Calves

[lazyone]

<------- I want calves like that.

That is all.

[ExpensiveUrine]

Just calves?

[deegee]

I want arms and shoulders like that !

[Ash]

Great photo! When I'm cringing half way through my calf training tomorrow, I'll try keep it in mind....maybe I'll get a extra few reps

[Pseudonym]

I want arms and shoulders like that !

:nod:

Must. Work. Triceps. Harder!

[Wynton]

His calves were incredible to think they were pretty average when he started according to him. I remember reading in his book he said it took about 180 hours of calf training to get them like that.

[Marcus]

I read somewhere his calves used to be his worst bodypart. So he made himself wear shorts to the gym everyday so he & everyone else could see how poor they were. Made him work harder.

[Wynton]

I read somewhere his calves used to be his worst bodypart. So he made himself wear shorts to the gym everyday so he & everyone else could see how poor they were. Made him work harder.

Yeah thats what he said in his book

[Oros]

3x16-20 Seated calf raises

3x10-12 Calf press on 45 deg leg press

3x8-10 Standing raises on Smith machine standing on the edge of a couple of 20kg plates.

On all equipment first go through the motions of FULL range of movement, full stretch at the bottom & full stretch to the top & hold for two count......with NO WEIGHT, then when you do add weight, you can see just how much you are short changing yourself by going too heavy & cheating.

Use just enough weight to fail WITHIN the rep range, but staying at the full range that you experienced while un-weighted

[lazyone]

3x16-20 Seated calf raises

3x10-12 Calf press on 45 deg leg press

3x8-10 Standing raises on Smith machine standing on the edge of a couple of 20kg plates.

On all equipment first go through the motions of FULL range of movement, full stretch at the bottom & full stretch to the top & hold for two count......with NO WEIGHT, then when you do add weight, you can see just how much you are short changing yourself by going too heavy & cheating.

Use just enough weight to fail WITHIN the rep range, but staying at the full range that you experienced while un-weighted

kewl. I'll try this next time I'm doing calves.

Thanks for the tip.

[Oros]

Heres a curve ball for you to try..........

grab a pair of worn in training shoes, and glue a strip of high density rubber across the width of each shoe sole so that it is positioned approx at the ball of the foot. The rubber needs to be approx 10mm thick and approx 30mm wide...........then go take a 20 minute walk.........every step you take is like a mini standing calf raise.

I suggest you walk at night........anyone who sees you will think you're either high, drunk, or off your meds.

Your hamies & glutes will also get a good work-out if you walk up a hill

[Marcus]

That's an awesome idea Oros.

[Oros]

It works quite well, but you need to watch (literally) each step you take, because as your calves (& hamies) start screaming at you, it becomes quite easy to trip.

And don't try running.............not even if it's a police dog racing up behind you!

[BlueCollarLifter]

Calves only react at a stretched position for me..size wise..using leg press i found out is the best workout; as long as i have the back rest adjusted to make my torso on a 90degree angle..(donkey calf-raise position)

You could also tryout:

At the end of your workouts or wenever you can squeeze it in..

Hop onto the treadmill for atleast half an hour with a huge incline and a managable speed..(fastest constant speed for the time required/interval the speeds)

Toes pointed straight

Keep hands free no holding onto anything

Avoid leaning too far ahead

Keep feet within shoulder width

No huge strides

FEEL THE BURN

I know fairly skinny people who hike and mountain bike for LONG distances alot -that have huge calves. As far as i know, they don't do weight training at all. So high rep/volume calf workouts make sence.

[lazyone]

Heres a curve ball for you to try..........

grab a pair of worn in training shoes, and glue a strip of high density rubber across the width of each shoe sole so that it is positioned approx at the ball of the foot. The rubber needs to be approx 10mm thick and approx 30mm wide...........then go take a 20 minute walk.........every step you take is like a mini standing calf raise.

I suggest you walk at night........anyone who sees you will think you're either high, drunk, or off your meds.

Your hamies & glutes will also get a good work-out if you walk up a hill

Or just borrow your Missus's high heels for the walk.

Get even weirder looks :shifty:

EDIT: Oros, I tried your suggestion and my calves are F@!$G sore (in a gud way :pfft: ) today... Thanks bro!

[chop]

believe it or not they use to be one of his weak spots in the early years when young arnold was training his fotos would never or really show his lower half of his body because he was ashmed of them its in his biography i read it religously before going to bed

[THEBERG]

that picture has always inspired me to train calves hard, they use to be a weak point for me, but now the calves are respectable but nothing special (they are now 15.5 inches from 12 inches 4 years ago). We use to have that pic of arnold next tot eh calf raise machine at the Y-fitness in Dunedin.

[poos_n_wees]

sorry to hijack this thread...

But is there any validity to the toes in/toes out theory to work the different areas of the calf muscle? Or is this another fitness myth?

[poos_n_wees]

they are now 15.5 inches from 12 inches 4 years ago

Wow, thats a significant change man.. good stuff :nod:

[Pseudonym]

But is there any validity to the toes in/toes out theory to work the different areas of the calf muscle? Or is this another fitness myth?

I'm not sure about the toes in/out theory, but I do know that standing calf raises work the gastrocnemius (the fleshy part of the calf) and that seated calf raises work the soleus (the lower, longer calf muscle). I believe it's to do with insertion points - the gastroc has an insertion point above the knee, so when the knee is bent (as in seated raises) it takes the gastroc out of the equation.

EDIT: Here we go - from exrx.net...

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research by Dr. Per Tesch (Sweden) suggests toes in activate both heads and toes out activate the medial head to a higher degree

[poos_n_wees]

I'm not sure about the toes in/out theory, but I do know that standing calf raises work the gastrocnemius (the fleshy part of the calf) and that seated calf raises work the soleus (the lower, longer calf muscle). I believe it's to do with insertion points - the gastroc has an insertion point above the knee, so when the knee is bent (as in seated raises) it takes the gastroc out of the equation.

EDIT: Here we go - from exrx.net...

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research by Dr. Per Tesch (Sweden) suggests toes in activate both heads and toes out activate the medial head to a higher degree

:clap: Thanks!

[shane]

here's a training method for you do standing or seated calves. do 10,8,6,4,2 as one big set it burns you get your training partner to pull the pin ie you done 10 then 8 etc then rest then do 2,4,6,8,10 and by the end of this your calves will be exploding trust me. you can start light or heavy what ever you think you can do :grin:

[THEBERG]

As pointed out before there is research data out there to validate toes in and out but i would only point them slighlty out as overdoing it can cause some to get knee problems. It's more about which side of the toes you push off, you concentrate on ouching of the little or big toe with feet neutral and still activate medial and laertal heads.