# Calves



## tomo8 (May 29, 2010)

How long has it taken people to bring up a lagging pair of calves?

I train them twice a week, doing 3 different exercises for 3-4 sets of each with supersets,rest pauses etc. They just dont seem to grow quickly at all.

Ive been doing mainly 8-12 rep range. I dont want to change to higher reps an loseany of the size ive put on.

Any ideas?


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## BigBarnBoy (May 7, 2011)

Calves seem a bitch for so many people..including me for a long time

Try swithcing things round abit..i found mine grew best when using big weight/low reps. gotta remember they carry you around allday when your walking and dont pump up...

Drop sets also worked good for me.

for overall bulk heavy standing calf raises have always done the trick for me with higher reps on the seated raises

It can take a while to work out whats best for you but youl get there. Stick at it.


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## tomo8 (May 29, 2010)

cheers mate. ive just recently started heavy session an lighter the next. How long before you saw significant gains?


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## BigBarnBoy (May 7, 2011)

For me i saw big improvements quite quickly soon after i changed my rep ranges. Keep pushing them as much as you do any big bodypart mate and theyl come along nicely


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

Mine will grow quite easily l use the bounce technique...


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## bighead1985 (Dec 31, 2010)

Im struggling with calves also. Think im gonna try going super heavy for as many reps as possible


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## Mr.GoodKat (May 18, 2010)

I've always been told you have to smash the fvck out of calves.

I struggle with these, well legs in general (naturally skinny legs)....


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## RMC... (Mar 25, 2011)

IMO the Only way to make calves grow is super heavy weight 8-10 reps...... I believe it's because the calves are used a lot of the time so high reps doesn't really cut it..... Again this is only what works for me.


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## Si Train (Jul 21, 2009)

Try overloading them one day, something like 10 sets of 15 then the next day go very heavy and maybe 6 reps for 5 sets


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## bighead1985 (Dec 31, 2010)

Yeah im gonna go as heavy as possible with calves from now on. High reps with walking and fat people having big ones make sense


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## massiccio (Nov 17, 2010)

When training calves, every rep before the pain/burn zone count zero/nil. Keep that in mind , and the calves will respond.

Full range of motion is important too, with the bottom stretch and the contraction at the very top being the most effective


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## quinn85 (Jul 30, 2010)

I wouldnt know, mine are still lagging. I do go as heasvy as I can with them though.


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## DiggyV (May 6, 2011)

Heavy weight, low reps (no more than 8), standing not sitting, and FULL movement.

I see a lot of people just 'pointing' their toes, if you see what I mean, no real range of motion. With the balls of your feet on the 'ledge', and the weight on your shoulders, make sure your heels go as low as possible below the level of the balls of your feet, and the push up until your heels are as high as possible above the balls of your feet.

Also dont cheat, again a lot of people bend their knees and use their hams to get some acceleration and then use the calves at the last moment. Just use the calf only, smooth movement all the way down and all the way up. If you can't then drop the weight until you can.

This is what worked for me. Used to be able to lift very heavy with calves, and at their best they were between 22 and 23 inches. They are still 19 and 20 inches now (different sizes  ) and I dont train them any more due to historical reasons - see other posts or blog.

Cheers

Diggy


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## bighead1985 (Dec 31, 2010)

massiccio said:


> When training calves, every rep before the pain/burn zone count zero/nil. Keep that in mind , and the calves will respond.
> 
> Full range of motion is important too, with the bottom stretch and the contraction at the very top being the most effective


Before with every rep I did it felt like two motions. Id push then stop and I would try and push that little bit harder at the top of the movement and get the weight up an extra few inches if that makes sense?


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## Mighty Sparrow (Apr 10, 2011)

I stand in the same spot quite a lot while im at work, so I got myself a bit of 2x4 to do calf raises on throughout the day between workouts. It seems to be working but I really have to blast my calves to get them to grow.


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## bighead1985 (Dec 31, 2010)

Mighty Sparrow said:


> I stand in the same spot quite a lot while im at work, so I got myself a bit of 2x4 to do calf raises on throughout the day between workouts. It seems to be working but I really have to blast my calves to get them to grow.


Sorry mate, to busy looking at your avi. What did you say


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## Mighty Sparrow (Apr 10, 2011)

bighead1985 said:


> Sorry mate, to busy looking at your avi. What did you say


LOL!!


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## massiccio (Nov 17, 2010)

bighead1985 said:


> Before with every rep I did it felt like two motions. Id push then stop and I would try and push that little bit harder at the top of the movement and get the weight up an extra few inches if that makes sense?


Sure does make sense. One could even split the range in 3 segment, low, middle ,top. Then do some reps F.R.of M.,followed by top segment and full contraction at the top, followed by bottom stretches/bounces for microtears. In any order, does not really matter , as long as one do them. Low reps are good , so are 5/10 minutes sets no stop.

