calf muscles/rnning???

[njlw226]

i was wondering if running will show significant improvement to your legs below the knees. i never run but now im starting to run for 30 minutes 3 times a week. will this increase the mass of my legs or no?

 

[protobe]

I'm sure it will if you are eating proper and consuming a large amount of protein. I know people who play football,dont lift at all really and have huge calfs from running so much. I guess it depends on how you run too. I used to play bball and i can tell you i used to walk around on my toes all day and doing so for about a week or two and you can see some results. I now do weighted calf raises and have gotten my legs almost as big as my arms have been growing 15-141/2 difference. i'm sure it will help but you can't take the place of weight training your calfs you'll feel it a lot more.

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

play rugby

 

[guldukat]

i was wondering if running will show significant improvement to your legs below the knees. i never run but now im starting to run for 30 minutes 3 times a week. will this increase the mass of my legs or no?

I hate to say it, but It Depends (tm).

I've known sprinters with excellent calves, but relatively few distance guys with any lower leg musculature to speak of. I think 30 min. running would, unfortunately, qualify as "distance running," but I've known a _couple_ of those guys who had good legs. A couple.

For the most part, I'd guess only guys carrying a lot of weight and who run (or walk) a good bit would get this growth. For example, have you ever seen how big some fat people's calves are? It's not all muscle, of course, but just by carrying their weight around all day something might work in their favor.

At the risk of being long-winded (yet again), though, that could just as easily be, and probably is, genetic. The fat guys or otherwise skinny distance runners with good calves might've had them anyway

On that basis, I'd conclude for those with less than ideal calf genes, running is not the most efficient way to go. It's possible running could actually cause overuse atrophy, but you'd have to find that out for yourself.

Like any other bodypart, progressive weight training for calves is by far most likely to get the results you're after. Are you training calves now, and if so, what does your routine look like?

 

[fastgain]

I don't think you will see significant improvement. I have played soccer for about 12 years now. Aside from track, soccer is probably the most running intensive sport. I have developed pretty large calves without ever regularly directly working them (I've had compliments from girls on them). I think this is mostly genetics though since I know many soccer players that have done the same amount of running throughout their careers, but still have tiny calves. There may be other factors such as nutrition involved, but calves seem to respond very differently for different people. You may make some gains, but I think it is unlikely that they will be noticeable. Running might help to improve the gains from resistance training though.

 

[Lee]

genetics bro. if you have small calves and you train them a lot, they prolly wont grow from running. i would suggest running, then immediatly after, burning your calves with some seated and standing calf raises.