Thread: Best cardio exercise for calves?

Calves tend to have a heavy genetically-driven aspect to them. They are usuaully made up of a different proportion of fast & slow-twitch muscle and tend to respond better to burst-type work.

It can be hard to grow calves if you don't have them. I've got gentically big calves but have a hard time cutting them up (tend to hold a lot of water there). I think just looking at the physiques of those in particular sports as the more pronounced example - sprinting, skating and biking are good calf-enhancers.

Stairmaster is pretty heavy calf-focus. Obviusly stepmills are. You might find biking (spinning) w/ lots of up off the seat work. Plyo work w/ jumping - thinking of the stuff you see Oly people doing.

Personally I love the donkey calf machine but its damn hard to find them at gyms these days.

Sometimes I'll do cardio on the stair stepper. Each step I'll just do a calf raise with that particular leg. Works well I guess - get a good burn at least.

Sounds kind of crazy, but I tried walking backwards on the tread mill and my calves were sore as hell the next day. Someone suggested trying this and I did it at the end of cardio for about 5 minutes at about 3.0.

My vote goes to sprints, definitely

Treadmill on a steep incline and rise up on your toes with each step. Mimics the action of cyclists and most of them have great calves.

Fat joggers always have huge calves. I was one, and my calves are huge (16.5"). I recommend becoming obese, and then taking up jogging. Make sure to overcompensate for the activity by overeating, just like ACTUAL fat joggers.

Built, yer killin' me.......

Ah, from one "shrinking fat-girl" to another, lol!

How big are your calves, niki?

I believe we've already discussed this.........ahem...I no longer 'work' my calves.....its' ridiculous.....

wait a tick......

had never measured 'em, not sure if I did it right, but I'm reading 15"...

skipping... my 2 cents I am ALWAYS killed the next day on my calves

I like very heavy, low rep movements followed by heavy static holds for my calves. Works about as best as it can get for me without going the route Built has suggested.

Jump rope, FTW!

Originally Posted by Built

Fat joggers always have huge calves. I was one, and my calves are huge (16.5"). I recommend becoming obese, and then taking up jogging. Make sure to overcompensate for the activity by overeating, just like ACTUAL fat joggers.

Awww, my arms are 3 inches bigger than your calves....

Basketball because of jumping and changing directions. You'll get longer calves instead of the ones that start half or 3/4 of the way up (like you see on bodybuilders). I assume this is because the muscle is being used at high load in the full range of motion at all angles, versus calf raises where you might not go down far enough, or utilize the foot at different angles.

I assume when I play each jump, the force generated is near the one-rep-max that one would experience in the gym, since I'm trying my hardest to generate all-out power to jump as high as possible, or change direction as quick as possible.

With quick acceleration exercises you are building type IIx muscle fibers for the jumps and changes in direction, and type I and IIa for everything else.

Originally Posted by mryar

Basketball because of jumping and changing directions. You'll get longer calves instead of the ones that start half or 3/4 of the way up (like you see on bodybuilders). I assume this is because the muscle is being used at high load in the full range of motion at all angles, versus calf raises where you might not go down far enough, or utilize the foot at different angles.

I assume when I play each jump, the force generated is near the one-rep-max that one would experience in the gym, since I'm trying my hardest to generate all-out power to jump as high as possible, or change direction as quick as possible.

With quick acceleration exercises you are building type IIx muscle fibers for the jumps and changes in direction, and type I and IIa for everything else.

Basketball players generally dont have the biggest calves... at least nothing like cyclists and sprinters, or even football players for that matter.

But then again, many basketball players are African American and for some reason it seems to be a little harder for "us" to gain size on calves.

Running bleachers seems to work well not to mention the positive effect on your conditioning

My calves are 16.75. They are big and smooth, and I think they are too big for my thighs. Do you guys have any ideas on how to make them smaller to match with my thighs. I don't want to build my thigh to match with my calves.

The calves and thighs are the two major areas of our body consist of strong muscles that assist the body with some weightlifting activities.

For those seeking to form toned-looking muscles in the legs and slim down the body as a whole, try doing cardiovascular exercises that draw the calves and thighs. Standard weight lifting tends to build muscle bulk, which may make the calves and thighs look larger. Cardio is better for better burning off fat. Jogging with short, quick strides tends to work the muscles of the thighs more deep;y, while running on the toes or running up stairs or hills will work the calves more intensely. Swimming is another very good cardio exercise that is effective for thigh muscles, since the flutter kick and frog kick engage the thighs. Cycling will also work the thigh muscles.

Built

Originally Posted by strongrunbox

Jump rope, FTW!

This

+1 for cycling and indoor spinning. Depending on what your doing (out-of-saddle, jumps, climbing) it hits different areas of the legs. Also, watch how you pedal. Some people believe a toe-down cadence helps, but it actually causes less power transfer between your foot and the platform pedal.

The only way to actually achieve a good, smooth cadence is by using clipless pedals. That's another story though...