CALVES- Lets grow them!

[Bishoptol]

If I put BB in front Squat position and do calf raises, will it make a difference since it is at a change in center of gravity?

[MWheatley]

If I put BB in front Squat position and do calf raises, will it make a difference since it is at a change in center of gravity?

Cant see how it would make a major difference. However, wouldnt hurt to give it a shot and see for yourself.

[jcbrowns]

Mods, this should be a sticky.

[Wolf-Baron]

I incorporated some of the exercises in this thread in my calve routine, and I can honestly say that I see some definition in my calves now.

[Scaglietti]

i like the dumbell foot curling video haha, never thought of that! looks difficult to set up tho, like u need a shorter bench than the one youre sitting in just to grab the weight with your feet.. hard to do :/

[Ironlife]

great thread. Lots of new ideas to test out.

good info, thanks.

Yeah I think this should be made a sticky, calves are by far the hardest muscle to work and get growth out of.

agreed. Its frustrating. Especially since I've never had much of a problem growing most other muscles, as long as I put the time/effort in, but it seems like my calves stay small even if I'm working my ass off.

Luckily this thread has supplied me with a bunch of new techniques, some of which I just got back from testing out and they felt great.

yep, I have heard great things about ultra high reps, doing 50-100 reps standing calf raises, and or using a weight vest while jump roping. Right now some days I'll use Heavy weight lower reps and others I'll do the ultra high reps, I also try and hit them 3x a week.

Mods, this should be a sticky.

I incorporated some of the exercises in this thread in my calve routine, and I can honestly say that I see some definition in my calves now.

i like the dumbell foot curling video haha, never thought of that! looks difficult to set up tho, like u need a shorter bench than the one youre sitting in just to grab the weight with your feet.. hard to do :/

Thanks all you guys, very positive feedback which i appreciate as well, i was going to make a thread like this on biceps in the future so yeah after these good posts i just might do that. Thanks again for the replys lets hope this does get stickied i think it would be beneficial to most people.

[-Lucifer]

Ironlife
I would love a thread or post about building big forearms. Mine are pathetic. I've managed to bring up my upper arms and delts, but my forearms just can't pack on size, no matter what I do. I've tried high-volume training, various rep ranges, super sets, giant sets etc. but nothing works.

Sure, they grow a bit when I put on weight but they still look small, compared to my other parts.

[Ironlife]

Ironlife
I would love a thread or post about building big forearms. Mine are pathetic. I've managed to bring up my upper arms and delts, but my forearms just can't pack on size, no matter what I do. I've tried high-volume training, various rep ranges, super sets, giant sets etc. but nothing works.

Sure, they grow a bit when I put on weight but they still look small, compared to my other parts.

For you -L its not a problem,

tonight ill get started on a nice massive thread on building forearms and ill make it detailed and very precise.

[-Lucifer]

For you -L its not a problem,
tonight ill get started on a nice massive thread on building forearms and ill make it detailed and very precise.

That would be awesome! Thanks much, broheim.

[matt297]

i like the dumbell foot curling video haha, never thought of that! looks difficult to set up tho, like u need a shorter bench than the one youre sitting in just to grab the weight with your feet.. hard to do :/

I've been doing this one. its awkward as hell to get the DB in position! If you haven't got your feet in the right position either the DB hits off the bench which is annoying. But its a good (and painful) exercise!

[Muckle_Ewe]

I've been thinking lately about a 1-day calf cure... I read about that 1-day arm cure and immediately wrote it off as being dumb but then I read about it again on iron addicts forum and a lot of the members had good results from it (even the experienced ones, iron addict even said it works)!

So I thought about whether a 1-day calf cure would have the same effect... Would like to try it sometime.

[matt297]

congrats on the sticky!!!

[Phil2009]

Good post iron, throwing in the anatomy/physiology POV

Gastrocnemius is primarily fast twitch fibres, hence a rep range of 6-8 is more suited to this muscle. It is mechanically superior when doing standing calf raises.
Soleus is primarily slow twitch fibres, hence a rep range of 8-12 is more suited to this muscle. It is mechanically superior when doing seated calf raises.
The tibialis anterior can look very impressive, you listed good exercises there iron, just a reminder that too much hypertrophy of the tib ant can cause anterior compartment syndrome. But we are talking at least 20% increase.

I think the most overlooked aspect of calf hypertrophy is the movement itself.
The range of motion with plantar flexion (or dorsi flexion) is so little that people often forget about the tempo that they are moving at. Also the weight for some people imo is too high at times, because they focus all their efforts on the concentric movement then just drop back down.

Let us remember that it is the eccentric (muscle lengthening) movement that induces more microtrauma in a muscle. These tears in the muscle therefore lead to more adaptation, hence greater muscle hypertrophy.

The next time you are doing calf raises, keep in mind after you have pushed off, do a 3-4 second count going back down, dont just drop back down.

[Jrahe42]

Ironlife
I would love a thread or post about building big forearms. Mine are pathetic. I've managed to bring up my upper arms and delts, but my forearms just can't pack on size, no matter what I do. I've tried high-volume training, various rep ranges, super sets, giant sets etc. but nothing works.

Sure, they grow a bit when I put on weight but they still look small, compared to my other parts.

To solve all your forearm woes!

[Carousel]

In my opinion calves are the same as any muscle. 6-9 HEAVY sets. Theres no need for high reps :S

3x10-12 Seated Calf Press (350-410)
3x10 Calf extensions off a leg press machine (600-700)

On the last rep of your extensions hold at the top of the rep for as long as you can.

