Thread: Possibly the most annoying muscle group

how are you training them and how much weight are u using

in my opinion calves need heavy weight to stimulate them

say you weigh 200 pounds , that means EACH calf has to lift 200 pound every time u climb stairs or even walk

so if you are doing barbell calves , you need to have at least another 200 making your total 400 , then go from there

Agree with the above. Would also advocate calve exercises with the knees bent.

I do a mix of higher rep and heavy weight. Smith machine with six plates per side on the step up block. And at least a thousand pounds on the sled.

I've seen some growth. I can tell a little difference but nothing major.

im cuttin now so...oh well

Originally Posted by T_man

Thats right; calves!!



You guys with decent wheels could you please tell me the best workouts that really impacted on your calves. And also legs if you got some workouts for that it would be great because mine needs improvement!

Thanks

This may sound odd but I do notice soccer players have some of the thickest calves I've ever seen.

Even the fat guys in the park who play in leagues have strong calves..

Play more soccer and watch it less.

High weight low reps for size.
Pause also when you execute the lift.
Good luck on cutting though, but yeah agreed with calves, hard to increase size and definition.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

This may sound odd but I do notice soccer players have some of the thickest calves I've ever seen.

Even the fat guys in the park who play in leagues have strong calves..

Play more soccer and watch it less.

lmao funny 'cause im a soccer player myself

At another forum the local Guru suggests that if your calves are hard to develope, then don't bother to train them (or your forearms), and there was no convincing him that he was wrong-headed on this.

Of course mounting your full length mirror 16" off the floor helps...

Make sure that when you execute your calves that balls of your feet are on a raised platform so that you can get a fuller range of motion.

Originally Posted by Fezz

lmao funny 'cause im a soccer player myself

My condolences.

Are your calves big compared to others?

haha, yeah. My legs in general are huge, and very strong.
For a guy who's only 5'10" 160 lbs, my legs are just as big as some guys that have been going to the gym for a long time. And I just got started working out at the gym about 7 months ago. Maybe its all the running and plyometrics? lol

IMO calves are going to go as far as your genetics allow. I know that's a generalization but I think it really applies to the calves.

I for one am fairly lucky. My calves grow in proportion to my legs. I don't have to kill them to get them to grow. On the other hand I have friends that out work me 2 to 1 on calves and can't get them to grow.

It sucks but IMO you can only get so far with what the big man gave you.

I do feel comfort in knowing Arnold and I share the same dilemma.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

This may sound odd but I do notice soccer players have some of the thickest calves I've ever seen.

Even the fat guys in the park who play in leagues have strong calves..

Play more soccer and watch it less.

I play soccer. It's all we do here in England

But if you've noticed the players with the big calves tend to be the defensive midfielders and defenders who put alot of weight on their steps.

I on the other hand am a winger/wing forward/forward, and so im fast and i have really light, quick steps and dont really get my weight down on my calves that much. I have massive thighs though, because of sprinting, and even though I've been doing upper body only for about a year before doing lower body, my thighs are still quite out of proportion with my upper body. Means I have a big sprinter's ass too

Originally Posted by Ngordyn

how are you training them and how much weight are u using

in my opinion calves need heavy weight to stimulate them

say you weigh 200 pounds , that means EACH calf has to lift 200 pound every time u climb stairs or even walk

so if you are doing barbell calves , you need to have at least another 200 making your total 400 , then go from there

I weigh 77 kg and I use 80kg on smith machine or 70kg when standing but it puts an awful lot of pressure on my lower back (I have a natural arch) and so I prefer to do it on the leg press machine with around 240lb; feels kinda like a donkey calf raise too.

Genetics w/e as long as you train hard and eat right. Genetics will play a part and you can tell the calves of someone who's gifted and someone who isnt granted they trained the same and ate the same. However, you can still get some decent calves if you really want I think.

And I'm here to show I really want it! give me an example of some training

Edit: Infact my calves are quite big it's just I have short tendonds/ligaments so the muscle goes quite far down, but I prefer to have a longer muscle. I just need to tone it up (aka build it some more and then cut then boo yah!) Putting some hill HIIT sprints into my cutting regime and lots of cycling to and from school when I start cut will really do them good methinks?

not sure about your back , thats more p-funks area, but i think you need to strengthen your lower back with squats and deadlifts , 176 is to light imo for calves, how much do you squat?

Originally Posted by T_man

I play soccer. It's all we do here in England

You guys should look into sex also, it's fun.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

You guys should look into sex also, it's fun.

LMAO

I tried it.

didnt quite give the same feeling as scoring a goal though!

176kg=388lb btw i was talking in metric

but 80+77=157 which is 346lb

i do 150lb squats and 135lb deads only because of my lower back though, not my leg strength

Maybe your playing for the wrong team.

lol the 176 was in pounds sorry i understand pounds a lot better

, did you have a back injury or just have a weak back?

just a weak back. I think my glutes are really strong and my lower back isnt so when I do anything for lower back it tends to work my glutes more

you should find a way to increase the strength in it , when you do deads do you use sumo style?

nah just regular. Have a bit of problems with it though because my upper body is much shorter than my lower body and my shoulders hardly come up past my knees when I'm squatting down.
Makes SLDL easier though

Soccer players do it best
Min0 lee, you should give it a shot hahaha
and T-man, I went to England with a club almost 2 years ago to play with Crewe Alexandra, great experience, and watched a couple wicked games there. Canada is bullshit, if they were as competitive as england, I know I could've gone somewhere.
Now, back on topic, I am a defender, that's why my calves are bigger =P hahaha

lol same here man don't worry about it

if u want a stronger back , you could do a powerlifting program for your deads

its based over 3 weeks

week one is regular 5X5

week 2 is a set of 8 then a set of 5 then 3 then 1

week 3 is a 3X5

now you use the same weight for the 5x5 as you do for your 5 3 1

every 3 weeks raise that by 5 pounds along with the sets of 3 and 1 ,

so say the first 3 weeks you do this

5x5 of 150 week 1

week2

8 x 135
5 x 150
3 x 175
1 x 200

week 3

3x5 150

then the next 3 weeks add 5 pounds to each

it takes a LONG time to reach a plateau using this
and you will add a lot of strength to your lower back

okay thanks ngordryn

but back on topic do you have any good ones like that but for calves??

I can honestly say I've never come across one

Originally Posted by T_man

okay thanks ngordryn

but back on topic do you have any good ones like that but for calves??

I can honestly say I've never come across one

My calves have always been slow to grow, but lately they have been doing very well.
So here's my advice and what I do.

Do 6 sets total.

2 sets with feet straight forward.
2 sets with toes pointing inward.
2 sets with toes pointing outward.

Try not to rock up and down when you perform the exercise.
Just focus on really pushing with the calf/toe.

Stop at the top and really squeeze them.


I also alternate between using a barbell and just holding 2 dumbells at my sides.

Hope that helps.

edit- p.s. as for reps. I will do anything from 10-20 reps.

Pause for three seconds at the bottom of EACH REP.

Also, train them to death while overeating - do sets of 'em as "rest" between sets of upper body work.

Do 'em standing, do 'em seated, do 'em one leg at a time.

Finish your workouts with 10-20 minutes of treadmill incline walk, STEEP, while sipping your shake.

I wouldn't say they are the most annoying. You simply have to try different things until you figure out what works for you.

For me, higher rep ranges with 3 second contractions tight squeezes at the end helps. Static squeeze burnout at the end of the set also works nicely. The calves are an incredible group that can handle damn near anything you can through at them.