Big calves

[liegelord]

One of the best benefits of power and oly lifting is that the calves must grow to provide support for the leg/ankle and provide power for standing lifts.

I believe that the more articles found on how to develop a muscle group, the more likely power and oly lifts are the only way to develop the muscle group :
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=Calves


Do you think this guy ever did seated calf raises:

Amen to that.

 

[Nathan]

Great responses - you guys said it better than me.

 

[chicagobuffedbod]

I agree with using powerlifting moves. My calves do look better when I'm doing deadlifts and squats several times a week. I also noticed that when I bought my latest pair of gym shoes that the soles were extremely thin. I just happened to like the look so I bought them. They were very unlike those Nikey or Reebok athletic shoes that look like you have high and fat inner tubes for soles. I noticed that my feet were much more tired faster while wearing these flatter shoes, but that my calves actually grew a bit. After time my feet got used to the thinner soul. I theorize that my feet had to work harder and therefore my calves benefited.

 

[Nathan]

I agree with using powerlifting moves. My calves do look better when I'm doing deadlifts and squats several times a week. I also noticed that when I bought my latest pair of gym shoes that the soles were extremely thin. I just happened to like the look so I bought them. They were very unlike those Nikey or Reebok athletic shoes that look like you have high and fat inner tubes for soles. I noticed that my feet were much more tired faster while wearing these flatter shoes, but that my calves actually grew a bit. After time my feet got used to the thinner soul. I theorize that my feet had to work harder and therefore my calves benefited.

Good post man. Yeah, I can sort of see that actually. I wear an old pair of Adidas Gazelles that my feet tend to slip and move around in a bit, so I'm forced to really flex my calves and inner thighs to keep my feet in position. I thought I should get better shoes but screw that. I knew Gazelles were the shit.

 

[chicagobuffedbod]

I'll have to look for those. The shoes that I had with the very low soles were a pair of Puma's. But I had to return them because the soles were falling off in just 2 months of wearing them. When I went back to the store to do an exchange they no longer had that style.

Oh by the way, when you do your good mornings do you do them the Olympic powerlifting way where you go on your toes as you thrust your hips foward to stand perfectly straight up?

Also, I know of the exercise you're talking about for the hamstrings. It's almost like a reverse leg curl if you will. Instead of your lower leg curling up, the lower leg stays stationary and the upper body from knees to torso and stay rigid and do the movement.
I used to do something similarly, but that didn't require a person to help you.
I'd use a lat pull down machine and a thin pole to help me back up and give me balance.
I'd start out by kneeling on the pad of the lat pull down machine, but I face "away" from it. So now the pad that normally is supporting and bracing the area of the thigh just above the knee (for lat pull downs of course) is now bracking the back of my Achilles tendon. I use the pole and keep it to one side of my torso and as I lower my upper legs and torso (all kept rigid and in perfect line) I would use one hand/arm to press the pole into the ground to help give me support as I become perfectly horizontal with the floor. I'm face down and then I raise myself back up. I only use the bar with my hand/arm as much as necessary to help me get my body up. At first you feel like you'll never be able to do it. But then after a few weeks you can do it without hardly using the bar.
I like Nathan's method better, but at least my method is good when you don't have a training partner to help you out.

 

[Nathan]

I'll have to look for those. The shoes that I had with the very low soles were a pair of Puma's. But I had to return them because the soles were falling off in just 2 months of wearing them. When I went back to the store to do an exchange they no longer had that style.

Oh by the way, when you do your good mornings do you do them the Olympic powerlifting way where you go on your toes as you thrust your hips foward to stand perfectly straight up?

Also, I know of the exercise you're talking about for the hamstrings. It's almost like a reverse leg curl if you will. Instead of your lower leg curling up, the lower leg stays stationary and the upper body from knees to torso and stay rigid and do the movement.
I used to do something similarly, but that didn't require a person to help you.
I'd use a lat pull down machine and a thin pole to help me back up and give me balance.
I'd start out by kneeling on the pad of the lat pull down machine, but I face "away" from it. So now the pad that normally is supporting and bracing the area of the thigh just above the knee (for lat pull downs of course) is now bracking the back of my Achilles tendon. I use the pole and keep it to one side of my torso and as I lower my upper legs and torso (all kept rigid and in perfect line) I would use one hand/arm to press the pole into the ground to help give me support as I become perfectly horizontal with the floor. I'm face down and then I raise myself back up. I only use the bar with my hand/arm as much as necessary to help me get my body up. At first you feel like you'll never be able to do it. But then after a few weeks you can do it without hardly using the bar.
I like Nathan's method better, but at least my method is good when you don't have a training partner to help you out.

Yeah, sounds like the same exercise, or at least it's doing the same thing. I could only do a couple negatives when I started like 3 months ago and now I can do about 4-5 with ten pounds up under my chin, or 9-10 without any weight. And I can see a big difference in my hams, which was the whole point. I wish there were such good compounds movements for the biceps that can't help but force hypertrophy.

As for good mornings, I don't go up on my toes really I don't think. I try to lower the weight slowly as I shift my hips back, and then once my torso is parallel to the ground, I focus on squeezing my hamstrings hard to snap me back to an upright position. I get a good stretch at the bottom and then snap back up. I try not to take tension off my lower back completely though until the set is over once it's begun. I would imagine going up on my toes would throw me off with that but could be wrong.

 

[chicagobuffedbod]

I'll try to find the video of this one Olympic powerlifter doing goodmornings. At the end of his rep coming up he would go on his toes for a brief moment. That's why I thought maybe you did them this way because you said your calves responded well.

 

[thebadguy54]

One of the best benefits of power and oly lifting is that the calves must grow to provide support for the leg/ankle and provide power for standing lifts.

I believe that the more articles found on how to develop a muscle group, the more likely power and oly lifts are the only way to develop the muscle group :
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=Calves


Do you think this guy ever did seated calf raises:

Great post. I agree 100%.

Jumping with hundreds of pounds in your hands is bound to make them grow. Nothing compares to the violent vertical extension of the ankles, knees, hips etc. needed in the oly lifts.

 

[chicagobuffedbod]

Hey! I found the video after doing a search for

Good mornings olympic style video on google.

Check out his form. He does a sort of calf raise when he's at the top.

First you'll have to see him do a couple of squats but then he does the good mornings.

I've tried them this way. This guy is very strong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpA47OUohpM

 

[Papa Lion]

I dunno I like deads and shoulder shrugs with a fair amount of weight I like to almost always hit my maxes or very near my maxes for at least one set working up and then back down... and I can always feel my lower legs really working for support, but more so on shoulder shrugs wher my legs are already pretty much fully extended!! but I also like to do calf extensions on a leg press machine 50 rps or so and then eventually down to thirty for a total of 4-5 sets with 10 plates that seems to get me a good calf aching burn!! an I've got pretty good calves.