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i need some suggestions on a good calf workout.. mine seem to not want to grow.. how many times a week is enough and how many times a week is to much..
Help my calves are small
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TheManHimself
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BIGGGG CALVES
Dude,
Calves are probably the bitchiest of bitches!!!! They never seem to grow... I would however recommend you don't do them like 2-3 times a week... Once a week max... Never more than that... Also, do standing calf raises, donkey calf raises and seated calf raises... As heavy as possible... You may wanna begin your leg day with calves rather than quads or even do calves on another day to give them the attention they deserve!!!
A tip... Change the way you walk... Walk on your tip-toes around the house... On your way to the workout... In the gym... In fact, one calf exercise that people don't ever do and find funny, is walking around the gym on tip-toes with a heavy barbell across your back... I've done this, at the cost of people laughing at me, and seen fantastic results!!!
Dude,
Calves are probably the bitchiest of bitches!!!! They never seem to grow... I would however recommend you don't do them like 2-3 times a week... Once a week max... Never more than that... Also, do standing calf raises, donkey calf raises and seated calf raises... As heavy as possible... You may wanna begin your leg day with calves rather than quads or even do calves on another day to give them the attention they deserve!!!
A tip... Change the way you walk... Walk on your tip-toes around the house... On your way to the workout... In the gym... In fact, one calf exercise that people don't ever do and find funny, is walking around the gym on tip-toes with a heavy barbell across your back... I've done this, at the cost of people laughing at me, and seen fantastic results!!!
gymtime
New member
Next to the muscles in the jaw, calves are the most dense muscles in the body. I do calves twice a week for that reason. Calves also seem to be more dependent on genetics in terms of how much they respond to resistance training. If you have naturally small calves, it's extremely difficult to make them grow.
FASTECLIPSE
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Godly1
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to increase lower leg size you should do standing and seated calf raises which hits them from two different angles. also add toes in and toes out for a variety. and the most important thing that most people leave out when trying to build their lower legs is building the front of their lower legs. toe raises, toe pulls(hook the single handle on the cable machine over your toe, sit back and keep pulling until you feel the burn, it's easy)
oh, by the way, it is safe to work them whenever the hell you feel like it, they're kind of like your abs, you can't overtrain them.
oh, by the way, it is safe to work them whenever the hell you feel like it, they're kind of like your abs, you can't overtrain them.
Intenceman
New member
The calves are used to supporting a lot of weight, think about it , when you walk, every time you take a step one calve is supporting your bodyweight. If you weigh 200 lbs, then that calf is bearing the weight. Thats PER calf, so we are talking 400 lbs between the two. So if you are using 300 lbs on standing calf raises, that simply wont cut it. Like Arnold , Reg Park, Mentzer and the other calf monsters, you need to use HEAVY weight . Arnold did up to 1000 lbs, Park and Mentzer likewise went very heavy. Work up to it over time, I do one legged calf raises on the standing calf machine with the entire weight stack, rep out and sometimes continue on with forced reps by using both legs.
mattcanning99
New member
first, if youre going to read routines on training calves, forget mike matarazzo - big calves, yes, but the result of intensity and hard training, no. in fact i even read a quote where he said it was solely genetic, and he doesnt train them.
arnold: he said that big calves are largely composed of very dense muscle fibers, and in order to shock these dense fibers into growth, you need to train extremely heavy and consistently, and many sets to hammer them good. in other words, doing what you would do to shock your bis once a month, or even less frequenly, would be what you would do for calves weekly. also, arnold said your calves are naturally holding your body weight (in his case, around 250 lbs + offseason). therefore they are used to handling heavy weights, so that is why extremely heavy weights are need. they will be the hardest, most intense, and probably most stubborn muscle to grow, but it will be well worth it in the end.
arnold: he said that big calves are largely composed of very dense muscle fibers, and in order to shock these dense fibers into growth, you need to train extremely heavy and consistently, and many sets to hammer them good. in other words, doing what you would do to shock your bis once a month, or even less frequenly, would be what you would do for calves weekly. also, arnold said your calves are naturally holding your body weight (in his case, around 250 lbs + offseason). therefore they are used to handling heavy weights, so that is why extremely heavy weights are need. they will be the hardest, most intense, and probably most stubborn muscle to grow, but it will be well worth it in the end.
calvesodeath
New member
Much of calves is genetics 
However the key is to really feel the burn when doing any type of calf raise. Good Luck!
