Do I need to do calf raises for bigger calves, or are squats and front squats enough.

[DerickVonD]

Do I need to do calf raises for bigger calves, or are squats and front squats enough?

I have severely flat feet and I bought new shoes, that are stiffer than my old shoes and new insoles, but they are helping with the foot, back and knee pain alot. I don't think I can preform calf raises with these shoes and without them I'm asking for an injury. So I was wondering do I even need to be concerned with calf raises at all?

 

[Tomahawk88]

I have severely flat feet and I bought new shoes, that are stiffer than my old shoes and new insoles, but they are helping with the foot, back and knee pain alot. I don't think I can preform calf raises with these shoes and without them I'm asking for an injury. So I was wondering do I even need to be concerned with calf raises at all?

I just untie my shoes when I do calves.

 

[DerickVonD]

Well I need my shoes on tight and these shoes are the only thing keeping my feet from rolling inward. Which is terrible on the knees and it is no wonder I have had a lot of knee pain and have had trouble going low on squats.

 

[DerickVonD]

If I could goto a gym I could use the seated calf machine, but I workout at home. So standing cal raises doesn't seem to be an option at all because of the shoes and my condition.

 

[kanakafarian]

While doing calf rasises, you're on the balls of your feet so your flat-footedness (<---is that even a word?) shouldn't be a factor. You don't have to worry about your feet rolling.

 

[DerickVonD]

Yeah, it is not possible for me to do the movement with these shoes, they are not flexible and I am afraid to do any work without them because I get real bad knee and back pain without support of insoles/shoes even while walking or standing. I did read somewhere you can do more weight in calf raises than you squat, so that's why I was wondering if my calves will get big even with out direct calf isolation. My calves are 17" right no granted I have more body fat than id like.

 

[ZiR RED]

Squats and deadlifts have little effect on the calves. Seated calf raises are virtually useless since they work only the soleus, which is predominantly slow twitch fiber with little potential for growth.

Can you do triple extension movements: clean pulls, etc.?

Br

 

[DerickVonD]

Squats and deadlifts have little effect on the calves. Seated calf raises are virtually useless since they work only the soleus, which is predominantly slow twitch fiber with little potential for growth.

Can you do triple extension movements: clean pulls, etc.?

Br

I can do lifts that don't require me to move onto my toes. My feet most remain flat on the ground.

 

[DerickVonD]

http://www.shapefit.com/calf-exercises-standing-calf-raises.html
Not an option for me yet, but maybe when I can start going to a gym. Hows that look? I guess I can't do any calf exercises except maybe that one if I find a gym that has the machine and i can goto the gym. I guess it's a good thing I have naturally big legs.

 

[Tomahawk88]

Oh well Idk being flat footed has never given me a problem while doing calves and as far as I can tell I have fairly good calves.

 

[DerickVonD]

Oh well Idk being flat footed has never given me a problem while doing calves and as far as I can tell I have fairly good calves.

I guess I can only hope my genetics are good enough for them to grow with just high bar back squats. Back when I did a 5x5 routine with back squats my calves grew alot and got real firm. I didn't measure them unfortunately so idk how big they were. I guess it is good I have very very good leg genetics. My arms need a lot more work to grow though. Like I said my calves are 17" right now, if I can get them to just 19" that's good enough thats close to Steve Reeves measurements. I heard of powerlifters getting big calves from just squats, but some people having trouble growing calves with even high reps of calf raises, so I guess it has a lot to do with genetics, luckily like I said I have good genetics when it comes to legs so I can only hope.

 

[dunhill225]

First, have you even tried doing single leg calf raises on a stair in your house (you said you train at home)?
Second, heavy deads will help your calves grow, as will heavy squats... Put a lot of wt on your back or at arms length and any part of your body that must support that wt will thicken.
Third, ok... No matter what it sounds like you won't have huge calves... You ain't gonna be Mr Olympia anyway so....so what?

 

[DerickVonD]

First, have you even tried doing single leg calf raises on a stair in your house (you said you train at home)?
Second, heavy deads will help your calves grow, as will heavy squats... Put a lot of wt on your back or at arms length and any part of your body that must support that wt will thicken.
Third, ok... No matter what it sounds like you won't have huge calves... You ain't gonna be Mr Olympia anyway so....so what?

I'm not worried about having the biggest well anything just as long as my muscles are a decent size. I just measured my calf and its actually 18", granted I need to loose some fat but if I can get firm lean calves and they are 19" or anything above that thats good enough.

 

[Docmattic]

can you do them bare feet with no weight just off the ground?

I have very flat inward rolling feet that have always been quite difficult. Looking into authodics to fix the problem could be beneficial.

 

[dunhill225]

I'm not worried about having the biggest well anything just as long as my muscles are a decent size. I just measured my calf and its actually 18", granted I need to loose some fat but if I can get firm lean calves and they are 19" or anything above that thats good enough.

It's good that that is all you want... Just 19" muscular calves.....that's all...lol.

 

[DerickVonD]

It's good that that is all you want... Just 19" muscular calves.....that's all...lol.

Or IDK 21" lol. What ever is considered a good size in comparision to how big I want my thighs which is 28"-29". My size are actually 30", but they are not lean lol. When I said 19" I was kind of just going off of Steve Reeve measurements lol.

 

[dunhill225]

I think you have to get an idea what muscular 29" legs and 19" calves are. Look up a pic of tom platz, his quads were around 30 and calves around 20 in shape.

 

[DerickVonD]

I think you have to get an idea what muscular 29" legs and 19" calves are. Look up a pic of tom platz, his quads were around 30 and calves around 20 in shape.

Oh okay. I did my front squats last night with lighter weight but went almost atg but the weight was only 95 lbs but so what I'll build it up. I was just so happy I could get low with no problem and after gettign the right shoes and insoles I can finally do squats with out any knee pain or discomfort. I now know why my knees were hurting so bad even if I did front squats with light weight. Only down side to these shoes is like I said they are stiff, hard to stand on my toes and I can't like pivot with them so I can't do martial arts training and learn kicks with them. Luckily as I said my legs grow with little effort unlike my arms. I seem disproportional a bit actually because my legs are so much bigger than my arms. 30" thighs and 15" arms.

 

[dalexander]

claves are very tricky because genetis have a lot to do with this, esp the achilles tendon. The longer the achilles tendon the higher someone may jump for an example; kangaroos have a very high cut (long)achilles which allows more of an elastic energy during a jump. Kangaroos also dont have a large calves or whatever muscle they call it in kangaroos. In terms of hypertrophy the shorter the achilles tendon the larger calves may be but mostly their vertical jump will be not as high

 

[Torobestia]

I actually don't know how front squats affect calf development, but hill sprints/running is a truly incredible calf-increasing activity. When I started running last year (about the same time I started training), my calves were big. Now, my calves are kind of small, actually, despite any calf training I do. I feel that the lack of running up hills is the culprit.