Hugo A. Rivera - The Science Behind Calf Training!

[webmaster]

Calves besides being one of the most neglected body parts in the gym are ones whose training is most misunderstood. Some people claim that you need to hit them every day with high reps while others claim that low rep low volume works best. In my experience I found that an approach of heavy twice a week calf work worked great.

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[EricS]

Unfortuantly this training by fiber type has never held much water. The reaon for that goes back to the basics of what we know about muscle stimulation and recruitment. The Henneman Size Principle states that muscle fibers are recruited in an orderly and systematic fashion.

TypeI>>TypeIIa>>TypeIIb.

In general we all seem to agree that to stimulate the TypeIIb fibers, you need to use a fairly heavy load of approx. 85% 1rm. However, before these fibers are recruited, the TypeIb and Type IIa fibers have to be currently firing. So when you use heavier load you are in fact stimulating and overloading the TypeIa muscle fibers.

If the training by fiber type had more substance to it, eleite level distance runners would more than likely be bigger than the atypical wirey people that we often see. maybe not "Huge" but certainly bigger.

[str8flexed]

Originally posted by EricS
Unfortuantly this training by fiber type has never held much water. The reaon for that goes back to the basics of what we know about muscle stimulation and recruitment. The Henneman Size Principle states that muscle fibers are recruited in an orderly and systematic fashion.

TypeI>>TypeIIa>>TypeIIb.

In general we all seem to agree that to stimulate the TypeIIb fibers, you need to use a fairly heavy load of approx. 85% 1rm. However, before these fibers are recruited, the TypeIb and Type IIa fibers have to be currently firing. So when you use heavier load you are in fact stimulating and overloading the TypeIa muscle fibers.

If the training by fiber type had more substance to it, eleite level distance runners would more than likely be bigger than the atypical wirey people that we often see. maybe not "Huge" but certainly bigger.

indeed, it is quite futile to try and train the Type I fibers specifically as they have almost 0 capacity for hypertrophy

[Ahmad]

Ok. So I read the article and thought I'd give it a try (why not?!). My calves are currently 18". I've trained calves in the past by doing a heavy day and a light day, twice weekly.

Yesterday I did the prescribed Week 1, Day 1 workout. Today I've not been able to walk properly and I've been stepping on my heels. Let's see what happens from here on.