However the key is to really feel the burn when doing any type of calf raise. Good Luck!
FitnessFrk
New member
that is just plain old BAD ADVICE !!...
THE BOUNCER
New member
I went the heavy-once a week routine for a year and had very little results. I switched over to doing them twice a week with low weight and high reps. Since switching over I have had great results. That's just me though.
I agree with the slightly higher volume (2-3 times a week) for training calves. However, I still get my best results with very heavy weights. Also, another thing people may be overlooking is the speed at which you do the reps. Because most calf exercises have such a small range of motion, its relatively easy to do them too quickly (in my opinion). I still try to keep a 2 second positive, 4 second negative tempo with my calf exercises (as I do for most of my other lifts). Might be something to try for those with lagging calves (if you haven't tried it already).
The Dude
New member
Mine sucked until I found the joy and necessity of heavy sets and drop sets resulting in lots of delicious pain! They're not too shabby any more. 
My calf workouts (once per 6 day cycle [4 day split]):
Standing CR x 5 sets: target reps (meet that rep for that set and I go up in weight for THAT set next time): 15,12,9,9,15
Seated CR x 3 sets: target 15 on first set; all are drop sets, the last being a triple or quadruple drop
Next week, reverse order and do Seated CR heavy and Standing CR w/ drops. Good range of motion and feel those calves, especially at the "top" of the rep. Move as much weight as you can. Calves are a lot stronger than most people think. Most of the regulars in my gym outweigh me by 20-50lbs, yet I move more weight (and move it correctly) than they do on Standing CR's.
My calf workouts (once per 6 day cycle [4 day split]):
Standing CR x 5 sets: target reps (meet that rep for that set and I go up in weight for THAT set next time): 15,12,9,9,15
Seated CR x 3 sets: target 15 on first set; all are drop sets, the last being a triple or quadruple drop
Next week, reverse order and do Seated CR heavy and Standing CR w/ drops. Good range of motion and feel those calves, especially at the "top" of the rep. Move as much weight as you can. Calves are a lot stronger than most people think. Most of the regulars in my gym outweigh me by 20-50lbs, yet I move more weight (and move it correctly) than they do on Standing CR's.
The calves are comprised of two separate muscles (can't remember names right now) one gets hit when the knee is at a 90 degree angle, ie, seated raises, and the other gets hit when the leg is straight. I find after training one area, I don't have enough strength/energy to efficiently hit the other so I split them up, I do standing on chest day, seated on leg day, rep range 12-15 reps.
This has brought my calves from pathetic to merely outclassed, so it works for me
This has brought my calves from pathetic to merely outclassed, so it works for me
The Dude
New member
For me, I find the soleus still pretty strong after standing cr's, but my gastroc is a bit weaker after seated cr's. One thing else that has helped me is I don't do calves on leg day. That day is just thighs. I do calves after chest. I have a lot more energy then than I would after thighs. I can really hammer them then. 
cure
New member
Re: BIGGGG CALVES
Contradictory statement my friend. You tell him to work them out once a week only but to walk around on your tip-toes which adds added stress to the calves. Work them once a week like every other bodypart. Like the others say, train them heavy and pyramid down. Heavy first to lightest last.
TheManHimself said:
Contradictory statement my friend. You tell him to work them out once a week only but to walk around on your tip-toes which adds added stress to the calves. Work them once a week like every other bodypart. Like the others say, train them heavy and pyramid down. Heavy first to lightest last.
walkthewalk
New member
calfs are not something thats going to change over night. they are a muscle that is constantly being used and is adapted to the "way you walk". walking on your toes will increase calf size but to do so you'll have to learn to walk all over again. thats why many choose site injections for calf growth, usually supension test, to speed up the process. They sell some gay ass shit to promote calf growth but don't waste your money, big calves are like a fat dick either you have it or you don't.
