building calfs

[jth250]

what do you guys do for your calfs?? on me my calfs are the hardest bodypart to build. i could use an extra inch on them and they would be fine. i ussually hit them once per week with standing raises and raises in the leg press. i dont seem to be making any progress. what works best for putting mass on your calfs????

 

[TomSizeMore]

Same thing as you, but 3x a week have shown growth in mine. Very very heave weight, use a weight that doesn't even feel like you could hold it there and just put everything you got into it.

Works for me, but I'm tall so I'd still like to add another couple inches to the Cows.

 

[jth250]

i hear ya there bro. there so damn stuborn

 

[Glen Whitestone]

I just found a routine that seems to be working after 5 years of training! I am an ecto naturally-now a heavy ecto but nevertheless. That in my this is not the way for everyone. I suggest trying something a bit different every week. You'll feel it when you tuned into a good routine. Then stick to it and change it ever so slightly!
I do the whole leg workout in one day-once per week.
Start with-standing calve raises on the hammer strenth squat deck-I like this because the stand is angled downward so I can get a good range of movement-I stack the weight and go 15 reps, 10 reps and then 8 to fail. Then I move to calve raises on the hack-squat machine-3 sets 8 reps each. Finally I go to the seated raise and do 2 sets of 6 reps to failure each time resting a few minutes between the two. It took me a long time to zero in on this-I tried high reps, lower all kinds of set numbers. I just knew I finally nailed it about 2 months ago for me. I can almost feel them getting bigger every week. I see a lot of definition starting to come out. My calves burn like a bastard for days now.

 

[dreww]

Mine are the same way. Now, I train them heavy so they actually hurt the next few days....but they still refuse to grow.

I'd swear, calves are genetic.

 

[gasolinejacket]

1500lbs on the hip sled and just burn the shit out of em..add weigt every couple of sets...i usually do 1 set that includes 21 reps...7 right in front (up and down) 7 with toes pointed in, 7 toes pointed out...but that's all i did in college...i'm 315 and can still dunk a basketball...i'd do that for 5 sets...i'd burn out well before i could get the 777 in my 4-5th set...but they got wide...

 

[jaywooly]

Super-slow negatives. Works like a charm for me.

 

[finephysique]

I work my calves twice a week with 2 very different workouts, on a tuesday I train them really heavy, using toe presses on the leg press up to 1000 lbs, then I do heavy standing or seated calf raises, 5 sets of each exercise.

On friday I work my calves with light weights alternating toe position to isolate the different heads toes pointed in then toes pointed out, I do a lot of high rep sets gives a good burn to the most stubborn muscle group of all

 

[Big A]

Before you go to sleep, lie on the bed.
Point your toes forward and flex your calves as hard as you can. Flex them until they cramp. Then release the contraction, and bring your toes towards your body and stretch them until the cramp goeas away. As soon as it does, flex them again until the y carmp again, and so on.
Do this for 30min.

You will be sore as hell for days. As soon as the soreness dissapears, do it again. Eventually, you will be able to do this every night.

My calves were 10.5" when I started training. Now, they haven't been trained in 2 years, and they sit on 20"

 

[jth250]

no shit. i always get those cramps, i hate them. you think that really helps with size

 

[Big A]

Never heard of this technique....can't hurt to try. How long did you find that it took to get noticeable results, and how did this effect your calf workouts simultaneously??

Well, calves were 10.5" and within months I started getting comments on my calves. They just exploded.
After a couple of years, I was always accused of having calf implants.

I had no trouble with the calf workouts at the same time.

 

[Presser]

not to be funny but my wife has those samje exact calves as posted in the photo, and again im not being funny, im going to have to post them and take a photo of them now, i hate her, she has been geneticly blessed all over and especialy her legs and calves, where as i have been geneticly altered,lol

 

[finephysique]

Before you go to sleep, lie on the bed.
Point your toes forward and flex your calves as hard as you can. Flex them until they cramp. Then release the contraction, and bring your toes towards your body and stretch them until the cramp goeas away. As soon as it does, flex them again until the y carmp again, and so on.
Do this for 30min.

You will be sore as hell for days. As soon as the soreness dissapears, do it again. Eventually, you will be able to do this every night.

My calves were 10.5" when I started training. Now, they haven't been trained in 2 years, and they sit on 20"

Tried this last night and boy are my calves sore today, only managed about 20 minutes then they stayed cramped but it really works so big bump

 

[jth250]

im gonna have to try it

 

[saudades]

I'll have to try that too. I have pretty strong calves for my size--I lift the entire weight stack of 580 lbs on my gym's standing calf machine for reps. I don't seem to have a lot size (although I haven't measured--I'll do that tonight) so if this helps increase their size, I'll be a happy camper.

 

[franconian]

I just became overweight. Had problems with calves all my life, but I finally broke the 210 lb barrier on a bulking cycle, since Ive shed back down to 193-194lbs but kept the size in my calves. I think being overweight is the easiest way to build big calves

 

[jth250]

this week im starting something new. instead of just doing them half ass once a week after legs im going to train them hard twice a week. i plan on every mon and thur. i just did them yesterday and they are sore as hell. i dont think ive ever trained them that hard. i did standing raises for a few heavy sets and then a few more supersets then i did the seated raises heavy for a couple and then did single leg supersets. i love it when there sore

 

[jth250]

will do, thanx for lookin out

 

[Big A]

I have done this, and heard of it several times, where the calves become so overtrained that they lock up (for several days) and are so tender that you cannot even walk.....The one time I did this...I was on crutches (it was that bad) and even muscle relaxers didn't ease the discomfort. Be careful.

I get that after every workout - I thought it's supposed to be like that since it's the way to force the muscle to grow... No pain no gain.

That is the pain why so many pussy bodybuilders get addicted to Nubain. But that is the pain that indicates fully intense workouts have been applied and the muscle grows the most.

 

[saudades]

I used to get sore like that, but seems like I rarely do anymore. I tried doing that flex until cramp thing, but I can't get my calves to cramp. I'll keep trying. Maybe I should do calves more than once a week. I'm not joking about the poundage I mentioned above. 580 is almost like nothing now (if that is really what it is on the machine I use) yet my calves aren't really that big, only about 15.5". Maybe just increasing the reps will help. I don't think I can use a much heavier weight without killing my back.