Arm Size and calves correlation?

[epimetheus]

I read somewhere, though I cannot recall where, that Bicep size is dependent on your bodyweight overall. I vaugely remember reading somewhere that your arms (bi's and tri's) should be the same as your calves. I think it was the same article. (can't find it now)

My dilemma is that I have genetically HUGE calves. I achieved ~12% BF recently, and reached 15 inch arms. Nothing spectacular. Except my Calves are 18 inches. I don't even train my calves often. Once every other week or so. My calves seem so out of proportion. At 12% BF my legs are 23 3/4, and my calves are almost as big. Or it seems.

So my question is this- Should my arms be the same as my calves?


Epimetheus- Whom hopes that his calves will not grow until his body catches up.

 

[gettinlarger]

Well, seems you have been blessed genetically. Your calves, I mean.

And yes, it is correct proportionally for people's arms/calves to be very similar in size.

You're lucky man. Calves like that are hard to come by.

 

[TheProject]

I don't know if that's true or not, but I'd like to have 18" calves.

Oh, and good to see you epi.

 

[louden_swain]

Arms are calves are supposed to be about the same size.

 

[WarriorPL]

Same deal here.... 15" arms, 18" calves.

 

[Citruscide]

Arms 17.5"??? Calves 18.5"??? -- somewhere around there last measure...

C-ditty

 

[Fatty4You]

I have heard that calves and arms and neck are all supposed to be approximatedly the same size. But, then i head some judges saying one time that the calves are far enough away from the rest of the body parts they are compared to [arms in particular] that they can be disppraportionately big and it won't look out of place.

Regardless though, i have NEVER looked at disproportionately big calves and thought "Gee, that doesn't look good." Most of the time i just think "wow, i wish i could have calves like that."

-Fatty

 

[BlkWS6]

Yeah consider it a blessing. As stated above no one really notices or comments if your calves are bigger then your arms. Now if it is vice versa, everyone automatically assumes that you dont train legs at all and that you are just one of those upper body beach muscle guys. Which may be true in some cases, but then on the other hand some people bust their ass on calves all the time and don't see any growth mostly due to a good ole genetic shafting.

 

[jeremys]

mine are about the same; a fat 18-19''

 

[epimetheus]

Thanks Project. How is it going?

I found these interesting sites on another board:

http://www.weightrainer.com/meascalc.html : measures the supposed maximum natural size based off of height and wrist/ankle size. According to this site, with at 5'9, with 7 inch wrists and 9.5 inch ankles, at 10% bodyfat, I should have these measurements-

Chest: 47.9 in
Biceps: 16.7 in
Forearms: 13.3 in
Neck: 16.7 in
Thighs: 26.2 in
Calfs: 17.5 in

I guess losing 2% more bodyfat my calves will go down 1/2 inch. Wonder if I train them if I will surpass my maximum.

According to the same website, but different calculator at:
http://www.weightrainer.com/weightcalc.html

At 10% bodyfat, without anabolics, my max weight for my size is 200.1 lbs. Damn, was hoping to hit 215 too. (at 180lbs now)

Wonder how accurate these are...

 

[b fold the truth]

Building a lagging muscle...takes TIME!!!

B True

 

[eastarr69]

i just started to hit legs...my arms are 18.5 and my calves are 16.75 and i have a 19.5 inch neck....

E

 

[sigweed]

my calves are by far my worst part, so consider yourself lucky. My arms are 16" on a good day (nothing great, but like 7% bf), but my calves are OPTIMISTICALLY 15", i measured them out, but saddly they look ever smaller. I train them twice a week. Its weird too because I calf raise 60kg for 10 fairly easily, so its not like they're particularly weak or anything

and epi, are you asian by chance?

 

[biteme]

I have puny calves. I have sprinter's calves. I was one fast motherfucker but I don't like the way they look. Big thighs and tiny calves.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

sig, not trying to be an asshole, but ummm 60 kg is less than 220 ibs. I can see you only doing 200 ibs for 10 or 15 reps on calf raises your 1st or 2nd time in the gym, but if you've been training awhile you should be doing ALOT more. Alot of guys with tiny calves have tiny calves because they never actually try to do alot of weight with them, they underestimate the strength of their calves. I do 1200 ibs for an easy 10 reps on my 4th set. I usually start around 800-850 for about 45-50 reps. If you calves are only 15" you should be able to work with at least 500-600 ibs on either a standing calf raise machine or on the leg press machine. Trying pushing yourself a little harder and you may be surprised at the gains your lower legs make.

 

[Zyglamail]

I think a lot of it is simple genetics that can be addressed with training to some degree. It just so happens both my calves and arm are 18".....now just to shrink my waist

sig, not trying to be an asshole, but ummm 60 kg is less than 220 ibs. I can see you only doing 200 ibs for 10 or 15 reps on calf raises your 1st or 2nd time in the gym, but if you've been training awhile you should be doing ALOT more. Alot of guys with tiny calves have tiny calves because they never actually try to do alot of weight with them, they underestimate the strength of their calves. I do 1200 ibs for an easy 10 reps on my 4th set. I usually start around 800-850 for about 45-50 reps. If you calves are only 15" you should be able to work with at least 500-600 ibs on either a standing calf raise machine or on the leg press machine. Trying pushing yourself a little harder and you may be surprised at the gains your lower legs make.

