Standing Calf Raises: Good way to screw up your back and shoulders.

[BaldwinBoy]

I noticed my shoulders were bothering me, and it was worse after leg day. Not one shoulder, both of them.

I checked with a chiro. I do a lot; 400 lbs. (a lot for me.) The chiro said that the shoulders bone were never meant to bear that much that way. And it's a good way to compress the spine. He steered me away from anything (those flat-lying leg press machines) where the you're simply resting a lot of weight on the shoulder joints.

[freebirdmac]

I've been going through a similar thing. I've laid off any leg work that loads up my shoulders/upper back for awhile. I do not believe it needs to be permanent though. I think it's more of a problem from the legs being able to handle such greater weight that the upper body is not ready for. Once I strengthen my shoulders and upper back, I'll add the eliminated exercises back in. My problem was upper back, not shoulders.

[BaldwinBoy]

...regardless of muscle strength. It's the structure of the upper back/shoulders that was not meant to be essentially a resting place for hundreds of pounds. It's different if you're lifting it, I think. But just resting on the bones is not good. It won't always show up immediately though.

Originally Posted by freebirdmac

I've been going through a similar thing. I've laid off any leg work that loads up my shoulders/upper back for awhile. I do not believe it needs to be permanent though. I think it's more of a problem from the legs being able to handle such greater weight that the upper body is not ready for. Once I strengthen my shoulders and upper back, I'll add the eliminated exercises back in. My problem was upper back, not shoulders.

[Old_Swole]

Originally Posted by BaldwinBoy

I noticed my shoulders were bothering me, and it was worse after leg day. Not one shoulder, both of them.

I checked with a chiro. I do a lot; 400 lbs. (a lot for me.) The chiro said that the shoulders bone were never meant to bear that much that way. And it's a good way to compress the spine. He steered me away from anything (those flat-lying leg press machines) where the you're simply resting a lot of weight on the shoulder joints.

When your feeling better maybe reduce the weight and concentrate on the rom a little more. just a thought

[JC480]

Been thinking about this lately. I've been using a standing calf raise machine and, to be honest, my back always hurts after doing this. I was using barbells to do this but I got a better ROM on the machine not to mention not having to be bothered with the plates.

Will probably stick do the seated calf raise machine. That thing seems to burn my calves up more anyway.

[kostasthai]

i fully agree with you my friend! I stopped standing CR just for the same reason. Too painful and little effect on the calves. I do donkey calf raises when i can find a heavy mate at the gym that i can use (looks funny I admit but..) or single leg jumps with a heavy dumbbell on the same side. my gym does not have sitting calf raise machine so i just take the same dumbbell i use to jump and sit down doing the same leg just after the jump. Moreover, for the same spine reasons i do no crunches anymore, just ab wheel--or the wheel of torture as we call it at the gym! thanks for bringing it all up!

[freebirdmac]

Originally Posted by BaldwinBoy

...regardless of muscle strength. It's the structure of the upper back/shoulders that was not meant to be essentially a resting place for hundreds of pounds. It's different if you're lifting it, I think. But just resting on the bones is not good. It won't always show up immediately though.

Why is it a resting place? You should be lifting, not standing there with the weight just pushing down on you. And I disagree about muscle strength. Such movements involve your entire body. If you have a weakness, it'll show. The same applies with bb squats. Now your shoulders may get bruised or scratched as those pads are hard and basically suck.

You could try donkey calves as well.

[JC480]

My shoulders always have long red lines on them. First time I used this machine my old lady thought I was getting lucky somewhere else lol : )

[FlexinMike]

Yeah I stay away from them!

[baker]

I always do them with a 10-15 second negative plus I hold the peak contraction for 2-3 seconds at the top. If you do them this way the weight is reduced significantly. Plus it hurts like hell and works better IMO.

[IronCharles]

I'll chime in on this too. I was doing 400# standing raises and started noticing a pain in the center of my back. Made squatting even lighter weight painful, too. So I stopped doing those, and now I do straight legged raises on the seated Hammer Strength machine. I still do seated bent leg raises, too. Back is feeling better, but I still get occasional twinges in my spine when I move a certain way.

As far as the red marks on the shoulders, my wife would always notice when I took my shirt off. "Did your calves today, I see," she would tell me.

[BaldwinBoy]

It's not the shoulder muscles, but the joints that are the issue. All that weight resting on the shoulder joints. It was pushing my shoulder structure out of whack. Those joints won't strengthen, regardless.

Originally Posted by freebirdmac

Why is it a resting place? You should be lifting, not standing there with the weight just pushing down on you. And I disagree about muscle strength. Such movements involve your entire body. If you have a weakness, it'll show. The same applies with bb squats. Now your shoulders may get bruised or scratched as those pads are hard and basically suck.

