Calves into Cows

ferike1

I train my calves hard, they burn after I train them and I train them quite often. But no matter what I do, they are stubborn as hell and are not growing in line with the rest of my body. They are okay definition wise but have very little size to them!

How do you (personally) train your calves to grow? Any ideas, suggestions welcome. Running? Cycling? Heavy weights?
Driving me crazy!!!

Remmy

When I was 12 stone I would train my calves like crazy with loads of volume.I got pissed off with them and didnt train them directly in the past year and a half except for the odd random set of calf presses on the leg presses.Im 14.5 stone now and they seem a lot bigger.I did zercher squats 3/week for 4 weeks and I did notice them bigger after that.I also do backward sled drags and they kill my calves.

So to sum up..Gain weight..Fat people have great calves..:eek:

grimloch

Here's what I personally do and it works well for me.

I train them twice a week, never with legs.

1 day I'll do standing calf raises. A set of 8-10 with an medium weight, then move it up a plate and get another 8-10 reps. I try to get 4-6 sets like this. Then after the last set I immediately drop the weight go straight into 2 drop sets working back down.

I pause at the bottom and hold the stretch instead of bouncing up and down.

Then day 2 I do 4 sets of higher reps, 12-15.


Maybe try doing them first thing when you get into the gym, when you're 100% fresh.

ferike1

Those drags seem like a good idea, I will give them a go.

Remmy

I should probablly add that my calves seem to burn if I walk at any brisk pace so tbh any calf growth I've experienced is probablly more down to bad walking mechanics and gaining weight.As with anything else if your looking for maximum growth your probablly best off training them directly like what grimloch posted.

ferike1

I try to train like that too. I just don't know if I am going high enough on my toes. They are burning anyway.

Brian?

I've read that calf development is determind by genetics more than any other muscle. Some people will grow decent calfs from simply squatting, others will a need high volume approach.

What do you squat? What's your height and weight?


My favourite thing for calfs is calf raises in smith machine on an aerobic step, pausing for a second at the bottom. I don't spend much time on them though, maybe once a week.

ferike1

80kg 6ft

150kg max squat.

I did a lot of squatting over the last year to little avail (towards the calves anyway).

Keep the ideas coming ! Much appreciated so far. Anything to shock these buggers into some growth.
I am literally at the stage where I carry around a kettlebell in the gym everywhere I go on my tiptoes between sets, going to different places.

Brian?

ferike1 wrote: »

80kg 6ft

Put on 10Kg and see what that does for your calfs!

ferike1 wrote: »

Keep the ideas coming ! Much appreciated so far. Anything to shock these buggers into some growth.
I am literally at the stage where I carry around a kettlebell in the gym everywhere I go on my tiptoes between sets, going to different places.

While your putting on that 10kg there is plenty of stuff you can do, it would be easier though if you say what you tried and how long you tried it for.

ferike1

Well usually I train the calves around x3 per week, in between sets of what I am doing, (e.g pullups, hanging leg raises), I do a set of calf presses, either single leg with a kettlebell or on the leg press machine. this is about 12-20 reps for about 8 sets. The weight is such that i can get up as far and down as possible.

I then crouch down into a semi sitting position and go on my tiptoes til failure to get a 'pump' into them and stretch them out after each set. Its either that or a lower weight leg press with a faster rep speed.

I some of the regular peeps at the gym that never train their calves like ever and but they are huge! Haha, frustrating.

10kgs you say? Okay!

Brian?

ferike1 wrote: »

10kgs you say? Okay!

That'll be a good start anyway.

squod

Stick a plate over your toes and lift it to train the muscle on the front of your shin. Working both sides of the leg like. Walking uphill with some weight in a backpack might work for you also.

Lantus

The biggest mistakes made with calves is too little weight and bad technique.

Weight wise your calves can take quite a hit and you really need to rack it up and hit them hard. I mean if you can do a calf raise on one leg (no weight) then you just lifted your body weight on one calve. That means you can lift easily your body weight in weight on a standing calve raise with both legs. (and ideally more.) You see too many guys lifting 20-40kg on the calve raise machine which is way below their max.

Technique wise it's a short ROM and you see too many people jerking up and using fast dynamic movement to get to the top. No pause and then dropping straight down. No point..... A steady raise under control and then a slight pause and controlled negative rep back down. lovely.

Use standing, donkey, sitting movements to develop and alternate positions (toes pointing out or in) to stress various muscles of the calve.

john t

Try donkey calve raises they work, and mix seated and standing raises with flexion at topnand bottom of movement. Some people are blessed with developed shapley large lower leg`s, but thru hard trainning even stubborn calves can get bigger...

mufcboy1999

its all about high reps for a muscle like the calfs, you have to do at least 15 to 20 reps even when you are trying for size on these muscles.

i do my calves twice a week, seated calf raises which involves 3 different exercises working the whole calve,outside and inside of the muscle you can alternate through these by pointing your toes in the different directions.

also do the standing raise on the smith machine using a step for better benefits and gains.

the calve is a very dense muscle so it needs a lot more work to gain size so you really have to overload it.

its hard though, my calfs are strong and toned but are not as big as i would like them to be, it could have a lot to do with genetics some people just have skinny toned legs and calfs no matter how hard they work them but it doesn't mean they are weak, i can squat 110 kilos quite comfortably and i only weigh 70 so i know my legs are in good shape but i feel your pain.

I dont mean to put a downer or kill your hopes, but iv trained my calfs for around 3 years now and although iv noticed strength gains, iv gotten very little size gains as i said maybe genetics have a role to play in this, but on my defense i do a lot of cardio so that probably has a role in my size gains too.

Jarren

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/CalfWt.html

Dathai

Supposedly the upper part of the calf responds better to high weight at low repetitions and the lower part responds better to low weight at high reps. I read a poliquin article ages ago about it, but can't seem to find it on google.

gymsoldier

Lantus wrote: »

Use standing, donkey, sitting movements to develop and alternate positions (toes pointing out or in) to stress various muscles of the calve.

A recent issue of Muscular Development had an article on calf training. They showed that Donkey Calf raises had the highest muscle activation.

Dont forget, youve got two muscles to work in your calfs.

Work the Gastorcnemius with Donkey or Standing calf raises.
And hit the Soleus (The deep calf muscle under the Gastorcnemius) with Seated calf raises.

I varly my reps range each week, from low (4 - 6 reps), to high (20+ reps).

ferike1

I usually mix in high reps with mid range ones in the same workout. But I will try to vary the training with very low and very heavy and then mid-range mid weight, high reps with low weight on different days.

Thanks for all the answers guys, much appreciated.:D