Calf Training Frequency

[Shotput15]

Many say, that calves can be trained anywhere from once a week, to once a day. This week I have experienced something in my calves that have made me rethink what some have said. Normally I train my calves with legs on mondays by doing standing calf raises, and on friday after biceps and back, I do calf presses on the leg press machine. This week, my calves have remained sore up until today. Obviously if my calves remain sore tomorrow, I am not going to train them. But my thoughts are, that calves should not be treated differently than any other muscle. I remember reading an article about calf training by Arnold Schwarzenggar, and he didn't necessarily train calves because it was part of his schedule, but he went by how they "felt". Now many people will say, just like it be abs, or forearms, that your calves are a smaller muscle group, and can withstand more frequent training because they heal quicker. I don't agree with this, as your calves get a lot of usage every single day just from plain walking. I have always been a very strong advocate for once a week training of every muscle group, excluding abs, as I do like to train them twice a week. Overall, I just wanted to get some further opinions on frequency of calf training, and see if there are others who agree with me.

[Defiant1]

Disregarding the science, the people that I have observed making GAINS on their calf muscles seem to train them more and with more reps/sets.

That is my observation, and it is true for myself as well.

Also, notice that many "endurance" type athletes have BIG calves.

Science? Well, you can look at the muscle fiber types (ST) and the fact that each motor unit recruits a lot of fibers in the calves, so each contraction is not as efficient (there are less motor units).

My .02c

[dirk digler]

Another thing. Look at obese people. They tend to have really big calves. If that ain't high volume, I don't know what is.

[BernieD]

when I trained my calves once a week, they didn't grow much. About 4-6 weeks ago I started to train them 2x a week, and they exploded. Calves, for many people, have stubborn growth (much like forearms). I would switch to doing it 2x a week and then see. Eventually, you could go to 3x a week, but I would wait awhile before you reached that point. For those who train them 2x a week, some people like to go heavy both days and do 15-20 reps. Others like to go heavy one day, and then go lighter the other day and do 30-50 reps. Try both ways and see which works better for you. Granted, they'll take more of a beating if you go heavy both days, so if safety is an issue for you (as it should always be anyway), try a heavy and light day and see how it goes. But for me, I've found that training them once a week did nothing.

[bigpump23]

Not to make myself out to be the "IT" guys but I know alot about calf training, i'm 6'6 with 18 inch cavles, train them 3-4 times a week with varying factors

[W8isGR8]

Another thing. Look at obese people. They tend to have really big calves. If that ain't high volume, I don't know what is.

Yeah, I hate how short, fat people are blessed with great calves. Maybe that's the secret..........I like doing mine twice a week, but you could always try this(assuming M/W/F split)

Monday:Standing calf raises
Wed:Seated calf raises
Fri: Donkey calf or Leg press

Monday:Seated calf raises
Wed:Standing or Donkey calf raises
Fri:Seated calf raises

This way you can alternate hitting the soleus and the gastrocs and hit each three times in two weeks. Just a thought.

[irishrunt]

i don't personally believe training each muscle once a week. there are muscles that i feel should be hit twice a week. calves are definitely one of them. i hit them twice a week doing standing and sitting on different days. this i feel gives the best results. friends also tell me that work them at least twice a week with results so that's what i am sticking to.

[The Big Unit]

Every day. I never got any results out of my calves untill I started doing them every day and as heavy as possible.

[grimmersnee]

I have had great success trainning calfs 1 to 3 times a week. Not a big workout, just 10 sets hard and fast.

I wonder if the same applies for delts?

Its hard when you only have so much time to give to trainning.
With these muscle groups that require twice a week trainning other body part trainning has to give. For me my back is my easiest and most developed muscle, so I think I might cut down on that to give way for for delt trainning.

What do guys think?