You could try donkey calves as well.

[BaldwinBoy]

Just FYI. That's the shape I want to get back to.

Originally Posted by BaldwinBoy

It's not the shoulder muscles, but the joints that are the issue. All that weight resting on the shoulder joints. It was pushing my shoulder structure out of whack. Those joints won't strengthen, regardless.

[snorkelman]

Originally Posted by kostasthai

I do donkey calf raises when i can find a heavy mate at the gym that i can use (looks funny I admit but..)

Here's another option for ya...

[JonnyStead]

Interesting thread. I agree it puts pressure on the bones particularly in the spine and I have felt that too. I only do about 370lbs but I still feel it. The belt idea wouldnt put enough weight there for me and without access to machines (I have free weights and a squat rack) I wonder what the alternative for me would be?

[freebirdmac]

Smith Machine raises are another alternative. You'd have weight on your back like squats.

[DeathtoToasters]

The pinched nerve I got in my back was from doing standing calf raises. There are plenty of other ways to do calf raises, so I am not worried.

[SR800]

Machineless alternatives I use in my basement include barbell calf raises on a couple of gang nailed 2x4s with a slight forward lean against the cage and also set up the barbell with straps as in a heavy shrug and do one leg raises also on the 2x4s with slight forward lean against the cage. You can handle a lot more weight that way, easy to do the equivalent of 2 legs with over 500 pounds of barbell raises with only 250.

[StressMonkey]

Originally Posted by IronCharles

As far as the red marks on the shoulders, my wife would always notice when I took my shirt off. "Did your calves today, I see," she would tell me.

I get those really bad. After hack squats and standing calf raises I look like I was run over by a truck.

[x-trainer ben]

Originally Posted by BaldwinBoy

I noticed my shoulders were bothering me, and it was worse after leg day. Not one shoulder, both of them.

I checked with a chiro. I do a lot; 400 lbs. (a lot for me.) The chiro said that the shoulders bone were never meant to bear that much that way. And it's a good way to compress the spine. He steered me away from anything (those flat-lying leg press machines) where the you're simply resting a lot of weight on the shoulder joints.

I have varied my positioning along the pads and the closer to the front of the pad the less back pressure i feel. The leg press seems to be the best alternative if nothing is comfy.

[not2l8]

glad you posted this. i always feel like an accordian afterward but felt I had to do them for calf growth. too many books in print with crap in them that are getting people hurt.

[silverlightning]

i do standing CR, but I do about 100-120lb's when i do them first. maybe my calves are weak, or the machine is different than most that allow for more weight.

[wcampbll]

Originally Posted by silverlightning

i do standing CR, but I do about 100-120lb's when i do them first. maybe my calves are weak, or the machine is different than most that allow for more weight.

I do alternating 1 Leg Standing Calf Raises, that lets me drop the weight significantly since i am carrying full bodyweight on 1 leg plus what now becomes a much more comfortable amount of weight on shoulders

[beachguy498]

I found the standing calf raises to be so un-natural and I stopped doing them. I get a whole lot more out of leg extensions and leg presses, going heavy on both exercises for a 12,10,8 pyramid.

BG

[Most Muscular]

My chiropractor noticed back in 2005 that I had a lower lumbar disc that was being compressed and advised me to stay away from anything that compressed my spine which included standing calf raises (which I was VERY strong at), squats, deadlifts, etc. I have stayed away from them all except for some hack squats during my 2006 contest prep.

He told me at the time that I could continue to squat or walk... my choice.

While I miss squatting and deadlifts for the overall effect of mass building I have just had to find other ways to try and put on muscle although I realize those two were the corner stones of mass building for me.

I now do a sort of donkey calf raise on a piece of equipment that you sit on. I really love this machine as it taxes my calves without any strain on my spine or shoulders. When I did standing calf raises I did the stack of +400 lbs PLUS added a few 45 lbs plates to the stack too.

Even a regular donkey calf machine is a great calf builder and does not compress the spine.

[KLMARB]

....which I've been using for several years now, is constriction training. I place the bands tightly above the calf muscle, and after 40-50 slow, full-range reps (using bodyweight only) you'll clearly have an effect.....

[Most Muscular]

Originally Posted by KLMARB

....which I've been using for several years now, is constriction training. I place the bands tightly above the calf muscle, and after 40-50 slow, full-range reps (using bodyweight only) you'll clearly have an effect.....

well yes.... if I weighed 254 lbs...

nuff said...

[kimgohan]

Anybody try to use the leg press for calves just dont disengage the safety support/lock.

[KLMARB]

Originally Posted by Most Muscular

well yes.... if I weighed 254 lbs...

nuff said...

..or had 19" calves...like me......