Being black comes with some assumptions that most non-blacks have no idea existed.
There are a few expectations of how you should talk, walk, dress, and anatomical features that symbolize blackness. One of those anatomical features is the booty, or simply the butt.
When I was about 8 years old, my friends, who are black, often lightly joked about how I didn’t have much of a posterior. I really didn’t mind at the time. But, I did want to fit in with what other black folks looked like. Everyone said I was black, so that must mean that I have what other black people have, right.
I am only telling you this little part of my story so that you can understand how happy I was when I finally looked in the mirror one day and saw that I had a pretty decent-looking butt. Not only did it look better, but the little 8-year-old inside of me was saying, “Hey, look, I gots a booty now!”
I Started Riding a Road Bike Twice a Week
I was with a few friends who said they wanted me to come to watch them while they did a triathlon. There were two days of races, and on the 2nd day, I competed. Absolutely destroyed by the Olympic triathlon, considering I was drinking beers the night before and I hadn’t done any training in a few years, I fell in love with triathlon.
I bought a road bike one month later. 5 years later I still have the same road bike.
I started riding twice a week on average. Then, after a couple of years and a few more triathlons, I got a bike fitting and a bike coach.
Learning how to ride properly and having a great bike fit, I started training more intensely. I got to the point of riding 3 times per week.
After a few years of doing at least 2 rides per week, averaging roughly 60 – 80 kilometers per week, I looked in the mirror and saw that I had a much more muscular and shapely butt.
My butt was looking good.
Laughter ensues every time I write this down or even think about it. But, it’s true.
I Wish I had Taken Before and After Photos
I decided to write this article to give those of you who are on the fence about getting into riding a road bike, off the fence. Coming from a long-running background, running from age 6 through my early 20’s, I thought I wouldn’t like any other endurance sport.
Triathlon got me to love cycling even more than running.
The thing about running is that it can get mundane at times. For me, unless there are endless trails to explore or even just one pretty one to enjoy, running can be boring.
Cycling gives me the opportunity to go out and be in new places quickly. It also allows a break from constantly exercising. You have to stop running to take a break from running. But, cycling provides a break anytime you stop peddling.
Because I didn’t realize that I could get a better butt from cycling, I didn’t take any before and after photos. Even when I go through my pictures it’s hard to find one that shows my butt.
So this advertisement doesn’t have the proof of ‘Buns of Steal’, but you just have to blindly believe me when I tell you that it is true.
How Cycling Gave me a Better Butt?
How did cycling give me a better butt? The honest answer to this question is that I have no idea. The gluteus maximus is activated in almost every peddle we take. But, it is not the dominant muscle for cycling. You can look at long-distance pro cyclists, and you will see overwhelming evidence that there are lots of tiny butts.
Cyclists who are sprinters definitely have better butts, but that is because they activate their glutes at a much higher intensity than us distance cyclists.
I did fartlek training on the bike often. In fact, I did fartlek training at least once a week.
I’m assuming that for me, it was a combination of swimming, distance cycling, and cycling speed training each week that gave me my better butt.
Now, I do a lot more bodyweight training and calisthenics than I did before, so this is improving my butt even more. But the takeaway from this article is that you can get a better butt without doing squats or focusing on the butt.
You can just go out and ride your road bike for about 60-100 kilometers a week, and you are probably going to get a better butt.
Having a Nicer Better Butt Looks Awesome. But, is it Healthy?
The simple answer to whether it is healthier to have a better stronger butt or not is a resounding yes.
A stronger butt will help the overall strength of your lower body. It looks better because the proportions and curves are aesthetically pleasing. The butt is one of the strongest and most used muscles when it comes to sports. If you want to be a better athlete, have a better stronger butt and stronger hamstrings.
I recommend consulting your health professional to get more personalized advice on which parts of your body need to be strengthened the most. But, having a stronger butt has helped me in nearly every sport I have ever played. From tennis to swimming, having a stronger posterior has directly related to more consistent performance gains.
Having a nice butt just looks so much better. Some of us are born with it. But, like me, some of us have to work for ours.
Getting on the bike regularly gave me the opportunity to feel better from a cardiovascular standpoint, but it also helped me feel better about how I look.
I Got More Muscle on my Legs
Not only did my butt get more muscular, but I also gained muscle in my quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles. All of these gains were done with no resistance training. I didn’t go to the gym and do weight training. I really didn’t do any lower body calisthenics at all over a 2 year period.
So, the only things that gave me muscle gains were cycling and swimming. And most of that was definitely from biking.
Not only did I have more muscle that looked good. I also got a lot more strength and endurance. This was not a vain pursuit that I was on. I just liked the idea of being able to work out and get fit.
It’s really nice to enjoy an activity and benefit from it. There is not really any benefit to drinking alcohol. Even though I enjoy it, it doesn’t mean that my body or mind benefits from it though.
Staying up late with friends is great fun, but the next week I am still trying to make up for the sleep that I lost.
Eating chocolate cake is amazing! But it only benefits me a little.
The gist of me saying this is that there are mostly positive benefits that come from cycling, swimming and running. But, I have seen the most benefits from cycling. It’s a win-win on so many levels.
In Conclusion
Everyone who is physically able to ride a road bike can enjoy the fantastic benefit from it: A better-looking butt. Having a nice butt is kind of a fashionable thing nowadays. But, the best benefit you get from riding a bike is not only a nice butt, you get loads of other health benefits.
Cycling can also be a fun social activity when you ride with a group. Group riding can be really fun if you have the right group of people that don’t take riding too seriously and just want to have a good time.
If you need help picking out a bike, I have loads of articles that you can check out for kids, women, and men.
Please let me know how you get on with riding and if it helped your backside firm up a little.
Hope you have an amazing day.