I have a tendancy to agree on the weight issue however saying 500-600lbs for calf raise can be misleading based on the equipment you use. Obviously a machine where you stand straigh up with weight on shoulders will have more weight than an angled leg press or even an angled calf sled. I myself only do 3 sets, once a week for my calves and I do calf raises(toe press or what ever you want to call it) on the plate loaded hack squat machine. Comming off a cold so my workouts for the last week have been a bit on the weak side but today I was using 1230lbs and getting 10 reps. Prior to hurting my back I was doing 1270 for 12 reps but prolo is helping my back and im getting weight back up there..

 

[Fatty4You]

Hey, you guys do some rediculous weight with calves. Over 1000 lbs? I can't imagine doing that!!! I mean, most standing calve machines only go up to like 400 lbs. max!! I think that the biggest one i have ever seen went up to like 600 lbs, and had an additional bar on top to add weight.

But anyway, when you are raising 1200 lbs. what kind of range or you getting??? Full range?

I am not trying to doubt ya;ll, but i am just trying to wrap my mind around it. I do calve raises for like 160lbs plus my body weight [220] for like 15 reps, so its hard to imagine putting so much weight on my shoulders.

-Fatty

 

[Zyglamail]

Hey, you guys do some rediculous weight with calves. Over 1000 lbs? I can't imagine doing that!!! I mean, most standing calve machines only go up to like 400 lbs. max!! I think that the biggest one i have ever seen went up to like 600 lbs, and had an additional bar on top to add weight.

But anyway, when you are raising 1200 lbs. what kind of range or you getting??? Full range?

I am not trying to doubt ya;ll, but i am just trying to wrap my mind around it. I do calve raises for like 160lbs plus my body weight [220] for like 15 reps, so its hard to imagine putting so much weight on my shoulders.

-Fatty

I place a wooden I beam which is the height of 3x 2x4 boards so about 4.5" on the platform that I do my toe presses on. I drop till heals touch or very close and get up to a full extension on the press. Im not terribly strong on anything else but my calves seem to simply be freaks of nature. They thrive on high weight. I do however see where you are comming from since I have never even seen anyone even use a full stack on the standing calf machines and I have seen some pretty big guys on them I must just have muscle tie ins that are very favorable for strength.

 

[Exodus]

I am not trying to doubt ya;ll, but i am just trying to wrap my mind around it. I do calve raises for like 160lbs plus my body weight [220] for like 15 reps, so its hard to imagine putting so much weight on my shoulders.

-Fatty

its not that hard to imagine. think about this and it will put you into perspective. you said you weigh 220lbs and do calve raises ( i am assuming standing calve raises) with 160lbs. take this test real quick:

stand up. raise up on your foot like doing a calve raise but only on one foot. Easy? try it 10 times. Well, i bet that was easy too (balance doesnt matter, just keep yourself steady).

ok...... what have we learned. each calve can raise your body weight fine. So double that....... for you thats 440lbs you should start off training with. i mean, the first day you ever do standing calve raises, you should be doing at least twice your bodyweight.

end of discussion.

X

 

[Zyglamail]

On a side note the calves (if im not mistaken) are the second densest skeletal muscle in the body (2nd to the jaw muscles) and are capable of incredible feats of strength for their size. Imagine having the calf muscle density and associated strength for all the muscles in your body....now wouldnt that be cool

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Fatty, not talking about standing machines, my old gym had one that when up to 600, but you could add 10 45's on the bars up top, when I left that gym I was doing about 8 reps with 1050. Now I do them on a leg press machine. This morning I did 16 plates for about 60 reps on set one, then around 45 reps on #2. 3rd set was 20 plates for about 30, then managed to squeeze out 14 with 24 plates. It takes less than 5 minutes to finish my weekly calf workout.
Same here zyg, have 18" arms and calves, I have to back down my calf training abit when then get bigger than my arms... it seems my arms take forever to grow. January will be my 3 year mark though, so 18" arms arn't horrible for less than 3 years of training, they just look a bit undersized with my 51" chest and 30" thighs. Same here on the waist, mine is down to 32" but I'm not yet in contest condition. had it down to 28 for some photos almost 2 years ago, so hopefully if I keep dieting and stay on the tren those last 4" will come off.

 

[Fatty4You]

stand up. raise up on your foot like doing a calve raise but only on one foot. Easy? try it 10 times. Well, i bet that was easy too ....

ok...... what have we learned. each calve can raise your body weight fine. So double that....... for you thats 440lbs you should start off training with. i mean, the first day you ever do standing calve raises, you should be doing at least twice your bodyweight.

Yes, it is easy to do 10 raises on one foot standing on the ground, but that is like a one inch rep. I am sure, that if i was on a raised platform, and going all the way down on each rep it would be harder.

And i have heard this kind of argument before. Its like if someone says that everytime you walk and take a step, your calve is raising your whole body weight. This might be true, but its not a full rep. I mean, i could probably walk a little with 400lbs on my shoulders, but this certainly doesn't mean that i could sqauts 400.

But anyway, i will try going heavier on the standing calves to see how it feels. I just get nervous that when i am lifting the higher weight, i wont be able to get the best ROM, which people always tell me is sooo important for calves.

-Fatty

 

[epimetheus]

and epi, are you asian by chance?

Not Asian here. French and Welsh are my major bloods. Not sure what else.