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Big calves

Nathan

Nathan

New member
I've been noticing this more and more lately - big calves tend to not so much be a consequence of calf raises, but rahter of heavy, compound movements like heavy SLDLs, squats and good mornings - especially good mornings.

There is one exercise in particular I just started doing to bring up my hams that inadvertently caused my calves to grow more than anything else (my hams did grow too). Basically, it is as easy as putting down a towel, resting your knees on it and having somebody press down on your feet. Then, lower your torso down to the ground, and back up again using your hamstrings to do the work. Make sure you keep your lower back straight and rigid.

I made an effort to bring up my hams but let my calf training fall off over a period of about 2 months - I mostly just did the same thing I usually do for them. And I noticed a big difference in my calves after about 8 weeks. The first week, I couldn't even get off a rep on my own, but by the time I could do 9 reps or so I was getting comments on my calves. It took me the entire 2 months to figure out what it was that was making my calves grow too. SUPERSTAR. Anyways, give it a go.
 
so, you're doing GHR's, without the aparatus? i use the lat tower, facing away from the machine and kneeling on the pad. using a broomstick to help lower myself and pull up with ham-strength. but you really think it's a helper for calves? never thought of it that way.....
 
i've never really noticed results from calf-raises. I've seen tons of guys at the gym repping away for 2 yrs with no progress.
 
When I stop training calfs they shrink to nothing in a matter of weeks.

Spot injections with home-made gear can add 3" in a couple of days, sadly not the kind of size you really want... plus not being able to walk didn't help leg workouts.
 
Nathan said:
I've been noticing this more and more lately - big calves tend to not so much be a consequence of calf raises, but rahter of heavy, compound movements like heavy SLDLs, squats and good mornings - especially good mornings.

There is one exercise in particular I just started doing to bring up my hams that inadvertently caused my calves to grow more than anything else (my hams did grow too).
Click to expand...

One of the best benefits of power and oly lifting is that the calves must grow to provide support for the leg/ankle and provide power for standing lifts.

I believe that the more articles found on how to develop a muscle group, the more likely power and oly lifts are the only way to develop the muscle group :
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=Calves


Do you think this guy ever did seated calf raises:
 
Scotsman has the crux if this one. Add in hill-cycling, the uphill part, anyway. The downhill part is more fun but less stressful on the calves.
 
Calves are a beast because they dont' respond like most of the rest of your muscles -- they are slow twitch & need that "sprint" type training it seems to really grow. Consider the PL stuff - its all explosive power moves correct? "Sprint" style.
 
AEKDB said:
One of the best benefits of power and oly lifting is that the calves must grow to provide support for the leg/ankle and provide power for standing lifts.

I believe that the more articles found on how to develop a muscle group, the more likely power and oly lifts are the only way to develop the muscle group :
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=Calves


Do you think this guy ever did seated calf raises:
Click to expand...

Amen to that.
 
I agree with using powerlifting moves. My calves do look better when I'm doing deadlifts and squats several times a week. I also noticed that when I bought my latest pair of gym shoes that the soles were extremely thin. I just happened to like the look so I bought them. They were very unlike those Nikey or Reebok athletic shoes that look like you have high and fat inner tubes for soles. I noticed that my feet were much more tired faster while wearing these flatter shoes, but that my calves actually grew a bit. After time my feet got used to the thinner soul. I theorize that my feet had to work harder and therefore my calves benefited.
 
chicagobuffedbod said:
I agree with using powerlifting moves. My calves do look better when I'm doing deadlifts and squats several times a week. I also noticed that when I bought my latest pair of gym shoes that the soles were extremely thin. I just happened to like the look so I bought them. They were very unlike those Nikey or Reebok athletic shoes that look like you have high and fat inner tubes for soles. I noticed that my feet were much more tired faster while wearing these flatter shoes, but that my calves actually grew a bit. After time my feet got used to the thinner soul. I theorize that my feet had to work harder and therefore my calves benefited.
Click to expand...

Good post man. Yeah, I can sort of see that actually. I wear an old pair of Adidas Gazelles that my feet tend to slip and move around in a bit, so I'm forced to really flex my calves and inner thighs to keep my feet in position. I thought I should get better shoes but screw that. I knew Gazelles were the shit.
 
I'll have to look for those. The shoes that I had with the very low soles were a pair of Puma's. But I had to return them because the soles were falling off in just 2 months of wearing them. When I went back to the store to do an exchange they no longer had that style.

Oh by the way, when you do your good mornings do you do them the Olympic powerlifting way where you go on your toes as you thrust your hips foward to stand perfectly straight up?

Also, I know of the exercise you're talking about for the hamstrings. It's almost like a reverse leg curl if you will. Instead of your lower leg curling up, the lower leg stays stationary and the upper body from knees to torso and stay rigid and do the movement.
I used to do something similarly, but that didn't require a person to help you.
I'd use a lat pull down machine and a thin pole to help me back up and give me balance.
I'd start out by kneeling on the pad of the lat pull down machine, but I face "away" from it. So now the pad that normally is supporting and bracing the area of the thigh just above the knee (for lat pull downs of course) is now bracking the back of my Achilles tendon. I use the pole and keep it to one side of my torso and as I lower my upper legs and torso (all kept rigid and in perfect line) I would use one hand/arm to press the pole into the ground to help give me support as I become perfectly horizontal with the floor. I'm face down and then I raise myself back up. I only use the bar with my hand/arm as much as necessary to help me get my body up. At first you feel like you'll never be able to do it. But then after a few weeks you can do it without hardly using the bar.
I like Nathan's method better, but at least my method is good when you don't have a training partner to help you out.
 
