Thread: rep range for calves

Originally Posted by Diesel618

what up bros I'm sure a lot of you are dealing with or have dealt with stubborn calves like myself so I figured I'd get some of your oppinions on the matter


Whenever I see pros' routines in magz they always have like 20-30 reps on calves so I was doing that for a while. Recently I switched up a little bit. I hit calves twice a week so one day I'll go with my normal high reps but one day I'll go heavier and go 10-15 because I'm a firm believer that heavy weight lifted = big muscles


what do you guys like to do as far as reps for calves?

I too do two sessions as week one heavy for 10-15 reps and then one done with railroads, i.e number of plates each side x10 is the number of reps you perform in each set. such as 10 plates 100reps.

I've never had trouble with calf development and unless you have african heritage i'm not prepared to buy into the crap genetics arguement.

I do calves DC style, 12-15 reps. Explode up, hold for 5 seconds, lower and hold for 12 seconds and repeat. Also, walking on your toes on a steeply inclined treadmill will make them grow as well.

thanks guys I've been wanting to try DC style for everything for a while now but everything I read tells me I'm not ready so I'm gonna give it a couple years. And I don't blame my genetics it's just frustrating how my upper legs look in comparison. I have very thin ankles and knees and they just don't grow very well. Same with my forearms I have very small wrists. Look at Dennis Wolf's calves. He isn't black and his could use some work.

Originally Posted by Diesel618

thanks guys I've been wanting to try DC style for everything for a while now but everything I read tells me I'm not ready so I'm gonna give it a couple years. And I don't blame my genetics it's just frustrating how my upper legs look in comparison. I have very thin ankles and knees and they just don't grow very well. Same with my forearms I have very small wrists. Look at Dennis Wolf's calves. He isn't black and his could use some work.

the genetics comment wasn't a barb, sorry if it seemed so.

dennis has very odd proportion imho. his abdomen is so long his lats look short and underdeveloped. as for his calves i think they're pretty big just that his tibia, and fibula are very long proportionally and so they look small.

I respect you for knowing you're not ready for a program. DC is tough, physically and mentally as well. I cycle in and out of it through the year and can only "blast" about 6 weeks before my CNS is fried and I need a week or even two off. But try the calf workout, it's a bitch and will make your calves grow if done right.

I usually shoot for 8-15 reps with heavy weight. Then immediately go into 20-30 rep sets for bodyweight

Originally Posted by trapzilla

the genetics comment wasn't a barb, sorry if it seemed so.

dennis has very odd proportion imho. his abdomen is so long his lats look short and underdeveloped. as for his calves i think they're pretty big just that his tibia, and fibula are very long proportionally and so they look small.

no offense taken. I guess I never looked at his proportions like that. I always just figured his lats inserted higher than a lot of people's and his calves don't hang down like a lot of people's. Interesting viewpoint.

I'll try that DC calf routine for a nice shock and I'll try supersetting heavy with bodyweight and see what happens. Thanks for the replies bros, that's why I keep comin back.

When doing DC calves, imagine pushing up off the big toe. Also, try the treadmill calf session, your calves will be on fire.

I like to use FST-7 for calves.

Originally Posted by TJTJ

I like to use FST-7 for calves.

How's that working for you?

Originally Posted by tballz

How's that working for you?

Kicking ass

20 to 30

Originally Posted by TJTJ

I like to use FST-7 for calves.

you know I've never tried that. Done it for about every other bodypart. Good advice.

Originally Posted by Diesel618

you know I've never tried that. Done it for about every other bodypart. Good advice.

You got it buddy

I usually like going in the high reps for caves... 20-30 rep range. I find that they respond WAAYY better to that!

