my calves SUCK!!! help me build 'em

[smallmovesal]

there is no standing calf machine at the gym i go to now so i held dumbells and stood on a step and did two sets to failure... should i hit them more than once a week to get them to grow? should i be doing more for them?

my calves have to be my worst bodypart for not growing.

 

[ann]

No sitting calf machine either? You can do them on the leg press machine.....

Mine suck to smalls....I have been working them now 3 to 4 days a week, and I am seeing some growth

Work them babies.....stand on the edge of a step and do the up down stretch motion, as if you were on a standing machine.

 

[TheProject]

Just bumped this up for ya.

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=85419

I've been doing different things to work my calves, at spats' direction. Standing raises, toe presses, duck raises, seated raises, in varying combinations. I believe most of the things I'm doing came from that thread...

 

[smallmovesal]

No sitting calf machine either? You can do them on the leg press machine.....

Mine suck to smalls....I have been working them now 3 to 4 days a week, and I am seeing some growth

Work them babies.....stand on the edge of a step and do the up down stretch motion, as if you were on a standing machine.

k i'll hit 'em up more often... i figured that might help but wasn't sure if that would be overtraining.

thanks project for the link

 

[MS]

Ya can't go past donkey raises for drawing attention in a public gym (or for results).

Otherwise, I will point out that calves are a HUGE amount genetics, and you will see lots of cyclists with good calf definition (in general these cyclists are endurance athletes that do very high rep but very low intensity reps.....)

I've personally tried it all, and come to the conclusion that even high rep cycling doesn't improve my calves from a BB perspective. I think that genetics is the largest part, and people that have good genetics for cycling happen to have good genetics for calf development. After all, how many folks of black african descent with high calf insertions have you seen on the Tour de France?????

 

[saint808]

Do you have a leg press machine? can do calves on that as well ya know. btw if you have no leg press machine it's time to get a new gym.

 

[smallmovesal]

well, in hindsight i should have gone with one of the downtown gyms but this women's gym was closer... anyway, i can get on the weight stuff pretty easily because all the women are doing cardio LOL

yeah i can do that on the leg press machine... i'll give that a go tomorrow

 

[new@gettinbig]

Personally I would only train calves 1 x a week.hit them heavy....I would choose 3 exercises and do some drop sets 15-20 reps..no standing calf raises?? Why sort of gym is that? I would go to the leg press...seated and the donkeys..just get someone to get on your back..i am sure you will get some volunteers

 

[Sassy69]

My gym has a vertical standing calf machine, an angled one, a seated upright one and a seated "sliding" one (similar to a leg press calf raise) as well as a couple leg presses. But NO DONKEY PRESS. shit. The one thing I did get lucky w/ is good calf genetics - if u saw my dad you'd see where they came from - his calves are literally as big as his quads (and he doesn't have stick quads). Anyway -- I don't like doing the standing calf raises because they really hurt my shoulders - feel like my spine is getting pushed thru my tail bone. Another option could be setting up the smith rack w/ some weighs like you're gonna do squats, except use a step and do calf raises -- kinda like the free weights smalls was using - but u have something to hold onto so you don't fall over!

I think it was phem who said she used to jump around the house and also run stairs / stadiums.

 

[wilson6]

We use a smith machine for standing; hack squat (facing in) for an alternative to standing (great stretch); we do donkeys (I sit on their back, sometimes two of us); seated with seated machine, but you could sit on a bench, put your toes on a box, and stack a 45 or two on your legs with a towel under them and do seated.

Don't need fancy machines, improvise.

If you work calves the way I train my clients, a 20 min calf session once a week is all you'll need. Most are lucky if they aren't still sore from last week's session.

People that train calves 3x per week aren't training them hard enough each session. If they were, they wouldn't be able to train them that often.

W6

 

[ann]

We use a smith machine for standing; hack squat (facing in) for an alternative to standing (great stretch); we do donkeys (I sit on their back, sometimes two of us); seated with seated machine, but you could sit on a bench, put your toes on a box, and stack a 45 or two on your legs with a towel under them and do seated.

Don't need fancy machines, improvise.

If you work calves the way I train my clients, a 20 min calf session once a week is all you'll need. Most are lucky if they aren't still sore from last week's session.

People that train calves 3x per week aren't training them hard enough each session. If they were, they wouldn't be able to train them that often.

W6

If I had someone standing over me, training me, I suppose one day a week on calves would work. I am alone, go very heavy on all machines, and have found working MINE 3 days a week is making them finally grow. And they do hurt like a son of a gun. One day was not doing squat....FOR ME .

 

[takniteasy]

Reverse on hack squat machine is killer! And leg press. Just go HEAVY to build mass. And make sure you get a good stretch afterwards.

 

[Sassy69]

Is there a point where the weight of the lift would hurt the structure of your foot or pressure on your knee?

 

[ann]

Just telling W6 what works for some might not work for others Feeling a little cocky tonight, especially if I am messin with W6's philosophy


Anyone else out here train calves more than one day a week?