Last edited:
chicagobuffedbod said:
I'll have to look for those. The shoes that I had with the very low soles were a pair of Puma's. But I had to return them because the soles were falling off in just 2 months of wearing them. When I went back to the store to do an exchange they no longer had that style.

Oh by the way, when you do your good mornings do you do them the Olympic powerlifting way where you go on your toes as you thrust your hips foward to stand perfectly straight up?

Also, I know of the exercise you're talking about for the hamstrings. It's almost like a reverse leg curl if you will. Instead of your lower leg curling up, the lower leg stays stationary and the upper body from knees to torso and stay rigid and do the movement.
I used to do something similarly, but that didn't require a person to help you.
I'd use a lat pull down machine and a thin pole to help me back up and give me balance.
I'd start out by kneeling on the pad of the lat pull down machine, but I face "away" from it. So now the pad that normally is supporting and bracing the area of the thigh just above the knee (for lat pull downs of course) is now bracking the back of my Achilles tendon. I use the pole and keep it to one side of my torso and as I lower my upper legs and torso (all kept rigid and in perfect line) I would use one hand/arm to press the pole into the ground to help give me support as I become perfectly horizontal with the floor. I'm face down and then I raise myself back up. I only use the bar with my hand/arm as much as necessary to help me get my body up. At first you feel like you'll never be able to do it. But then after a few weeks you can do it without hardly using the bar.
I like Nathan's method better, but at least my method is good when you don't have a training partner to help you out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sounds like the same exercise, or at least it's doing the same thing. I could only do a couple negatives when I started like 3 months ago and now I can do about 4-5 with ten pounds up under my chin, or 9-10 without any weight. And I can see a big difference in my hams, which was the whole point. I wish there were such good compounds movements for the biceps that can't help but force hypertrophy.

As for good mornings, I don't go up on my toes really I don't think. I try to lower the weight slowly as I shift my hips back, and then once my torso is parallel to the ground, I focus on squeezing my hamstrings hard to snap me back to an upright position. I get a good stretch at the bottom and then snap back up. I try not to take tension off my lower back completely though until the set is over once it's begun. I would imagine going up on my toes would throw me off with that but could be wrong.
 
I'll try to find the video of this one Olympic powerlifter doing goodmornings. At the end of his rep coming up he would go on his toes for a brief moment. That's why I thought maybe you did them this way because you said your calves responded well.
 
AEKDB said:
One of the best benefits of power and oly lifting is that the calves must grow to provide support for the leg/ankle and provide power for standing lifts.

I believe that the more articles found on how to develop a muscle group, the more likely power and oly lifts are the only way to develop the muscle group :
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=Calves


Do you think this guy ever did seated calf raises:
Click to expand...

Great post. I agree 100%.

Jumping with hundreds of pounds in your hands is bound to make them grow. Nothing compares to the violent vertical extension of the ankles, knees, hips etc. needed in the oly lifts.
 
I dunno I like deads and shoulder shrugs with a fair amount of weight I like to almost always hit my maxes or very near my maxes for at least one set working up and then back down... and I can always feel my lower legs really working for support, but more so on shoulder shrugs wher my legs are already pretty much fully extended!! but I also like to do calf extensions on a leg press machine 50 rps or so and then eventually down to thirty for a total of 4-5 sets with 10 plates that seems to get me a good calf aching burn!! an I've got pretty good calves.
 
chicagobuffedbod said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpA47OUohpM
Click to expand...

No shit that guy is strong. Holy crap. I don't do good mornings liek that at all though - I don't really see it looking like it hits his hams much, though maybe it's all that weight. I put like 205 on the bar, bend at the wait slowly over 4 seconds until my torso is parallel to the ground, hold it, then I snap back up focussing on using my hams.
 
chicagobuffedbod said:
You go Papa Lion...so any pics of these "monstah cows?"
Click to expand...

nope tbh I never really even thought about it!! ya never hear anybody wanna take a look at your calves!! haha!! or wanna impress somebody with a pic of your calves, or raisin up your pant leg at the bar to show a chick!! it actually kinda sounds funny!! anyways, I wouldn't say monster calves but they def aren't small, I'll work on gettin some more pics I think it's about that time... my av isn't my best pic either I think I look a bit smaller in it... esp the arms an chest, but at least it's a general idea!! :)
 
To Nathan: Yeah I guess those are what's considered olympic styled good mornings. I've tried them before. I liked them.
To Lion: Yeah, guess I have to say I don't have any pics of my calves either. I think they aren't very big but I get people telling me they are in good proportion to my body. But hey if I had 21" cows I'd be taking pics of them. :)
 
Tweakle said:
When I stop training calfs they shrink to nothing in a matter of weeks.

Spot injections with home-made gear can add 3" in a couple of days, sadly not the kind of size you really want... plus not being able to walk didn't help leg workouts.
Click to expand...
How much [CCs] do you spot inject? Do you do multiple inject on one calve?
 
Nathan said:
Dude, at least give em a shave first.
Click to expand...


haha!!! sorry!! :) actually I usually trim them with a hair trimmer too keep it shorter but not down to baby butt smooth but as I'm training in Russia right now that was kind of outta the question as the folks I'd grapple with would think I was straight flamer!! I shaved a bit after I first got here when I was first dating this chick and she was like wtf??? apparently only women and "blue men" do that here!! that was the last time as I said before I don't wanna lose my training partners... walk onto the mat and everybody decide it's time for a water break as they go to draw straws on who has to work with me that day!! I didn't wanna be "that guy" haha!!
 
You're almost too close with the camera. It's hard to get a perspective of them without say the knee, perhaps upper leg and ankle/foot. Try again and let's see a more complete leg shot.
 
yeah sorry it was kinda hard to flex and try to reach around an snap a pic... without being too close!! really a pain in the ass tbh!!
 
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