How often to train calves?

AnthonyIOSOS

AnthonyIOSOS

Active member
Does anyone train calves twice a day? Several times a week? And is best to go heavy fewer reps or light with high reps?

I am thinking about trying twice a day.
 
AnthonyIOSOS said:
Does anyone train calves twice a day? Several times a week? And is best to go heavy fewer reps or light with high reps?

I am thinking about trying twice a day.
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I train calves at the end of evey session. Standing calf raises 3 sets: enough weight to fail at 20 reps 1st set, I drop about 1/2 the weight go to failure 2nd set, then no weight to failure 3 rd set.
 
Try this when you do them. You will probably hurt for a couple days. No matter which exercise you do, do the reps slow. At the top, hold for a 2 count, lower slowly. Then hold the stretch for 15 seconds. yes. You should feel the stretch, then squeeze hard at the top. Pick a weight that you fail at rep 6-7, and push through to 10-12. Do a standing or straight leg calf press, and a sitting one. Do three sets of each. If you work them hard enough and properly, you shouldn't be able to do them twice a week, because you won't want to hurt for 7 days.
 
youngandfree said:
Try this when you do them. You will probably hurt for a couple days. No matter which exercise you do, do the reps slow. At the top, hold for a 2 count, lower slowly. Then hold the stretch for 15 seconds. yes. You should feel the stretch, then squeeze hard at the top. Pick a weight that you fail at rep 6-7, and push through to 10-12. Do a standing or straight leg calf press, and a sitting one. Do three sets of each. If you work them hard enough and properly, you shouldn't be able to do them twice a week, because you won't want to hurt for 7 days.
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I'll give it try. If I can get my calves sore that would be great. Thanks
 
AnthonyIOSOS said:
I'll give it try. If I can get my calves sore that would be great. Thanks
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If you aren't making them hurt and burn like hell during a set, you probably need to adjust technique. It's about frying the muscle, not just bouncing weight around. And don't start with your max weight first time. use your warmup weight, and do slow, long, exaggerated reps, and light em up. And between each set, put your foot against a wall or post to stretch it out for at least 30 seconds.

let us know how it goes.
 
youngandfree said:
If you aren't making them hurt and burn like hell during a set, you probably need to adjust technique. It's about frying the muscle, not just bouncing weight around. And don't start with your max weight first time. use your warmup weight, and do slow, long, exaggerated reps, and light em up. And between each set, put your foot against a wall or post to stretch it out for at least 30 seconds.

let us know how it goes.
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Normally I do two different exercises. I always start at a lower weight and increase every set. At the top of each set I try to squeeze the muscle. I do no stretch at the bottom, that might be a big help.
 
jim623 said:
I train calves at the end of evey session. Standing calf raises 3 sets: enough weight to fail at 20 reps 1st set, I drop about 1/2 the weight go to failure 2nd set, then no weight to failure 3 rd set.
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dog, you might be overtraining your calves......they need a break just like everyother muscle group.
 
youngandfree said:
Try this when you do them. You will probably hurt for a couple days. No matter which exercise you do, do the reps slow. At the top, hold for a 2 count, lower slowly. Then hold the stretch for 15 seconds. yes. You should feel the stretch, then squeeze hard at the top. Pick a weight that you fail at rep 6-7, and push through to 10-12. Do a standing or straight leg calf press, and a sitting one. Do three sets of each. If you work them hard enough and properly, you shouldn't be able to do them twice a week, because you won't want to hurt for 7 days.
Click to expand...

I did something similar to what you said. I could not hold for 15 seconds stretch; was just to much. BUt I did hold for about 5 seconds at the bottom and 2 seconds at the top. When the muscle was exhausted I squeezed a few more reps in. Started from light weight to heavy. Definitely felt some burn.
 
Did you fell like you were working the muscle differently than you have in the past? Yes, popular theory is you can train them a bit more, like abs. But I feel like if you train them hard enough and properly, you won't want to do them more than once, maybe twice a week. Let us know how they feel after a day, if they still hurt, then you did good.
 
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