Does Cycling Help Slim Your Butt?

Cycling works most of the major muscles of the body, including your legs, core and butt. If you have excess fat on your backside, taking up a regular cycling routine is indeed going to help you burn it off. Whether your ultimate goal is to flatten your butt or to make it more round and shapely, however, you may need to do a little more than riding on your bike.

  1. The Calorie-Burning Effects

    • Losing fat is all about creating a calorie deficit. Cycling at a moderate pace of about 12 miles per hour will help a 185-pound person burn roughly 355 calories in 30 minutes -- about the same as you'd burn if you ran at a 12-minute-mile pace or went cross country skiing for 30 minutes. To lose 1 pound of overall body fat, you have to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories, so cycling at that moderate pace for five hours a week would change your body mass fairly quickly.

    Muscle-Building Effects

    • At the same time, doing that much cycling is going to help you build muscle all over your body, including your gluteal muscles. More specifically, cycling activates the inner portions of the glutes, says Bicycling.com. If you're the type to bulk up quickly when you work out, you may find that your inner glutes feel bulkier as you start to build muscle. Over time, though, that bulk may even out as you burn off the fat that's surrounding that muscle.

    The Role of Food

    • If you're especially concerned about slimming your backside, getting plenty of cardiovascular exercise -- which can include bicycling -- is going to help. However, adding one more element to your routine can help you achieve your goals faster: calorie restriction. People tend to be more successful in their weight loss efforts when they change their diets along with working out, says the American Council on Exercise. To get serious about monitoring your exercise progress and diet, download a food- and exercise-tracking app for your smartphone -- there are lots of them out there -- or use a weight loss website that includes a food and exercise diary. That will help you determine how many calories you should eat daily, and help you see which foods may be causing you to go over your daily goals.

    Love Your Butt Muscle

    • Let's face it, though -- a totally flat butt is not the most attractive look, whether you're in cycling spandex or your favorite jeans. As you start to burn off that unsightly flab, consider adding a few butt-building exercises to your routine. Not only will it be a more attractive look, but stronger glutes will also make you a stronger cyclist. Squats and lunges -- in their many forms -- are the classic butt-builders, and they definitely have a place in your routine. Also try other exercises to work on those more-neglected outer glutes, such as single-leg step dips and the "speed skater" squat, as recommended on Bicycling.com.