IMO

Got abs and calves tomorrow. This will probably change depending on what's open at my gym but I'm shootin to have it go like this:

Decline twisting situps - 3X10 to each side
Hanging leg raise - 3 sets of 15 (5 to left, 5 to front, 5 to right)
concentrated Crunches - 4X25

Standing calf raise on smith machine w/ cardio step - 3X225X15superset with 25 BW
2X15 95 lbs one leg calf raises
Seated calf raise - 3plates X25
4plates X 15 X 3
-after 3rd set dropset to 3 plates and go to failure
Machine rotary calf raise - 3 sets


Machine deads or trap bar deads - 6 platesX15
-8 platesX10X3
after 3rd set dropset to 6 and go to failure


I'll do more reasearch about the DC calf routine and aim to shock with that my next rest day (wednesday)

how's it look?

Originally Posted by Diesel618

Got abs and calves tomorrow. This will probably change depending on what's open at my gym but I'm shootin to have it go like this:

Decline twisting situps - 3X10 to each side
Hanging leg raise - 3 sets of 15 (5 to left, 5 to front, 5 to right)
concentrated Crunches - 4X25

Standing calf raise on smith machine w/ cardio step - 3X225X15superset with 25 BW
2X15 95 lbs one leg calf raises
Seated calf raise - 3plates X25
4plates X 15 X 3
-after 3rd set dropset to 3 plates and go to failure
Machine rotary calf raise - 3 sets


Machine deads or trap bar deads - 6 platesX15
-8 platesX10X3
after 3rd set dropset to 6 and go to failure


I'll do more reasearch about the DC calf routine and aim to shock with that my next rest day (wednesday)

how's it look?

Looks good. What about FST-7?

Diesel, take a look at this article. It changed what I thought were stubborn calves overnight. LITERALLY. Ignore that the article is from one of the shitiest sites ever.

Originally Posted by TJTJ

Looks good. What about FST-7?

damn good call. I was just gettin ready to head out for the gym too. I might have to get to that one after I do the DC workout if I have anything left.

Originally Posted by juggernaut

Diesel, take a look at this article. It changed what I thought were stubborn calves overnight. LITERALLY. Ignore that the article is from one of the shitiest sites ever.

that was an awesome read. I had figured out to roll on sides of my feet vs. pointing my toes that just put stress on my ankles. I liked heavy for the actual calf, high rep for the soleus idea. Maybe I should try to work them in 3 times a week for a while too.

I'll do 4 sets of 15 with slow controlled reps, pause at top and bottom. Can't walk afterwards.

It's all about variety. Use both high and low rep training in separate workouts. Hopefully you are training them more than once a week. Train them with high reps one day and low reps the next. Whatever you can do to stop them from adapting to the workload...

FST-7 is IMO the best for over coming plateaus. It stretches the fascia allowing more room for the muscle to grow in.

What is FST-7 if I can ask?

Originally Posted by Anabolic5150

What is FST-7 if I can ask?

Fascia Stretch Training 7
it is a training philosophy designed by Hany Rambod.
It usually entails 3 exercises done heavily F.S.T. and then an exercise done for 7 sets of 10-15 reps with the same or greater weight with minimal rest between each set 30-15seconds.

The idea is to flush as much blood into the muscle to stretch the sheath-fascia that covers a muscle to allow room for greater hypertrophy.

I'm not soled on any aspect of it. but many pro bodybuilders swear by it

I have made my own wooden calf block. I do it with bare feet on the round side of the block. I don't really count my reps but switch around weights, just do it six to eight sets in between other workout untill fail. But I think my reps are around 15-20. I noticed that there is big difference between doing it bare feet and doing with shoes.
Just saying

Originally Posted by trapzilla

Fascia Stretch Training 7
it is a training philosophy designed by Hany Rambod.
It usually entails 3 exercises done heavily F.S.T. and then an exercise done for 7 sets of 10-15 reps with the same or greater weight with minimal rest between each set 30-15seconds.

The idea is to flush as much blood into the muscle to stretch the sheath-fascia that covers a muscle to allow room for greater hypertrophy.

I'm not soled on any aspect of it. but many pro bodybuilders swear by it

So, you do 3 heavy sets, and then you do 7 sets with the same weight for 8-12 reps and rest 30 seconds between sets?

calves do high reps all day long. Doesn't work. Chicks get great calves walking in heels. At the top of every rep hold it like s chick in heels.