Thread: Stubborn Calves

Persistence man. My calves are slow growers too. You have to do everything for them. Light weight, high rep. High weight, low rep. Blast reps, slow reps, hold contractions. Just don't give up. I find that volume is the key. 3 days a week or more.

I guess Im lucky. I have big legs and NEVER work them...quads 29" calves are 17.5" at 5'9"

Thanks for the advice. I might have to throw in a extra day in my routine.

Calves are a different combo of fast & slow-twitch muscles - they tend to be what you're born with but keep looking and they will grow. Best results I've heard people getting are from donkey calf machines. It may be you need to try different approaches - both slow & heavy or light & fast to see what you respond to.

Calves are notoriously genetically hindered. If you've got non responsive calves I'm sorry I know its ridiculously frustrating. Calvert es tend to respond best to the eccentric (negative) stress. I first read about this in a t-nation article. This is why sprinters have such epic calves. According to that article downhill running would be the most effective Calf grower. Of course running down a hill is not a safe pastime for a bodybuilder.

That article recommended the 2/1 method. So on seated calf raise you would lift up (eccentric) with both calves but then use only one one a slow negative descent. Try it.

Later when I first tried DC training I recognized this same principal in how they train calves. The reps are done 5/15. Its press up (positive) hold for five, lower down (negative) to FULL STRETCH at the bottom. So on seated calf your heel with be below your toe as far as it with go. You hold that negative for fifteen seconds.

Repeat.

Omg you will want to die this is so difficult. Use a stopwatch for even more heinous torture.

The man that taught me to lift told me "the muscle that is stretching the most is working the most". According to TNation and Dogcrapp this is true... at least when it comes to calves.

So its not the particular exercise that makes a difference... its the method of the rep.

Thanks Ag I'll have to give that a shot as well. Question 5/15.. I got hold for five at the top does 15 mean reps or 15 sec Negs?

It's not Eben a fifteen second negative ifs a fifteen second full stretch hold at the very bottom. Or is probably more accuratle written as 3/5/5/15
3sec press
5sec hold
5sec negative
15 full stretch hold@bottom

The last two people that I taught this to don't talk to me anymore lol. Coincidence?

My calves respond to drop sets. With big rep counts. I like using the plate driven seated raise.

From my experience in the past, I had better results on a Donkey Raise machine. I haven?t seen one in years. Kind of the reason I don?t to much calve work, crappy excuse I know. I just liked the stretch it gives as I worked out, I guess thats what is was more effective for me. I workout at 24 hours fitness.

Over the 12 years that I've been lifting, I attempted to train calves only once and it lasted for a mere two months or so until I realized that my calves actually ended up smaller than before I started. Since then, which was like 5 years ago, I haven't done anything for them whatsoever and learned to accept them for what they are. From what I see calves are extremely difficult to develop well.