calf workouts and juice

[jonny jacked]

for the life of me I cannot get my calves to grow. also when I work them out, my feet fall asleep. not the pins and needles feeling but more the numb type of feeling.
anyone else experience something like this?

also, what have you guys used to get your calves to grow? and I would like to hear from those of you who had / have skinny calves and have had to really work at getting them to grow.

I hate those of you who only have to walk and they grow like tree trunks!

oh, and I'm on juice (why I posted it here!)

 

[Inhibitor13]

whats your calve workout consist of now? I think its weird that your calves are going numb... maybe cutt off to circulation somehow? Bump for that..

 

[SpyWizard]

for the life of me I cannot get my calves to grow. also when I work them out, my feet fall asleep. not the pins and needles feeling but more the numb type of feeling.
anyone else experience something like this?

also, what have you guys used to get your calves to grow? and I would like to hear from those of you who had / have skinny calves and have had to really work at getting them to grow.

I hate those of you who only have to walk and they grow like tree trunks!

oh, and I'm on juice (why I posted it here!)

eat more...

also, i grew mine long before i started any supplementation..

while on cycle, they are alot wider and more defined..

high rep 20's with the most weight you can do..

and stretch them.. even with that my left is noticeable more cut and larger than my right..

good luck..

 

[Mac173]

I have the same trouble. I know it's not diet because I can put 3/4" on my arms w/ only 1/4" on calves during a cycle. I also do more sets for calves than I do any other body part because of how much they lag. My arms are currently 2" bigger than my calves. Do you have really small ankles? I try to keep my sets in the 10-15 range but my start trying the 20-25 rep range. Sorry I can't help, I'm still trying to figure this one out too.

 

[jonny jacked]

im not sure about eating more?? i have a great diet. like I said the rest of my body is great - im 5'10" 223 (as of yesterday) body fat around 9-10%.

i do hit them hard - always doing different exercises (you name it I do it).

just wondering about the numb feet thing??

i will post some pics when I can. I lost the cord to connect my camera to my laptop. I need to replace it!

 

[SpyWizard]

im not sure about eating more?? i have a great diet. like I said the rest of my body is great - im 5'10" 223 (as of yesterday) body fat around 9-10%.

i do hit them hard - always doing different exercises (you name it I do it).

just wondering about the numb feet thing??

i will post some pics when I can. I lost the cord to connect my camera to my laptop. I need to replace it!

well at that weight and height and bf i know what you look like

5'9" 210 14-15% bf.. but i have better calfs.. question, how often do you work them?? and any other sports?? cardio etc..

if it's not the food, it's the exercise, or sad to say... genetics..

 

[LITTLEMAGS]

my calves have come up TREMENDOUSLY since I started training them MORE. I used to train them just like every other muscle. I started training them twice a week hard and do feeder sets EVERY DAY I train (ie 1-2 sets 20 reps to get the blood in them)...
good luck

 

[looking to lean]

would it be rubbing it in to say that I have 19" calves and I dont need to work them out to keep them that big?

ah genetics... gotta luv them... or hate them I guess.. I wouldnt know

 

[immortalis]

I feel ya man, my calves wont grow for shit either. This year I have started hitting them virtually every day, and I do alot more standing calf raises than I ever have. They are coming a long, but I have only gotten them to grow a little bit.

Ive always had skinny ankles and thin legs. But I can get my quads and hamms to grow without problems, but I swear my calves just wont cooperate regardless of what im putting in my body.

 

[jonny jacked]

Thanks Littlemags - I will give that a try.

I forgot to mention someone asked if I have skinny ankles - yes I do.

i have been training them once a week like everyother body part - but I will bump that to twice.

 

[jonny jacked]

oh, and genitics is not on my side...dad's got little calves too...!

 

[Mac173]

would it be rubbing it in to say that I have 19" calves and I dont need to work them out to keep them that big?

ah genetics... gotta luv them... or hate them I guess.. I wouldnt know

Yes. This thread is for the chicken legged people only. Get outta here.

