Is biking actually good for your butt? Before we answer this question, it’s important to realize that not all butts are created equal. Your genetics largely determine the shape and size of your derriere.
This is not to say that you can’t improve the muscle tone and shape of said butt and even add a bit of volume to it through exercise. But there’s only so much that you can do. Cycling is one such form of exercise that can be helpful at toning the backside by working the glutes. That’s why so many people put their bicycle butt on a platform bike rack and go outdoors to experience different trails.
But, this mostly happens when you pair cycling with weight training as well.
Does Cycling Build Buttocks?
So does cycling work your buttocks? It’s important to note that biking with a butt bicycle won’t necessarily change the size of your butt. If it’s small, it won’t make it bigger and if it’s big it won’t make it smaller.
What it can do is give you a more toned and slim-looking butt. In a sense, consistent biking with a good cruiser bike or women’s cyclocross bike only brings about cosmetic changes to your derriere and doesn’t necessarily change its appearance completely.
Biking can be used to burn fat and when you incorporate weight training, you can take it to a whole other level. But, is biking good for your butt?
Read on to find out how it benefits you.
1. Strength Training
While bike training will definitely engage the muscles in your behind, it’s crucial that you continue to do strength training at least a couple of times a week.
This includes lunges, squats and donkey kicks, for example. These exercises are great for shaping your cycling butt. Now, balance these lower-body movements with some upper-body exercises, such as dumbbell rows, bicep curls, chest presses, and arm raises for an overall toned look.
What you’re going for is that “Michelle Obama” look.
2. Interval Training
If you want to find out if cycling is good for your butt, take a look at your training regimen.
Add some interval training to your bike routine to burn even more fat and calories while providing more range of motion to your leg muscles and glutes. But does cycling build glutes? For best results, alternate 4 minutes of regular intensity cycling with 1 minute of vigorous cycling for buttocks.
You can also pedal faster at certain intervals, and add a couple of uphill climbs for good measure. Interval training can help you burn more calories in an hour than your average workout session.
3. Burn Calories
It’s only natural to get bored with doing the same exercise over and over again. After some time, running on the treadmill or taking an aerobics class can get old and take away your desire to even exercise in the first place.
If you haven’t tried it before, then biking can be a great way to get in some exercise, take in the scenery and enjoy some fresh air. Biking is also an excellent way to burn calories.
About 500 calories per hour to be exact, and this can play a huge role in helping to tone and trim your butt.
4. Rest
Regardless of your fitness goals, you should get some rest in between your workout sessions to you can prevent sore bum, especially if you’re pushing yourself to get results.
Park your bike at least once or twice per week and just give your body a chance to recover and reset. As for strength training sessions, there should always be a 24-hour break between them to give your leg muscles a chance to repair and rest as well.
If you still feel like exercising on your day off, try some yoga or take a walk around the block. Check in with your physician before you start any weight loss regimen just to be on the safe side.
How to Get a Bigger Butt
If your goal is to make your butt look bigger, you’ll find that there are plenty of videos and tutorials out there that claim to know it all.
But, here are some hard truths to keep in mind as you go down the rabbit hole of this subject, and hopefully answer the question of is cycling good for your butt.
- If someone is telling you that a big butt on bike is attainable within a couple of weeks, a month or three, they’re simply lying to you. Realistically, you can grow your butt to some degree, but it will take a couple of years to get results because this process involves improving your neuro-muscular functions.
- You have to work hard. There’s no getting around it. You must prepare yourself for a lot of heavy lifting, otherwise, there’s no point in even getting started. If you have a goal, make the commitment and be consistent to see results. We highly recommend you get a bike laptop backpack so you can commute to work to train your butt.
- You must work on other parts of your body too in order to reap the rewards of a firm tush. Just as you can’t get biking abs without working out your entire body, you can’t get a shapely behind without doing full-body exercises. So, make sure the jiggly butt workout program you adopt targets the entire body.
- When it comes to squats, form is everything. Master the technique of squatting on its own before adding weights. The ideal squatting position for you is one that feels comfortable yet challenging.
- It’s imperative that you lift heavier and heavier weights as you go along, in order to build muscle in that rear area, and in other parts of your body as well. Ideally, you want a weight that is so heavy that you can only do a few repetitions with it, like 8 or 10 at the most. Heavier weights help to increase hypertrophy and are therefore more helpful to achieving your goal.
- Spotters are essential and will help to keep you safe while challenging you at the same time.
- Your weekly “leg” day should include glute training, and workout other parts of the body on other days of the week.
- But does biking work glutes? Variety is the spice of life and essential to getting results when training. Try different types of exercises and target the glutes from different directions. Do 6 to 8 reps on one day and 8 to 10 reps on another day to keep challenging yourself.
Conclusion
So, is biking good for your butt? The simple answer here is yes. But, only when combined with a balanced training regimen that includes full-body training, weight training and adequate rest.
Keep the tips in this article in mind as you start your cycling journey and have fun with it!