Can Riding an Exercise Bike Make Your Thighs Bigger?

Riding an exercise bike is an excellent way to get a cardiovascular workout while toning the muscles of your thighs. As you ride your stationary bicycle, you'll burn calories that lead to fat loss while defining your thigh muscles; both of these can change the appearance of your thighs. If being, looking and feeling fit are some of your fitness goals, riding an exercise bike is an effective way to achieve them while reshaping your thighs.

Riding your exercise bike involves using the lower-body muscles, including those of your thighs. As you push the pedals continuously, you're powering the movements with your quadriceps -- the muscles on the fronts of your thighs. As you exercise repeatedly using your stationary bike, you'll tone your thigh muscles, giving them a more-defined, fit appearance.

To see the muscle-toning benefits you reap while exercising on your stationary bike, you have to get rid of excess fat. Someone who weighs around 145 pounds can burn approximately 500 calories per hour by riding an exercise bike at a speed of 12 miles per hour. If you take a spin class at the local health club, you're likely to burn more calories because of the high-speed intervals and added resistance interspersed throughout the workout. Exercising on a stationary bike is an effective way to lose weight all over while revealing the toned muscles of your thighs.

Stretching exercises for your legs help lengthen the thigh muscles and increase flexibility. If you ride your exercise bike regularly without stretching your muscles, lack of flexibility can lead to injury, lower-back pain and poor posture, all of which can sideline you from exercise and prevent you from reaching your thigh-toning goals. One stretch you can do to lengthen your quadriceps while stretching out your calves and hamstrings is the one-knee stretch. Get down on your right knee, while bending your left leg at a 90-degree angle with your foot on the floor. Position your hands lightly on your left knee. Lift your right foot and bring it as close as possible to your buttocks. Hold the stretch for five counts. Lower your leg, and then repeat four more times. Switch legs to repeat on the left side.

The intensity with which you train on your exercise bike can influence the size of your thighs. If you spend a good deal of your workouts sprinting on your stationary bike, you can develop bigger thighs. Maintain a steady pace for a longer amount of time to burn calories and tone your thighs. Short intervals of 30 to 60 seconds will not result in huge quadriceps muscles, such as those sported by Olympic cyclists. These cyclists spend a great deal longer training in cycling sprints.