Calf raises

[Arathor]

What is the best rep range for calf raises?

[Yodums]

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

I base my calves training off that. You should really experiment, though.

[GeneralSerpant]

8-12 on the standing, I like.

I like around 20 on the seated, but I haven't played around with it too much.

[whalehunter1000]

Today i did 40,30,20,10,10,20,30,40 it was pretty good

[sharpieblet]

it varies, but it's generally accepted that calves respond better to higher reps (12-20). i personally do my sets starting higher and finishing the last couple sets with lower weight. for example my calf raises from tuesday went like this:

straight legged using leg press:

280x20
280x20
360x12
450x8

sometimes there's an extra set in the mid range (12-15) depending on how i'm feeling, but overall i feel i get a good amount of volume using this rep scheme.

keep the weight controlled, try to pause at the top of the movement for a half second or so, controlled negative. the only thing that sucks about these is the next day i can't really do running or jogging for cardio b/c my calf muscles will be having spasms lol.

[mobikwa]

Today i did 40,30,20,10,10,20,30,40 it was pretty good

That is excellent for calf work as long as it's done with strict, controlled movement.

I train calves every day I'm at the gym. I do a 4 on, 1 off schedule. 3 of those days I do high rep work and 1 day is heavy weight.

I've put 1.5" on my calves in the past 6 months or so since I started this calf routine.

Today was my heavy day. I would knock out 10 good reps then increase the weight and repeat. I don't know how many sets I did total but I kept increasing the weight until I couldn't do 10 good reps. Then I dropped the weight a bit and continued knocking them out.

[sharpieblet]

That is excellent for calf work as long as it's done with strict, controlled movement.

I train calves every day I'm at the gym. I do a 4 on, 1 off schedule. 3 of those days I do high rep work and 1 day is heavy weight.

I've put 1.5" on my calves in the past 6 months or so since I started this calf routine.

Today was my heavy day. I would knock out 10 good reps then increase the weight and repeat. I don't know how many sets I did total but I kept increasing the weight until I couldn't do 10 good reps. Then I dropped the weight a bit and continued knocking them out.

what's your high rep work like on your calves? it would seem to me that eventually you'll run out of gains on your calves training them 4 days a week and only resting them 3. unless your non-heavy days aren't that stressful on them.

[mobikwa]

what's your high rep work like on your calves? it would seem to me that eventually you'll run out of gains on your calves training them 4 days a week and only resting them 3. unless your non-heavy days aren't that stressful on them.

I'm training them 4 days, resting 1, and then repeating the cycle. I run a 5 day workout program, I don't follow the calender week with my workouts.

Of course I'll run out of gains on my calves, I'll run out of gains on everything eventually.

Think about it, you use your calves with every step you take, they need high rep, high volume work.

My high volume days are between 100 and 200 reps spread out in sets of 20-30 reps with rest periods of around 60 seconds. Sometimes I'll knock out a set of 20-30, rest only until the throbbing pain subsides and immediately hit them for another 10 reps.

I'll also do 10-15 minutes on the stair master or elliptical after my workouts really concentrating on flexing my calves as hard as possible with each rep.

Training calves is so goddamn painful but it's really the only way to get them big.

[sharpieblet]

I'm training them 4 days, resting 1, and then repeating the cycle. I run a 5 day workout program, I don't follow the calender week with my workouts.

Of course I'll run out of gains on my calves, I'll run out of gains on everything eventually.

Think about it, you use your calves with every step you take, they need high rep, high volume work.

My high volume days are between 100 and 200 reps spread out in sets of 20-30 reps with rest periods of around 60 seconds. Sometimes I'll knock out a set of 20-30, rest only until the throbbing pain subsides and immediately hit them for another 10 reps.

I'll also do 10-15 minutes on the stair master or elliptical after my workouts really concentrating on flexing my calves as hard as possible with each rep.

Training calves is so goddamn painful but it's really the only way to get them big.

i feel ya bro. i'm not knocking your methods if they're working for you. i just find that the way i train mine, i don't think i could handle any more volume thrown in, as far as direct heavy training goes. POSSIBLY could handle 3 days of hitting calves...but i see no need for it as of now

[ThickAsABrick]

Threeve.

[DeathBySquats]

I treat calves like every other muscle generally focus on 8-12 rep ranges with some blowout sets to 15-20. Key is not to bounce but to rather just focus on the contraction each time, when you bounce your doing yourself no good and make sure to hit standing, seated calf raises as both target the calfs differently.

[repsandsets]

Depends also on whether your looking for hypertrophy or functional benefits as well...

I do a lot of running, and used to have serious trouble with achilles tendinopathy. Even had to drop out of a few races because it got so bad. I saw a physio who said I needed to load the tendon for it to heal, and prescribed calf raises - one leg at a time, with a focus on very slow, controlled eccentric motion, fully dorsiflexing the ankle, for 10 reps.

