Training Calf Muscles

[average_joe]

I'm trying to get bigger calves. Any tips? Right now, I'm doing

1) raises on the balls of my feet on flat ground with a weighted barbell on my shoulders (squat postion)

2) the machine in which you sit down and do calf raises

3) one legged calf raises on flat ground holding a dumbell

I'm doing about 10 reps.

[aramini]

quick interval sprints with the jump rope on your toes, don't let the heel touch and do it as quickly as you can for thirty seconds or a minute, rest, do it again, until you can "sprint" with it for about two minutes and do five or so reps.

Standing calf raises in the smith rack, of course, are the best. The smith rack spots you. I used to do about 450 lbs for sets of 10 reps in it, but I forget to set the safety once, dropped it on myself, and now have a healthy respect for always making sure the safety is employed. There aren't very many ways to flex a calf, so a few exercises must be done at high intensity.

[younghypnotiq]

ur overtraining ur calves. dont do 3 fucking excercises for calves. unless u do 1 set of each.

[average_joe]

quick interval sprints with the jump rope on your toes, don't let the heel touch and do it as quickly as you can for thirty seconds or a minute, rest, do it again, until you can "sprint" with it for about two minutes and do five or so reps.

Standing calf raises in the smith rack, of course, are the best. The smith rack spots you. I used to do about 450 lbs for sets of 10 reps in it, but I forget to set the safety once, dropped it on myself, and now have a healthy respect for always making sure the safety is employed. There aren't very many ways to flex a calf, so a few exercises must be done at high intensity.

You do the calf raises on level ground though right? The problem with that though is I can't get enough of a stretch on it, so I'm just moving maybe 4 inches. The machine where you sit down and do calf raises, has the front of the feet higher than the back, meaning more of a stretch.

As for the jump rope, I do a little of that for conditioning, and I do feel it in the calves. But that would be more of an endurance training, not for bulking right?

[average_joe]

ur overtraining ur calves. dont do 3 fucking excercises for calves. unless u do 1 set of each.

I do around 2 sets of each. No I don't think it's overtraining. I do 3 exercises of everything. For example, if I'm training biceps, I do pullups, hammer curls, and preacher curls.

[younghypnotiq]

^^^^ well then u r overtraining ur biceps aswell. if u want a good bodybuilidng routine ask me and i will post it up. also do them with free weights but put your toes on something a little higher. thats what i do. i do straiing calf raises on as tep.

[Sagefrancis]

he's not overtraining his calves.
the calves, like the abs, neck and forearms are hard to overtrain.
and im talking about real overtraining, long term overtraining, not just feeling sore the next day.
this is because they are used so much in our everyday lives.
the exercises suggested are fine. but remember youve got two different muscles there. the soleus and gastrocnemes (sp?) and im pretty sure one of them you need to work with your knees bent and the other with it standing.
im not sure anyway
goodluck

[average_joe]

^^^^ well then u r overtraining ur biceps aswell. if u want a good bodybuilidng routine ask me and i will post it up. also do them with free weights but put your toes on something a little higher. thats what i do. i do straiing calf raises on as tep.

No, I'm not. This is one of the workouts I do. I take enough rest in between, usually two days. And I'm not really new to this. I've been lifting for about 5 years now. If I were a beginner, it would be overtraining, but after this long, I need about that much to get sore. And in case you are going to say that being sore isn't necessary, I don't believe that either. Muscle soreness the day after is a good thing.

I'll try the step though, thanks for that.:good

[average_joe]

he's not overtraining his calves.
the calves, like the abs, neck and forearms are hard to overtrain.
and im talking about real overtraining, long term overtraining, not just feeling sore the next day.
this is because they are used so much in our everyday lives.
the exercises suggested are fine. but remember youve got two different muscles there. the soleus and gastrocnemes (sp?) and im pretty sure one of them you need to work with your knees bent and the other with it standing.
im not sure anyway
goodluck

Good to know. What rep range do you suggest? I heard that calves are a little different, and that you should go with higher reps even for hypertrophy.

[Sagefrancis]

Good to know. What rep range do you suggest? I heard that calves are a little different, and that you should go with higher reps even for hypertrophy.

hypertrophy for the calves is very hard to achieve. i dont realy know enough to tell you what to do but id imagine higher reps would do it (like with the traps and forearms)

[Jennifer Love Hewitt]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[MrSmall]

One legged ankle jumps.