One for size, the other for muscle quality


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## bighead1985 (Dec 31, 2010)

massiccio said:


> Sure does make sense. One could even split the range in 3 segment, low, middle ,top. Then do some reps F.R.of M.,followed by top segment and full contraction at the top, followed by bottom stretches/bounces for microtears. In any order, does not really matter , as long as one do them. Low reps are good , so are 5/10 minutes sets no stop.
> 
> One for size, the other for muscle quality


Good post, Thanks a lot


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## Nickthegreek (Jan 27, 2011)

Mate i have brought my calves up a hell of a lot this year and i train them once , sometimes twice a week! Find them to be very stubborn muscle but i think i have cracked it.

Id say it is about setting the damn muscle on fire. When you feel that heat in them and it burns like a bi-itch that what you need to look for. Just try and shock the hell out of em.

Examples of what I do is a set of 12-14 etc heavy as u can go full range of motion and then once you fail just start to pump out partial reps. When you start to feel the burn say ok another 30 more reps. By the end of the set you should be in pain and your calves should be on fire!

Another method i have found quite good. On the standing calf raise for example try set of 10-12 as heavy as you can go with toes pointed out, then switch to toes pointed in another 10-12 reps , then do another 10-12 with neutral toe stance. Hit that mo fo's from all angels.

I also do pyramids , drop sets , even get your mate to push down on the seated calf raise wile you are trying to resist it in a static hold. Also find that stretching them out in between sets helps as when worked hard calves can give severe pain for the next few days so stretching can save your life!

Other tips I would give is try and use a variety of different calf workout movements from week to week. E.g like one week do calf raise on leg press machine and on standing calf raise machine, then next week do them on a smith machine, one legged dumbbell calf raises etc. Then another week do seated calf raises and donkey calf raises etc.

I have been doing calves on leg days recently however I do find that it's good to chuck them into an alternative body part day. Good thing about calves is that they can be chucked in to pretty much any other workout without impacting on the effectiveness of working the other body part.

Damn I wrote an essay! Lol What I do is hard but it seems to work for me. Have fun!

Edit : I forgot to add one thought . My mates who play football a lot all have wicked calves ! Footballers in the long run do have great calves . Only thing is all that running around for 90 minutes will stop you putting on great size overall ! but you will still have a great set of calves .


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## a.notherguy (Nov 17, 2008)

ive never seen a serious cyclist who doesnt have good calves so i reckon that hi reps and hi volume are the key but thats just my opinion.


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## massiccio (Nov 17, 2010)

a.notherguy said:


> ive never seen a serious cyclist who doesnt have good calves so i reckon that hi reps and hi volume are the key but thats just my opinion.


If you look carefully , the cyclist with good size calves are the ones that are best cycling up mountains,

the racer good at long distance on flat surfaces have quite small ones.

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

good tip about the 3 feet positions.That's a sure way to target different areas.

Walking uphill , possibily with the feet at a gradient , IE not on steps but on the hill , that can be productive too, if one has a step hill nearby, possiblily about 100% gradient

My calves (& abs) after 2 months without direct training , done as an experiment






I do train them a little , regulary, I'll update soon


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## bighead1985 (Dec 31, 2010)

massiccio said:


> If you look carefully , the cyclist with good size calves are the ones that are best cycling up mountains,
> 
> the racer good at long distance on flat surfaces have quite small ones.
> 
> ...


Great shape mate, shocking camera work though.......


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## massiccio (Nov 17, 2010)

bighead1985 said:


> Great shape mate, shocking camera work though.......


Yeah , I know.... terrible

I prefer to put the camera on someone else hands, but no-one was available that day , and I couldn't postpone because on that day I re-inserted cardio and changed the diet.

I had to vid my condition on that date for future reference, most of all.

Can't even see the details in the calfs , there.....

I'll get a proper one next time


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## a.notherguy (Nov 17, 2008)

massiccio said:


> If you look carefully , the cyclist with good size calves are the ones that are best cycling up mountains,
> 
> the racer good at long distance on flat surfaces have quite small ones.


yeah - good point. im a mountain biker so i only pay attention to other mountain bikers, not road riders


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## LunaticSamurai (May 19, 2009)

My calves lag too just like most people.. I personaly believe in the forced principle, fat people have big calves because the weight of thier body has forced them to grow, no choice, same as cyclist, footballers, rugby players, american footballers......

High reps, heavy weight, lots of sets and a couple of time a week. Punish them.


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## countrybumpkin (Jul 2, 2011)

Sometimes higher reps can reall help with calves. I used to train them heavy and they were mega stubborn (15 inch), switched to sets of 50 reps plus and now they're 18s. Try it mate, try different foot positions aswell, toes outward/inward etc. Also, crack out the donkey raises, they work wonders


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## tomo8 (May 29, 2010)

cheers guys, ive recently tried sets of 30 reps an it might just be my imagination but i think its working. So gona keep this up an do the odd heavy set to see how i go.


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## sizar (Nov 13, 2008)

high reps stand raises machine seated and leg press .. all high reps .. 15 or 20 then 20 stairs 10 raise body weight all the way up .. Growing like tree with vain sticking out lol


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