[FLY]

Originally Posted by BigVrunga

That gives more weight to the 'high-volume' approach to calf training - which is the only way mine grow as well. Ive gained a lot of strength in movements like the standing calf press - but they wont grow unless I pound them with multiple sets and reps 3x per week or more.

BV

Yea. Think about how many times your calves flex in a 30 minute bike ride. If you ride at an average of 80rpm that makes for 2400 reps per calf!!!

[kelsey]

http://www.nefitco.com/xvest8484.html

best bang for your buck imo,
i looked at the one from www.elitefts.com and i think this one will be better for my needs (maybe a tighter fit)
i am goingthe wear leg weights too, i have a 12 mile trail right by my house.
good winter time outdoor WO

next paycheck!!!

[BigVrunga]

Yesterday I hiked up a mountain with my brother, Mt. Algonquin in Lake Placid, NY. We got there late, so we powered up the 4.5 mile ascent in a little over 2 hours. We had to race down too, because the sun was setting (and got stuck 1/2 way down in pitch black in the middle of nowhere with no flashlight, but that's another story)

Anyway, today my calves are on FIRE. I *never* take aspirin to overcome muscle soreness, but I had to today, I could barely walk. My calves look bigger, are sore as hell and hard a rock today.

High reps/high intensity definitely the way to go to get these *****es to grow

BV

[ss01]

I been there, around this time of the year. Beautiful.

[BigVrunga]

Yeah, it was awesome!

[ZackMurphy]

Originally Posted by ss01

I'm looking to learn other people's favourite method of growing calves. Who knows, we might even have some kind of consensus?

More about tempo for me (and the majority of clients). I have them do excruciatingly slow negatives and we keep the concentrics pretty slow, too. Brutally fatiguing.

It serves slow twitch muscles especially well to just bring the pace down to a crawl. IMHO.

[BigVrunga]

I agree with that too - I think a combination of everything is what's really going to get them to grow. Attack them from all angles. Slow reps, heavy weight, brutal intensity, etc...

[FLY]

eh, I get a lot of my slow eccentrics and concentrics out of the way while riding. When I am doing actual calf raises in the gym I like to do a smooth/swift concentric (2 seconds) and a slow eccentric (5 seconds). By swift I don't mean jerky because that wouldn't be safe.

[Poobah]

The fat advantage.. (just wish is didn't have all the disadvantages yo... )

[trayhawk]

i think i did find the solution

The ideas behind hst really seem to apply to the calves.
The calves are more prone to the repeated bout effect due to - albeit low intensity partial range of motion - much greater workload throughout the day. Also, they are supporting your bodyweight so all this leads to


You must use heavier loads - almost always - I start after a deconditioning period in maybe my 5 rep range, then work to two leg negatives, and one leg- negatives

In addition, frequency must be MUCH higher - I now average working my calves probably 12 times a week. I also consistently add more weight and add typically greater than 5% As calves seemingly build a much greater resistance to strain and are never really deconditioned, Id recommend heavier loads than for other muscle groups, consistenly increasing in weight and greater increments - to avoid repeated bout effect. SImply split the reps up into a greater number of sets as the weights get heavier and heavier. Exposure to weights/loads the calves are unaccustomed to at a much greater frequency has really worked well for me.

Also stretch-pulses are somewhat more extreme but work well as do loaded stretches - but I believe the weight must be increased consistently with these as well.

Check out HST forums for more info

[oswizzle]

do the plyo workouts with the Strength Shoes....You'd be suprised with the results after a few months if you stayed faithful...

[FLY]

Originally Posted by trayhawk

i think i did find the solution

The ideas behind hst really seem to apply to the calves.
The calves are more prone to the repeated bout effect due to - albeit low intensity partial range of motion - much greater workload throughout the day. Also, they are supporting your bodyweight so all this leads to


You must use heavier loads - almost always - I start after a deconditioning period in maybe my 5 rep range, then work to two leg negatives, and one leg- negatives

In addition, frequency must be MUCH higher - I now average working my calves probably 12 times a week. I also consistently add more weight and add typically greater than 5% As calves seemingly build a much greater resistance to strain and are never really deconditioned, Id recommend heavier loads than for other muscle groups, consistenly increasing in weight and greater increments - to avoid repeated bout effect. SImply split the reps up into a greater number of sets as the weights get heavier and heavier. Exposure to weights/loads the calves are unaccustomed to at a much greater frequency has really worked well for me.

12 times a week? Are you crazy? With all of that training when do you give your calves time to recover? The recovery period is where they will grow. I would never suggest training them more than twice a week because if you train them good then you won't be able to train them 12 times in a week.

Also, I wouldn't suggest doing a super heavy weight for 5 reps. You run the risk of tearing the tendon then. Calves don't grow like other muscles of the body. Calves are most closely related to your forearm flexors because they are very very dense and flat.

[FLY]

Here is a shot of my calves. Let me know what ya think....

[crazycal]

what i find most worrying is that there are plenty of top bb`s out there who take a **** load of gear and they`ve still got bad calves-btw tyson and holyfield have bad calves.

[magic8ball]

The biggest mistake I've seen is that guys underestimate their calf strength. I'm 5'8", 190lbs. and hitting the stack of 500 plus an additional 320lbs in plates for a total of 820 for six sets 8-10 reps. Add more weight you'll be amazed. Don't forget to go for a deep stretch.

[CHAPS]

PGF-2 will get them growing even without exercise. PGF-2 stacked with synthol would pack on the size.

[BodyWizard]

Calves lift body weight - plus load - with every step. across every kind of terrain. In the course of an average day, this will be on the order of a few hundred reps per leg per day. An especially active day might see each calf lifting and lowering bodyweight + load for *many* hundreds of reps.

To make an impression on these puppies, I find it helps to take an extreme approach or 2.

The key IMO is range of motion: the habitual range of motion for the calves is only a small portion of the potential, or absolute, RoM; the loading decreases as the calf moves toward full contraction (which is rarely reached); and rarely is full extension approached during normal movement.

In other words, calves are the size they need to be to do what we habitually ask of them. The enormous number of bodyweight reps they endure every day make them vastly strong, and mostly impervious to a more-reps approach, and the frequency with which we lift and carry heavy things renders them pretty much impervious to the more-weight approach. (think about it, how often have you encountered calf-strength as the limiting factor in any activity?)

What has worked for me is to use and to load the entire range of motion, extension thru contraction. This basic approach has led to my developing a classic (to me) 'comic-book hero' upside-down-teardrop shape to my calves (without androgens, and initially without thinking about calf development).

Basic move is tiptoeing for reps. Sounds stupid, maybe, but it takes you to full-contraction and as long a squeeze at the top as you can muster. Up+down, and up+hold. Keeping calves slowly, carefully and thoroughly stretched is key to this working; even so, expect some cramping & be prepared to slowly and carefully stretch it out. Repeat lots....

Intermedi