Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
Training those calves
- Thread starter thefren
- Start date
Lee
New member
seated calf raises and standing calf raises (the ones with a 2x4 under your toes and a oly bar on yer shoulders) work the best for me. its all different though. some people can never get their calves to grow, some people have enourmous calves and never train them, its all genetics.
Omegasox
New member
What Lee said. I have tiny calves so I also throw in calf pushes on the Leg Press machine at my gym. I usually do standing and presses during my leg workout. Then at the very end I do seated raises to failure, stop for 10 seconds, go to failure, etc until I get to about 75-80. I can barely stand up after that.
Atomic Punk
New member
I'd stick with once per week. Let's say you do 4 sets for calves at the end of your Leg routine. If you make all of those sets "to failure", then that should be plenty of sets to achieve growth in my opinion. Here's my current routine as an example, along with a good website for additional routines & exercise info:
Either Standing Calf Raises or Calf Press: Sets of 10, 8, and 6 reps. All are done to failure. Make sure you are stretching as far as you can during the negative, and pausing slightly at the top of the positive. This should be done on all calf exercises as well-not just these.
Seated Calf Raises: Set of 15. Set of 7.
Standing Tibialis Raises: 2 sets to failure. These can be supersetted with Seated Calf Raises if you want.
Here's the website:
http://www.ast-ss.com/training/exercises/legs/leg-intro.asp
Either Standing Calf Raises or Calf Press: Sets of 10, 8, and 6 reps. All are done to failure. Make sure you are stretching as far as you can during the negative, and pausing slightly at the top of the positive. This should be done on all calf exercises as well-not just these.
Seated Calf Raises: Set of 15. Set of 7.
Standing Tibialis Raises: 2 sets to failure. These can be supersetted with Seated Calf Raises if you want.
Here's the website:
http://www.ast-ss.com/training/exercises/legs/leg-intro.asp
Last edited:
Atomic Punk
New member
Getting back to training either 1 or 2 times per week now; I'd say one, but that is just me. The way I tell people to decide when asked this, is basicly to just do for calves, what you would do for your other muscle groups, assuming it is working!!! If you do Chest, Back, & Delts once per week, and you are getting results, then stick with it, and train all other muscle groups the same. Abs too. Sometimes, adding more intensity during sets(and by intensity I mean forced reps) equates to better results than adding an extra training day per week. This way, you are increasing the amount of work you are performing while training said muscle, while at the same time not sacrificing rest.
Good luck
Good luck
Last edited:
I've always had small calves and huge knees that make it look even worse. I've tried lots of different things. I learned recently about using a 50 reps set technique. Don't use a ton of weight but try and crank out 50 quality reps for 3-4 sets. Then maybe a few other sets of a different exercise for the calves. If you can't get all 50 do 30 take a small rest then finish the 20. Try and get all 50 for all sets before increasing weight. Mine have responded to this routine. I'm now at 16.5 inches still tiny but a far cry from 14 when I started.
onerepmaximum
New member
I don't train calves very hard. When I do train them, I do toe raises on the leg press or I'll stand on a platform and use the smith machine or both. I used to run stairs a lot in wrestling, a lot of times with someone on my back. I attribute my calves to that. I've heard that sprinting downhill is suppose to be a great calf builder. Never done it though.
Everyone reacts a little differently.... But I find that my calves respond the best to low rep (8-10) heavy weight standing calf raises. Most people talk about high rep becasue your calves are constantly being stimulated by walking but for me low rep high intensity works the best. I only do 3 sets of 8-10 calf raises as the last exercise during my leg day. My calves are still sore 4 or 5 days later while my quads and ass isn't sore after 3days.
D
Deleted member 33117
Guest
I'm going to advise the total opposite of what most of the guys here are. Go with extremely heavy donkey calf raises and toes presses on the leg press machine. Stripping sets and short rest times between sets are ideal, but with the heaviest weights you can handle for full range of motion. Make sure to stretch deep at the bottom, and contract hard at the top of the movement. There is little need for more than 2 or 3 sets per workout, but train them very frequintly. 3 or 4 times a week is not unreasonable.
D
Deleted member 33117
Guest
gretek has a point. People point out that calves are used to high volumes of work, with lighter weight, so that is how you should train them. Great, so you are subjecting them to the same type of stress they already receive on a daily basis. That isn't going to trigger new adaption. Then again, we all know that long distance runners have 22"+ calves. Those guys are freaks.
IronandGravity
New member
I used to do standing raises then seated raises on the same day, one day a week, and I noticed a lot of size gain. Now I just do standing and they haven't grown since.
Dave949
New member
I agree 100% which is why I train my calfs the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what they have been conditioned to do since I first started to walk 46 years ago.BodyByFinaplix said:
Opposite would be..... Heavy ass load, low to moderate reps
(8-12) and throw in some rest/pause and torch the absolute living shit out of them.........
BodyByFinaplix said:I'm going to advise the total opposite of what most of the guys here are. Go with extremely heavy donkey calf raises and toes presses on the leg press machine. Stripping sets and short rest times between sets are ideal, but with the heaviest weights you can handle for full range of motion. Make sure to stretch deep at the bottom, and contract hard at the top of the movement. There is little need for more than 2 or 3 sets per workout, but train them very frequintly. 3 or 4 times a week is not unreasonable.
I think we all really know why you like donkey calf raises...
lavi said:
I think what he was getting at was that training calves as they are used in everyday life, (High volume, high reps) will not give you the results that a bodybuilder is looking for.
It's the "shock the muscle into growth" theory that I believe he is referring to.
thefren
New member
Thanks guys for the great responses. I've seen slow growth but I am definitely going to try what you guys mentioned. I just don't like having large quads and no good calves to complement them. My calves are OK, but not thick if you know what I mean. I will start working them twice a week and hopefully they begin to grow quicker. Thanks again guys. And no Largepaws, I will not go with implants LOL. LIke that self-centered mofo on MTV? heh.
JoNeS
New member
My calves are probably my best body part. I hit them atleast 2 times per week. Make sure you use a full stretch down and a full push back.
Alternate your foot positions: Wide stance, narrow stance, toes pointed in, toes pointed out, neutral
Usually do 2-3 exercises 2-3 times a week.
Weight is anything from 45-500lbs. It's my opinion that weight doesn't really matter for calves. As long as you use full range of motion and you train them to failure regardless of weight.
Basically when you're done with the set, and rack weight, your calves should feel like they are on fire and you need to kind of shake them in order to make them feel normal again.
Hope this helps
Alternate your foot positions: Wide stance, narrow stance, toes pointed in, toes pointed out, neutral
Usually do 2-3 exercises 2-3 times a week.
Weight is anything from 45-500lbs. It's my opinion that weight doesn't really matter for calves. As long as you use full range of motion and you train them to failure regardless of weight.
Basically when you're done with the set, and rack weight, your calves should feel like they are on fire and you need to kind of shake them in order to make them feel normal again.
Hope this helps
Similar threads
