Calves...but I want them bigger not smaller!!
Ok I searched through the old threads yet I appear to be one of the few people who actually want to gain more muscle and definition in their calves. My legs look so gangly and I would love to bulk them up. I know its mostly genetics but what else can I do?
Running is good right? Walking on incline? Any specific weight machines? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
4 Replies (last)
running will get you the most defined calves you could ever imagine. trust me.
also, ever heard of calve(calf?) raises? get a 2 x 4 piece of wood and some arm weights (like 8-12 lbs or so).. hold the weights with both hands, stand on the board and stand on your tippy toes, then come back down, then stand on your tippy toes, then come back down. do a couple sets or whateve and trust me - you feel it the next day.
Cycling. Hard and uphill.
i have itty-bitty calves too. not much you can do to SIGNIFICANTLY increase their size. there may be some things you can do to increase them to a small extent, and certainly make them stronger and get some muscle definition.
some people may see some benefit from cardio (running, cycling) - this generally doesn't help those of us with genetically crappy calves. they may get a bit stronger, they likely won't get bigger.
there are many ways to do calf raises: i like doing them on the leg press (the one where you're seated in a low recline and you actually add weight plates, not just put a pin in the machine) - i find doing them standing with a squat bar just plain uncomfortable (after doing squats, i just want the damn bar off my neck. if you have good trap muscles + the squat bar is more comfortable for you, by all means, do it!) and i can't hold dumbbells even close to the amount of weight i can with a bar. i dislike seated calf-raise machines because they press too hard on my thighs, and i've never gotten used to the standing calf machine (i think i'd rather do it with a bar on my back!). but HOW you do them is really your call.
most people don't do calf raises the way that i find to be the only way to grow genetically awful calves: that is, SLOWLY (it's a small movement, so it's hard to really do it slowly, but if you can do 2 seconds up, hold, squeeze as high as you can, 2 seconds down, you'll feel it more and get much better results), with a heavy enough weight, to TRUE failure (that is, not just when you're feeling the burn, but when you LITERALLY can't do another one - most people give up before this point because of the burn. if you're able to, tough out the burn - go until you've actually reached failure. if i can do a lot of reps, i add more weight to help get to failure sooner, although calf raises are one of the few exercises where i am ok if my reps are in the 12-15 range instead of 4-10). i never saw great gains in my calves, after years of calf raises and all sorts of cardio that utilize the calves. then i read this article about a guy being trained by mike mentzer, and decided to try his approach when it came to my calves:
here's the article if you're interested: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker22.htm but here's the part about calves:
I had only done two sets but my legs were very pumped and I felt a deep growth stimulation in them. He had me take a short rest and then we did calves, most people say they can't get their calves to grow, but I see them bouncing up and down very fast on calf raises. Well try them the way Mentzer made me do them, "Slow Up, Hold at the top, hold, raise up higher, higher, hold, lower slow." You do 12 to 20 reps that way and see if you feel a difference.
This is very different from the way most people do calf raises. but it's been the only thing that's helped me make a significant difference in my calves.
doing calf raises like this, if you want to truly do it the mentzer way (don't even get me started on what i think of mike mentzer.... he's a raving loon in many respects, but that doesn't mean his training methods are crazy too) , you only do one set. but you'll notice, if you do them like that, one set is enough! IF you really put your all into it (with 3 sets, often either the first 2 are glorified warm-up sets, but by the time they get to the last set, they can't do as well as they could have if they'd just done one truly hard set because they're fatigued). i did 3 sets/calf raises for a long time, and i can tell you that doing one set the mentzer way has been far more beneficial (especially since calf raises burn and are an easy thing to slack on) - it was also WAY harder!
but i can't promise that this will work for you (nobody can promise anything, short of calf implants, that will really work for you) - everybody is different. this is just what has worked for me.
some people may see some benefit from cardio (running, cycling) - this generally doesn't help those of us with genetically crappy calves. they may get a bit stronger, they likely won't get bigger.
there are many ways to do calf raises: i like doing them on the leg press (the one where you're seated in a low recline and you actually add weight plates, not just put a pin in the machine) - i find doing them standing with a squat bar just plain uncomfortable (after doing squats, i just want the damn bar off my neck. if you have good trap muscles + the squat bar is more comfortable for you, by all means, do it!) and i can't hold dumbbells even close to the amount of weight i can with a bar. i dislike seated calf-raise machines because they press too hard on my thighs, and i've never gotten used to the standing calf machine (i think i'd rather do it with a bar on my back!). but HOW you do them is really your call.
most people don't do calf raises the way that i find to be the only way to grow genetically awful calves: that is, SLOWLY (it's a small movement, so it's hard to really do it slowly, but if you can do 2 seconds up, hold, squeeze as high as you can, 2 seconds down, you'll feel it more and get much better results), with a heavy enough weight, to TRUE failure (that is, not just when you're feeling the burn, but when you LITERALLY can't do another one - most people give up before this point because of the burn. if you're able to, tough out the burn - go until you've actually reached failure. if i can do a lot of reps, i add more weight to help get to failure sooner, although calf raises are one of the few exercises where i am ok if my reps are in the 12-15 range instead of 4-10). i never saw great gains in my calves, after years of calf raises and all sorts of cardio that utilize the calves. then i read this article about a guy being trained by mike mentzer, and decided to try his approach when it came to my calves:
here's the article if you're interested: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker22.htm but here's the part about calves:
I had only done two sets but my legs were very pumped and I felt a deep growth stimulation in them. He had me take a short rest and then we did calves, most people say they can't get their calves to grow, but I see them bouncing up and down very fast on calf raises. Well try them the way Mentzer made me do them, "Slow Up, Hold at the top, hold, raise up higher, higher, hold, lower slow." You do 12 to 20 reps that way and see if you feel a difference.
This is very different from the way most people do calf raises. but it's been the only thing that's helped me make a significant difference in my calves.
doing calf raises like this, if you want to truly do it the mentzer way (don't even get me started on what i think of mike mentzer.... he's a raving loon in many respects, but that doesn't mean his training methods are crazy too) , you only do one set. but you'll notice, if you do them like that, one set is enough! IF you really put your all into it (with 3 sets, often either the first 2 are glorified warm-up sets, but by the time they get to the last set, they can't do as well as they could have if they'd just done one truly hard set because they're fatigued). i did 3 sets/calf raises for a long time, and i can tell you that doing one set the mentzer way has been far more beneficial (especially since calf raises burn and are an easy thing to slack on) - it was also WAY harder!
but i can't promise that this will work for you (nobody can promise anything, short of calf implants, that will really work for you) - everybody is different. this is just what has worked for me.
this all sounds great! thanks a lot!!
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