# Lagging calves



## troponin (Apr 2, 2014)

My calves are small and out of proportion to my quads which are reasonably large. I squat + deadlift decent amounts of weight for my age but my calves are just pure ****... It looks silly - I restrained from wearing shorts today because of it, i'm definitely not a t shirt trainer but sadly in shorts it looks that way. I've been hitting my calves hard with seated + standing raises for the past 3 months and haven't really seen much growth - anybody have experience on bringing lagging parts, specifically calves up?

Thanks a lot.


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## Trevor McDonald (Mar 30, 2010)

Genetics mate. You either have em or don't. I'd continue to hit them hard like you are, I've found higher reps work better, 20+. But that's just my personal experience.


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## troponin (Apr 2, 2014)

Mey said:


> Genetics mate. You either have em or don't. I'd continue to hit them hard like you are, I've found higher reps work better, 20+. But that's just my personal experience.


Yeah I've tried heavy as possible for 6-8 reps for 3 months prior to this, this time round I went with 10x10 reps at a mid-ish weight. I got some nasty DOMS for days afterwards but the growth is still not coming through... Looks really stupid as the rest of me is reasonably large.


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## Captain lats (Mar 25, 2014)

Use lighter weight and train them twice a week with three days inbetweem. Or do one heavy session then the next one lighter weights (more reps)

don't be afraid to mix things up, but at the same time, careful you don't strain them


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## eezy1 (Dec 14, 2010)

calves 3 times a week


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## Captain lats (Mar 25, 2014)

eezy1 said:


> calves 3 times a week


sh!!!!!t, man. How do you go about this.


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## eezy1 (Dec 14, 2010)

lol calves are easy bro. you can chuck some calve raises on the end of any workout. they are stubborn muscles for alot of people


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## troponin (Apr 2, 2014)

eezy1 said:


> lol calves are easy bro. you can chuck some calve raises on the end of any workout. they are stubborn muscles for alot of people


Gonna try hitting them 3/4x a week post workout see if that makes any difference


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## eezy1 (Dec 14, 2010)

troponin said:


> Gonna try hitting them 3/4x a week post workout see if that makes any difference


try pyramiding up to ur heaviest set and then follow that with a big triple dropset right after for one of ur sessions


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

Mey said:


> Genetics mate. You either have em or don't. I'd continue to hit them hard like you are, I've found higher reps work better, 20+. But that's just my personal experience.


Can't agree with any of this, tbh mate. If a muscle isn't growing, what you're currently doing isn't working. I've always tried any new approach for a couple of months, and if I've seen no noteable improvements in that time I know it isn't working - if it hasn't done a thing for 2 months, it's hardly likely to just start producing results a few months down the line. Granted, everyone has limits on how big each muscle will get, but whatever the muscle you can guarantee that its limit is far beyond its untrained size, and there's always an approach that'll have it growing at a decent rate.

As for what approaches to try, there are several. Have you tried stretching the calves at the bottom of each rep on calf raises? Drop all the way down to the bottom, let all of your weight drop into your heels and hold there for about 5 seconds. You should feel them stretching HARD, be prepared to lower your poundages because doing this makes every rep a shîtload harder. Ridiculous pump by the time you've finished, even in the lowest part of the muscle.

Calves are a resilient muscle as well, so if you wish to tack on some calf raises on the end of every workout you can get away with it.


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## bobbydrake (Nov 19, 2012)

Yeah I would add calf raises to every workout and in fact try doing them at home on days off from the gym with just bodyweight barefoot. Have a look at an article on T Nation (see link)...

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_answer_for_massive_calves


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## sanderson (Sep 3, 2013)

bobbydrake said:


> Yeah I would add calf raises to every workout and in fact try doing them at home on days off from the gym with just bodyweight barefoot. Have a look at an article on T Nation (see link)...
> 
> http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_answer_for_massive_calves


Great link! Cheers I'm gonna give this a go.


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## j.k22 (May 20, 2010)

I hit mine heavy as hell, then finish up with high rep "pump" sets. (I try do them EOD, but its often only 3 times a week)

Slow reps are better, you've got to focus on only lifting with the calfs.

Make sure you are hitting full ROM (big stretch at the bottom). And DON'T bounce the weight from the bottom, ensure it's stopped before you try to bring it back up.

The calfs have a lot of fascia tissue and it acts like a big tendon (as an analogy) you gotta make sure you lift with the muscle, and not just bounce it. Also make sure the full contraction is held at the top for a momentary pause.

People compliment my calfs quite a lot, but genetically they were good before. (I have small forearms so cant have it all ways :thumb: )


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## troponin (Apr 2, 2014)

j.k22 said:


> I hit mine heavy as hell, then finish up with high rep "pump" sets. (I try do them EOD, but its often only 3 times a week)
> 
> Slow reps are better, you've got to focus on only lifting with the calfs.
> 
> ...


I will try that then - working sets with heavy weight and then finishers with lighter weight and maximal reps, best of both worlds. I used to have **** poor forearms but I've managed to bring them up after a LOT of work. My dad has large fvck off calves and forearms but unfortunately I seem to have inherited my mothers tiny genetics haha.


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## Heavyassweights (Jan 18, 2014)

Heavy and often


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## j.k22 (May 20, 2010)

troponin said:


> I will try that then - working sets with heavy weight and then finishers with lighter weight and maximal reps, best of both worlds. I used to have **** poor forearms but I've managed to bring them up after a LOT of work. My dad has large fvck off calves and forearms but unfortunately I seem to have inherited my mothers tiny genetics haha.


Just make sure you are hitting the full ROM and dont use the momentum to lift it back up.

You'd never do it with biceps, so dont do it on calfs :thumb:


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## troponin (Apr 2, 2014)

j.k22 said:


> Just make sure you are hitting the full ROM and dont use the momentum to lift it back up.
> 
> You'd never do it with biceps, so dont do it on calfs :thumb:


I will make sure to pause at the bottom and squeeze hard at the top.


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## Dagman72 (Apr 2, 2009)

Get a pair of high heals and walk around in door with them on or over the park at night. Never seen a woman with poor calves!!


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## troponin (Apr 2, 2014)

Dagman72 said:


> Get a pair of high heals and walk around in door with them on or over the park at night. Never seen a woman with poor calves!!


haha yeah i was thinking about that just the other day - the vast majority of women I see in high heels have calves that make mine look like **** haha. Must change that!!!


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## Jamestuala (Apr 16, 2014)

I improved my calves a lot by using stair machine a couple of times a week


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## havering (May 14, 2013)

2/3 times a week, high volume, seated calf raises, standing calf raises, leg press calf raises, go for reps but chuck a few heavy sets in there, concentrate on form and ensure your getting full range of motion, see so many people say they do x weight and all they do is move it three centimeters like press.


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## Benchbum (Apr 20, 2011)

I don't train my calfs. Four different people asked what I do for them while at bodypower, two asked if I was on synthol.


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