When I say she hates riding, that's 1/2 true. She loved when we'd go out, back when we had the walmart bikes and would slowly stoll the neighborhood for 20 minutes after dinner. Then last year, after I purchased my road bike and started riding 'for real,' she came out with me for my weeknightly 15 mile ride (on her walmart bike) twice, and didn't like it because it was more work than just gradually out for a stoll. I suspect I too would hate having to ride a heavy full-suspension walmart MTN bike for 15 miles of rolling pavement.

The spin class idea is a good one, I will suggest that (again, it's not me pushing her to do this stuff, I'm just asking the questions she asked me, and I couldn't answer).

If she's going to try riding, you'll need to get her a bike that fits her, not yours that's adjusted down to fit her. My wife first started on one of my old bikes that was smaller and able to fit her. Even after paying for a fit at a shop, she still wasn't fully comfortable on it, and didn't enjoy riding. This past Christmas we bought her a bike of her own. She picked it out and enjoys riding it because 1) it's hers and not one of mine, and 2) it fits her properly. Like wahoonc's wife's Raleigh, hers is an internal geared bike, so there's no front dérailleur to mess with, plus it's shaft-drive, so it looks cool as hell.
http://www.monogodo.org/images/jpegs/biomega.jpg

Before you go plunking down any money on a new bike (and considering all the good suggestions above) take her to a couple of shops to "try on" some bikes. If she's going to ride and enjoy it - and therefore keep riding - she has to have a bike that'll fit her. That may mean something very different than what fits you.

If you truly want her to ride with you, you have to be selfless here and not scheme on how you can wind up with two bikes of your own. She may wind up on your old bike or she may wind up needing a completely different bike. In case you hadn't noticed with all this talk about your wife's body, women are built differently than we are (thank God!) and that often translates into a different bike than yours.

That said, if she's willing to give it a try, go check out different bike shops and bikes. Maybe even go for a pro fit session?

The old spot reducing myth...

If the issue is fat, then any exercise whether it includes the leg muscles or not will burn the fat as well as doing leg exercises.

The leg exercises would help to firm the legs, and in my opinion firm legs are sexier, but they won't necessarily get any smaller.

To minimize the muscle bulk, be sure that she develops the skill of spinning instead of mashing... This isn't anything I know for a fact, but I have been told that for body building low reps with high weights produce larger muscles than lots of reps with small weights... Therefore spinning should help keep the muscle mass relatively low compared to mashing a big gear.

You're never going to gain any husband points by buying something nice for yourself and passing your cast-offs down to your wife.

If you ever visualize your wife riding with you as an equal rather than just a tag-along, you need to buy her a bike AT LEAST as nice as yours. It'll pay off in the long run, trust me.

"she came out with me for my weeknightly 15 mile ride (on her walmart bike) twice"

Buy her the best bike your can afford. And her bike, not your hand me down. She did not enjoy it because she was riding junk. Go slow with her. This is an investmest, not just on her bike, but your future. My wife and I do everything together. And she resents it if she thinks I have something better than her. We have travel around the world with our bikes. The more happy she is the more happy you will be. Support her, take her to LBS and keep quiet, let them talk to her. Going on fun rides, like somewhere for a pinic, lunch, nice park. Make it a weekend get away, but nice evening dinner/play/movie Or a morning ride and the two of of you get 1/2 hour message. Years from now the two of you can be talking about the time you both saw Boonen win a sprint in the Tour de France. It is your investment as much as hers.

Here's an idea that's not been mentioned yet....consider a tandem. My wife is a darn good cyclist, but just didn't enjoy riding her single because she felt inferior to me and others we ride with. We bought a tandem, and she's hooked for life. She absolutely loves it.

With that said, you certainly shouldn't go out and buy a tandem until you're sure one is right for the two of you. Find somebody (LBS?) who will rent or loan you one for the weekend and give it a try. It might be what the secret.

+1 on what the others have said. If she's got a bit of weight to lose, she might slim down some with a lot of miles, but in reality, she will eventually start building muscle.

So you say she's 26 and the pants were from her college years. That's totally normal. Women generally do have a final "fat deposit growth spurt" in their early 20's. The genetically fortunate women get it on their rears and upper thighs - basically below the waist. If they have a baby, its usually a bit more pronounced. It's one of the differences between being a teenage girl and an adult woman. Hyunelan2, I am afraid it is up to you to do everything possible to ensure she knows she looks just fine. It's a tough job, but I'm sure you'll suffer through it somehow. :p ;)

That said, riding a bike can be a lot more fun than gym drudgery. There are some very nicely performing hybrids out there that are far nimbler than the average X-mart mountain bikes. Heck, my mom lost all her baby weight during her childbearing years on a Chicago Schwinn.

Quite right.

There is a notion that if one does a bunch of situps, one will get a thinner waist. However, fat distribution is a matter of what your body does. One's body will put fat in a certain characteristic fashion. The only way to reduce the fat is to reduce your % body fat. So if you have a pot belly or fat thighs at 15% body fat, all that sit ups will do is give you great abs under that layer of fat. The same thing is with cycling, The leg muscles will get tone and quite probably larger but if the percent body fat does not come off. then legs will still be chubby.

Get her a bike that fits her and then go out and ride with her at her pace. If she likes her bike and enjoys riding she may have an interest in doing the longer rides with you. I ride with my wife and kids and we have a good time and my wife who was no thrilled about bike riding wants to go all the time now.

My wife and I have been riding tandems together for over 30 years. Actually, recommending a tandem was my first thought but I decided not to mention it.

You might have the best intentions and the most romantic ideals about riding slowly with your wife on singles but, eventually you'll find yourself at the top of some hill with her nowhere in sight. There's also the "Who goes first" thing every time that a car approaches you from the rear. A tandem solves that. You always arrive at the lunch stop together. If you do it right it can be a love machine.

Upside - A good time to start tandeming together is before she developes a pedaling cadence that's significantly different than yours.
Downside - Don't expect much change from $2,000 for even a moderately equipped tandem. The good stuff costs a lot more.