My calves are big, trained heavy every second day. 30 second breaks. Takes like 10 minutes. I went from 90 pound seated calf press to 410 in literally one and a half months doing it this way. Stuck at 410 now though, but im not complaining.

[Ironlife]

Good post iron, throwing in the anatomy/physiology POV

Gastrocnemius is primarily fast twitch fibres, hence a rep range of 6-8 is more suited to this muscle. It is mechanically superior when doing standing calf raises.
Soleus is primarily slow twitch fibres, hence a rep range of 8-12 is more suited to this muscle. It is mechanically superior when doing seated calf raises.
The tibialis anterior can look very impressive, you listed good exercises there iron, just a reminder that too much hypertrophy of the tib ant can cause anterior compartment syndrome. But we are talking at least 20% increase.

I think the most overlooked aspect of calf hypertrophy is the movement itself.
The range of motion with plantar flexion (or dorsi flexion) is so little that people often forget about the tempo that they are moving at. Also the weight for some people imo is too high at times, because they focus all their efforts on the concentric movement then just drop back down.

Let us remember that it is the eccentric (muscle lengthening) movement that induces more microtrauma in a muscle. These tears in the muscle therefore lead to more adaptation, hence greater muscle hypertrophy.

The next time you are doing calf raises, keep in mind after you have pushed off, do a 3-4 second count going back down, dont just drop back down.

Thanks Phil, nice contribution man.

congrats on the sticky!!!

Its cool yeah, cheers.

In my opinion calves are the same as any muscle. 6-9 HEAVY sets. Theres no need for high reps :S

3x10-12 Seated Calf Press (350-410)
3x10 Calf extensions off a leg press machine (600-700)

On the last rep of your extensions hold at the top of the rep for as long as you can.

My calves are big, trained heavy every second day. 30 second breaks. Takes like 10 minutes. I went from 90 pound seated calf press to 410 in literally one and a half months doing it this way. Stuck at 410 now though, but im not complaining.

Well said man.

[ChristopherG.EU]

Great post, Iron Life

I do calves twice per week. They are a weak point.

I also recommend everybody training them to failure, adding partial reps at the top and bottom halves of range, negatives....just to bring them to life.

[Ironlife]

Great post, Iron Life

I do calves twice per week. They are a weak point.

I also recommend everybody training them to failure, adding partial reps at the top and bottom halves of range, negatives....just to bring them to life.

Thanks for the reply mate,

and yes some great pointers you suggested also.

[zkyggen]

Is there anything you can recommend for the Bent knee calf raise? I only have 2 dumbells and a bench+BB to work with.. I dont know how i should do bent knee while adding weight still?

[Ironlife]

Is there anything you can recommend for the Bent knee calf raise? I only have 2 dumbells and a bench+BB to work with.. I dont know how i should do bent knee while adding weight still?

Cant you just sit down on the bench put a towel across your knees, then put the bar with weights across your knees, then do your raises. This should get the job done.

[zkyggen]

Cant you just sit down on the bench put a towel across your knees, then put the bar with weights across your knees, then do your raises. This should get the job done.

I tried it, but it seemed with the weight i had on i couldnt get a prober pump, and if i put more on, it ****ed up my legs where i rest the thing.. didnt try with a towl though.. Or maybe i just need to do a ****load of reps?

[InclineDBPresss]

I always liked this read:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...he-calves.html

[Ironlife]

I always liked this read:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/mus...he-calves.html

That is a very good site actually. Lots of info.

[MK_12]

Great post Ironlife, those first two videos were very interesting, I've never really done that before and I'm gonna try it.

Another set that I like to do at the end of my calf workout is a pyramid set on the hack squat machine. You don't need a ton of weight, I usually use about 150-180 pounds. Do 10 reps, then hold fully extended for 10 seconds, then 15 and 15 seconds, 20 and 20, 25 and 25, then back down the same way you went up. This set absolutely kills my calves.

[creationd]

One Legged Calf Raises is probably your best bet as it allows each calf to work independently. You can also work the left calf for an extra set and that may help.

I do 1 legged calf raises at the end of my calf workout, then after I am done I lean forward against a wall and bend my left knee forward stretching the opposite leg back as far as I can with my foot flat. Really stretches the calf muscle out good. Then I do the other leg. Also another good exercise is doing donkey calf raises with a weighted dip belt, I usually slip on two 45lbs and go until my calves are burning.

[Jammo_Mason]

3 stars?? Fu.K THAT.

Standing Calf Raises- Set the Weight to a weight that you can get 20 reps out on the standing calf machine.

7 sets of 20 standing raises with only 7-10 seconds rest inbetween sets, go to failure on each set maintaining good strict form and heavy weight.

Do This Workout once a month for a shock to the calves.
Got This From Neil Hill and its amazing!!

[vander123]

Can u aim specific heaps of the soleus if so do you do it by angling your foot in and out? i have a quiet large medial head of both my soleus and a lacking lateral head and i was wondering if i could aim that lateral heat to even it out.

[Ironlife]

Can u aim specific heaps of the soleus if so do you do it by angling your foot in and out? i have a quiet large medial head of both my soleus and a lacking lateral head and i was wondering if i could aim that lateral heat to even it out.

From what i understand, i always thought this was mainly genetic although feet positioning will emphasise various parts also. Just experiment and see what works best for you.

[asulik]

u can do the anterior DB raise with a BB, try puttin the BB just behind the toe and then lift it, one of my friends used to do it, never tried myself tho..

[Scaglietti]

u can do the anterior DB raise with a BB, try puttin the BB just behind the toe and then lift it, one of my friends used to do it, never tried myself tho..

no good, the barbell once you come up will just roll up to your ankle from the curve you create..