Thread: calves

how long , and how much do you do for your calves?
Do you mix it up, slow reps , fast reps, super sets?
how many different exercises do you do for calves each work out?

I think its one of those muslces that are different for everyone.
I do it at the end of my leg workout for about 15 minutes , I do legs once a week.(some times take a week off for my legs to grow)

I wouldn't do calves more than twice a week.

I'd only do shoulders once a week as they get hit doing chest and back already.

Originally posted by Scotty the Body
I wouldn't do calves more than twice a week.

I'd only do shoulders once a week as they get hit doing chest and back already.

I agree with that.

Shoulders and traps can be trained 2 times per week for the novice lifter on a more basic routine. Once you become more advanced, I recommend a split wherein you train each bodypart once each week, unless you are specializing on a weak bodypart-but that another issue.

As for calves, I would suggest twice weekly training-one day heavy for lower reps(gastrocs), and one day lighter for higher reps(soleus).

Bottom line... don't count on consistent advice. Different programs work for different people. The most common advice I see is to train calves at least a couple times per week. Most people have a hard time developing calves so they try to blast them as frequently as possible. Find out what works for you, as long as you keep good form in mind and sensible weight.

work them like any other muscle how tough are you on your chest or back?

as gopro said CALVES need to be trained to ways heavy and light

Originally posted by Tank316
as gopro said CALVES need to be trained to ways heavy and light

Remember, the gastrocnemius is made of mostly fast twitch muscle fibers. These are best worked with heavy weight and lower reps...6-12.

The soleus of the calf is made up of primarily slow twitch fibers. These are best worked with higher reps...15-20.

Go pro's advice was sound. However, if you need to specialize in calves, training them more than twice a week is ok as long as you use the methods of periodization. My calves were really lacking (and they still are) but i worked them 3 times a week for 4 weeks and they really grew. I incorporated low and high reps for the same workout and the same exercise. I think go pro is good with periodization so i say go to him. As for shoulders, I would say generally, once a week is enough because they are hit while doing chest, and back. However, your case might be different. Are your shoulder lifts progressing each workout? If they are, i would say not to worry about it. But if they are not, i would sit back and re-assess what is going wrong. You can change the number of reps, sets, tempo, rest period, or even the exercises. Good exercises for shoulders are:

Over DB press
Military press
Clean and jerk
Cleans
lateral raises
bent over lateral raises.

muscles respond differently whether it be previously mistrained,genetics or not a priority to some.there certain muscle groups like calves/shoulders that can be trained 2/week.but i feel if yourre advanced enough in your training and you decided to train biceps for example2/wk,i truly feel that you would start to over train them,figuring the biomechanics when you train back that there is alot of biceps envolved,just my opinion muscle need around 70/hrs to repair themselves/with proper rest/food/water

oops when i wrote shoulders i wanted to TRAPS,sorry

I was thinking the other day, if it was neccessary to work your shins. If calve/shin and quads/hams work the same way, do you need to incorporate shins in your workout for balance, like quads and hams?

I currently don't do anything for my shins, should I add to my workout? I no expert, but had this thought.

Originally posted by EagleEye
I was thinking the other day, if it was neccessary to work your shins. If calve/shin and quads/hams work the same way, do you need to incorporate shins in your workout for balance, like quads and hams?

I currently don't do anything for my shins, should I add to my workout? I no expert, but had this thought.

Very few people ever think about the muscle that runs down the "shin" bone, but they should. This muscle, known as the tibialis anterior, is the one we associate with "shin splints." Visually, developing this muscle will not make much of a difference in your lower leg. However, for those that engage in athletics, developing this muscle is quite important.

You can work this muscle with reverse calf raises and reverse leg press toe raises. When you push with the heel and pull your toes toward you under resistance, you will effectively work this muscle. I do a couple of sets for my tibialis 1-2 times weekly.

Thanks gopro, I think I'll add some shins workouts to my routine.

EE...

In musclemag:

75 rep calve routine

10 reps
10 second rest
15 reps
15 second rest
25 reps
15 second rest
15 reps
10 second rest
10 reps

Mix it up with this and you'll be shocked

bump

first time I have seen anterior tibs addressed here. I will usually do a couple sets of weighted dorsiflexion (weighted toe raises) per week two help keep away shin splints. another common problem with shin splints is having really tight calves, so make sure to stretch them.
gopro failed to mention that besides manipulating the weight for calf movements to target the gastrocs or soleus, you have to choose the right movements. Standing movements (legs straight) for gastrocs and seated for soleus to shift the biomechanical advantage from one muscle to the other.

-Off season I do 8-sets calves twice a week

-for precontest training I do 8-10-sets three times a week

Every other day!!!

Standing movements (legs straight) for gastrocs and seated for soleus to shift the biomechanical advantage from one muscle to the other.

rmau

which of these is the inner and outer head?
thx man

Originally posted by archer


rmau

which of these is the inner and outer head?
thx man

The soleus lies underneath the gastrocnemius toward the outside. The gastrocs are the diamond shaped muscle on the surface. In order to hit the inner head, rise up while putting more pressure toward your big toe. To hit the outer head, rise up putting more pressure on your little toe.

While we cannot change the pre-dermined genetic shape of our muscles, we can bring out full development by varying angles, hand/foot position, and stances.

With calves, you may want to try turning toes in or out, and varying the width of your stance to get a different feeling in the muscle when working it.

Here is a link to an interesting article on one aspect of calf training.Scroll down to about the last 1/3 of the article to get to calf training.

http://t-mag.com/articles/191pop.html