[aramini]

If it is the inside and the top of the muscle you want to improve, you really don't need to go down much below the ground. There are machines that allow you to lower your heels below the level of the ball of your foot, and they are worth doing every once in a while but all I did for years was the jump rope and heavy weight/ high rep standing calf raises.

I really can't let a post like this pass without a picture of my calves, you know.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[Pugsley]

Excellent looking Tumor

[Rakim]

Excellent looking Tumor


:lol: :lol:

[LoBlow]

Calf Development: before I get into the particulars you must understand that the advices given on these types forums are more opinion based and or just here say or what one person read on another forum

what you will read below is neither but is proven from experience and many years in the gym

with that said what will determine your results are based more upon genetics, and the right exercise set rep schemes

If you are Caucasian or Asian you stand a better chance of already having good developed calves or the ability to develop them


The best exercise for developing the calves muscles is the Donkey calf raise with a 2X4 placed under the ball of your toes this will allow for a better stretch at the bottom, the beauty of this exercise is that it hits all the muscle of the calves, and also if you do not have weight or a machine you can do it with some one sitting on your lower back

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

as far as the Sets reps scheme this will vary by individual so one has to experiment

but the calves abs and forearm muscles are more dense and can be hit more often depending on the level of fitness of the individual, so normally there is no great issues of over training these areas


another great exercise to condition the calves is to practice walking/functioning with the heels not touching the ground, do not raise the heels to high but just enough to keep them off the ground, and through out your day try functioning without your heels ever touching the ground

this is also very beneficial to boxers "keep on your toes"

[younghypnotiq]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[average_joe]

If it is the inside and the top of the muscle you want to improve, you really don't need to go down much below the ground. There are machines that allow you to lower your heels below the level of the ball of your foot, and they are worth doing every once in a while but all I did for years was the jump rope and heavy weight/ high rep standing calf raises.

I really can't let a post like this pass without a picture of my calves, you know.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Holy shit! That's frikin beastly! Calf implants?:lol:

[average_joe]

The best exercise for developing the calves muscles is the Donkey calf raise with a 2X4 placed under the ball of your toes this will allow for a better stretch at the bottom, the beauty of this exercise is that it hits all the muscle of the calves, and also if you do not have weight or a machine you can do it with some one sitting on your lower back

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

another great exercise to condition the calves is to practice walking/functioning with the heels not touching the ground, do not raise the heels to high but just enough to keep them off the ground, and through out your day try functioning without your heels ever touching the ground

this is also very beneficial to boxers "keep on your toes"

Thanks for the advice:good. So basically have someone hump me into submission in the weightroom, and then walk around all day like I have high heels on. It can't get any better than that!

[Marvelous Marcum]

Two to three times a week do 10 - 15 weighted calf raises between every set you're doing, regardless of which body part you're working that day. I began doing these a month ago and have added 1/2 an inch so far.

[aramini]

Holy shit! That's frikin beastly! Calf implants?:lol:
No. always had large calves but I've jumped rope on my tip toes since I was a little kid. There are pics of me at 16 that show the huge calves when I was like 110 lbs.

Let me find one from like 13 years ago or so.

This is a comparison one from when I was 112 lbs on the left at 16 years old to the right side at 128 lbs.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

when i was fighting at 116 lbs in 1999:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Always had them and worked them even when I was ridiculously skinny but I don't think a 16 year old could get implants.

[KTFO]

I'm trying to get bigger calves. Any tips?


Take roids.

[aramini]

Take roids.

I don't think this is necessarily going to promote much calf development without the proper exercises. It is pretty common to see huge hulking, probably steroid induced upper bodies perched upon the thinnest chicken legs at gyms.

[average_joe]

"Always had them and worked them even when I was ridiculously skinny"

You've got some good calf genes then. Caucasians and asians supposedly are more likely to have bigger calves.

[LoBlow]

So basically have someone hump me into submission in the weightroom,

If you are into that sort of thing then go for it, but the purpose of the person on your lower back is to add weight, they sit still while you do the exercise, preferably with a female on your lower back


and then walk around all day like I have high heels on. It can't get any be

Please re read my post, heels slightly off the ground there is no need to "walk around all day like you have high heels on" unless you are into that type of activity

[cardstars]

I get really good calf workouts from the regular running and jogging I do. Sometimes I will just push-off the tips of my toes (almost like a bounding effect) and I can always feel the burn in my calves afterwards. I guess if you are trying to get them "bigger" you can load on the weight training but I got pretty light on my feet from the above.

[CMBoxer]

Jogging, jump ropes, and sparring.