building calves

[bignodz]

does anyone know a good set/rep range and a good exercize for building stubborn calves

[mike27]

combo of standing calf raises,seated calf raises. different toe positions.

different rep ranges

so for example

standing raise

4x8 60sec rest between sets

seated calf raise 3x20 60sec rest again

leg press close feet toes pointed inwards 2x15

legs press clos feet toes pointed outwards 2x15

[vracula]

stubborn calves = not giving them as much attention as say your biceps.

start of your workout with calf workout dont leave them at the end.

give them a bashing at least 2 days a week (aim for 3)and they should grow,High rep and low rep.

do a lot of diff types of excersices ,calf raises,donkey calf raises,seated calf raises,single leg calf raises,skip rope,toe raises,Incline walks on the treadmill.

dont forget to stretch your calves. dont want them a tight mess like me.

go hard ,eat right and they should grow like any other muscle,will speak to you in 1 year to confirm that...hopefully.or im going to be a very angry man with gurly calves. :evil:

[mike27]

hardest muscle group to train

but definalty can be improved. just train them hard,eat,sleep.

hit them twice a week for 8weeks maybe too

[vracula]

hardest muscle group to train

amen to that!!

[PeterDolan]

Hardest group to train? That's rubbish

[HarryB]

Depends on your genetics I guess with calves. I think if you have shape you can always build size, but if you have nothing then you have nothing lol... Still most guys will never know cos they'll never put the time into calves they put into chest or arms...

[mike27]

PD

not the hardest?

care to shed some light on that please

[Dubble_D]

PD

not the hardest?

care to shed some light on that please

Mike,

Why the hardest?

Care to shed some light on that please?

Again, it comes down to genetics. Everyone has a stubborn body part. Calfs are not mine.

[mike27]

ok so i quess it would be better that i feel calfs are the hardest to train

and for me, chest is another lagging point. so yeah genetics plays a big role in how good you are at somthing.

some peple are just good at it all, others only some things or parts

[baz]

is there any hope for the few of us with genetic issues relating to calves? surely if we keep working on them they'll gain some sort of size?

[HarryB]

Any muscle can grow, you just have to treat calves like any other muscle group. Hit them hard, use a variety of techniques, overload them and they will grow.

[bignodz]

thanks guys I think I have not been pushing them as hard as I push say my bench, so I will change my routine to suit and time will tell.also it would be nice to have a seated calve raise machine in our gym

[PeterDolan]

PD

not the hardest?

care to shed some light on that please

What makes them any harder to train than any other muscle group?

Calves are almost always machine work, machines are piss easy and so is the ROM of calves, if anything, calves are inheritly the easiest muscle group to train

[lemon]

PD

not the hardest?

care to shed some light on that please

What makes them any harder to train than any other muscle group?

Calves are almost always machine work, machines are piss easy and so is the ROM of calves, if anything, calves are inheritly the easiest muscle group to train

But hardest to get significant gains. Which is what I would assume they meant by hardest to train. Not the actual training of it - which like you say is quite easy.

[Shutupandsquat]

PD

not the hardest?

care to shed some light on that please

What makes them any harder to train than any other muscle group?

Calves are almost always machine work, machines are piss easy and so is the ROM of calves, if anything, calves are inheritly the easiest muscle group to train

But hardest to get significant gains. Which is what I would assume they meant by hardest to train. Not the actual training of it - which like you say is quite easy.

But a significant gain is pretty hard to define at the same time. One group may need to grow more to be considered a significant gain and all that shit.

[mr natural]

You could also say that they burn and hurt the most as they are mostly an endurance muscle. To make em grow ,make em burn then keep repping till they start to feel like ice :x ouchie. As far as all out effort goes I'd with out a doubt say legs day.

[vracula]

PD

not the hardest?

care to shed some light on that please

What makes them any harder to train than any other muscle group?

Calves are almost always machine work, machines are piss easy and so is the ROM of calves, if anything, calves are inheritly the easiest muscle group to train

But hardest to get significant gains. Which is what I would assume they meant by hardest to train. Not the actual training of it - which like you say is quite easy.

yup training any muscle group is easy as we all like to training ,but putting some muscle on the darn things is not as easy as the rest i'd say atleast for me,but I am going to power through and stop giving the old genetics a bad name.

[PeterDolan]

I do understand that calves can be harder to grow, mine are still small but have grown a lot better since I started training them like I do everything else. Controlling the negative, using the muscle instead of just pushing through the balls of your feet and full ROM

[vracula]

I do understand that calves can be harder to grow, mine are still small but have grown a lot better since I started training them like I do everything else. Controlling the negative, using the muscle instead of just pushing through the balls of your feet and full ROM

how many times do you train them a week?

[jimjim83]

I think calves are just as easy as any other muscle group. They are made of muscle fibre after all not some magic substance.

The problem is people dont feel the muscle when they train it and often go far to heavy.

How many people do you see with bent knees doing a half shrug on the standing calf machine.

Learn to use the muscle and feel its movement before chucking on too much weight.

Full stretch and a full contraction at the top of the movement instead of a gymrat ROM will make all the difference.

[HarryB]

Now gym rat has a ROM named after him, he is a superstar!

[Sifo-Dyas]

Shock treatment on non standard calf exercises with high rep low rest

[jimjim83]

Shock treatment on non standard calf exercises with high rep low rest

What kind of non standard exercises?

[musclenz]

Calf muscles are primarily made up of slow twitch fibres (endurance). To take them out of their comfort zone you need to get the rep range up around 20. If they are still not exhausted at that range add resistance. However, there is a big genetic factor in this muscle group which can be very frustrating to the average Joe BBer.