Initially, I did this twice daily. Three weeks later all my tendon pain was gone.

Now I've worked it into my leg day and I've never had a problem with my achilles tendons since.

Strong calves means strong tendons - and as I've learned the painful way, this helps protect you from injury.

[t_raven]

I've done them on a leg press for quite a while, with knees slightly bent. Calves aren't big but just started bulking again for the first time in a long time.

I recently read an article saying to pre exhaust the soleus with 100 reps of seated calf raises, then do them on a leg press to work the gastrocnemius, with a rep range of 8-12. I've been doing it for a few weeks and I like it so far. They're 1/2" bigger since I started bulking again. I've never been able to decide if high or low reps works better for me. Lower reps with heavy weight makes them sore, but doesn't necessarily mean they'll grow. I'll probably stick with the rep range I'm using for a while and try higher reps for a while after that to see what works better.

[sharpieblet]

I've done them on a leg press for quite a while, with knees slightly bent. Calves aren't big but just started bulking again for the first time in a long time.

i recently read an article saying to pre exhaust the soleus with 100 reps of seated calf raises, then do them on a leg press to work the gastrocnemius, with a rep range of 8-12. I've been doing it for a few weeks and I like it so far. They're 1/2" bigger since I started bulking again. I've never been able to decide if high or low reps works better for me. Lower reps with heavy weight makes them sore, but doesn't necessarily mean they'll grow. I'll probably stick with the rep range I'm using for a while and try higher reps for a while after that to see what works better.

not necessary. seated works a different part of the calf than straight legged (straight legged hits the 'ball' looking portion that most of us desire to develop). rep range is purely up to the trainee, but 8-12 is a nice range to start with and get used to before attempting the higher reps or even going super heavy for low reps. all rep ranges can induce growth, some do so faster than others.

[mobikwa]

i feel ya bro. i'm not knocking your methods if they're working for you. i just find that the way i train mine, i don't think i could handle any more volume thrown in, as far as direct heavy training goes. POSSIBLY could handle 3 days of hitting calves...but i see no need for it as of now

The key is not just increasing volume but also decreasing weight substantially. On the standing calf machine at my gym I only do 100-120 lbs on my high volume days and 240-280 on my low volume day.

I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong and my way is the only way, just that when I started doing it this way I noticed an explosion in size.

[mobikwa]

I've done them on a leg press for quite a while, with knees slightly bent. Calves aren't big but just started bulking again for the first time in a long time.

I recently read an article saying to pre exhaust the soleus with 100 reps of seated calf raises, then do them on a leg press to work the gastrocnemius, with a rep range of 8-12. I've been doing it for a few weeks and I like it so far. They're 1/2" bigger since I started bulking again. I've never been able to decide if high or low reps works better for me. Lower reps with heavy weight makes them sore, but doesn't necessarily mean they'll grow. I'll probably stick with the rep range I'm using for a while and try higher reps for a while after that to see what works better.

The thing is even having a slight bend in the knee activates the soleus and takes pressure off of the gastro. Back in my college days when I first started training I didn't know there were 2 main muscles in the calves so I only did seated raises. My soleus became strong as hell and when I finally did start doing straight leg raises my soleus would work and prevent me from hitting my gastro. I did end up having to pre exhaust it to sufficiently train the gastro.

[sharpieblet]

The key is not just increasing volume but also decreasing weight substantially. On the standing calf machine at my gym I only do 100-120 lbs on my high volume days and 240-280 on my low volume day.

I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong and my way is the only way, just that when I started doing it this way I noticed an explosion in size.

what's your reasoning in lowering the weight? if it's strictly for steady controlled form, i already have strict form regardless of what rep range i'm using lol

[t_raven]

not necessary. seated works a different part of the calf than straight legged (straight legged hits the 'ball' looking portion that most of us desire to develop). rep range is purely up to the trainee, but 8-12 is a nice range to start with and get used to before attempting the higher reps or even going super heavy for low reps. all rep ranges can induce growth, some do so faster than others.

The thing is even having a slight bend in the knee activates the soleus and takes pressure off of the gastro. Back in my college days when I first started training I didn't know there were 2 main muscles in the calves so I only did seated raises. My soleus became strong as hell and when I finally did start doing straight leg raises my soleus would work and prevent me from hitting my gastro. I did end up having to pre exhaust it to sufficiently train the gastro.

I do seated calf raises to pre exhaust the soleus. Even with a slight bend using the leg press of for the gastro it has been working them well. I pause at the bottom and squeeze at the top. No bouncing. Did 3 sets of 350x10 a couple days ago and then a 4th set at 200lbs to failure. Worked pretty good and definitely hit the gastro. After reading that link Yodums provided I think I'll try doing the leg press raises with straight legs and see how that feels.