 

[Watson]

I can tell you exactly what's wrong. Your not working them out hard enough! For years I heard people bitch about how thier calves just WON'T get bigger, then they blame it on bad genetics, and just figure it will never happen. I gained an inch on my calves this last year. Haven't even started working my soleus (makes up 60% of calf) with the sit down machine, so it was an inch in the gastrocnemius. There are type 1, and type 2 muscle fibers in there, and you need to work each one accordingly. I do MWF workouts, I superset them with whatever upper body part I'm doing that day. 15 sets of 16 reps. Donkey calf raise machine has worked the best, but it's hard to find nowadays. Started out at around 280lbs for all the sets, and now I'm up to 400lbs. THEY WILL GROW, but you have to put the work in, and have the same intensity that you do when you work out a bodypart that you love. I don't care who you are. Arnold said he had to work his calves to total exhaustion to get them to grow. You just got to think about what they do all day....carry you around. They have to be pushed extremely hard to be overloaded enough to start growing. There are some good articles out there on calf training. The one listed below is good for the basics.

http://www.realsolutionsmag.com/ezine/26/issue26b.asp

 

[52_21_30]

I agree with littlemags...I train calves 3-4 times a week, with 2 days of 12 sets and 2 days of 4-6 sets with light weight and hi reps. They grow like weeds when you train them more often.

 

[gabulldogs02]

you hit the nail on the head there. Not training them hard enough. its a muscle thats used more than just about every other muscle. Its carrying around 220lbs with each step x thousands a day( depending how much you walk). I used to have chicken legs growing up so i made damn sure i killed them 2 times a week. Trust me they will grow.

I can tell you exactly what's wrong. Your not working them out hard enough! For years I heard people bitch about how thier calves just WON'T get bigger, then they blame it on bad genetics, and just figure it will never happen. I gained an inch on my calves this last year. Haven't even started working my soleus (makes up 60% of calf) with the sit down machine, so it was an inch in the gastrocnemius. There are type 1, and type 2 muscle fibers in there, and you need to work each one accordingly. I do MWF workouts, I superset them with whatever upper body part I'm doing that day. 15 sets of 16 reps. Donkey calf raise machine has worked the best, but it's hard to find nowadays. Started out at around 280lbs for all the sets, and now I'm up to 400lbs. THEY WILL GROW, but you have to put the work in, and have the same intensity that you do when you work out a bodypart that you love. I don't care who you are. Arnold said he had to work his calves to total exhaustion to get them to grow. You just got to think about what they do all day....carry you around. They have to be pushed extremely hard to be overloaded enough to start growing. There are some good articles out there on calf training. The one listed below is good for the basics.

http://www.realsolutionsmag.com/ezine/26/issue26b.asp

 

[theoak01]

i do 75 agonizing reps three times a week,and mine grow just fine

 

[looking to lean]

250lbs 4 sets on the seated machine. once per week.

so what if a guy like myself with 19" calves (just to remind you, lol) hit his calves for ridiculous weight several times per week?

21-22"? lol. thats just silly. are there people with that big of calves that arent 99% fat?

 

[jonny jacked]

when you say you do 75 reps could you elaborate?

I recall Nelson M saying that he got his to grow by doing the following:

- do a few warmup sets

then choose a weight where you can bang out 15-20 reps to failure THEN

- wait 10 seconds and do another set

Repeat this process until you hit 85 reps

I have been doing this and it is the only way that I feel like I am totally killing my calves.

but like i said, my feet go numb or they hurt (the bottom of the foot) so bad almost like cramping that I have to take my shoes off and sit down (this feeling lasts for only 5 minutes or less and then goes away)

 

[mobro]

I can tell you exactly what's wrong. Your not working them out hard enough! For years I heard people bitch about how thier calves just WON'T get bigger, then they blame it on bad genetics, and just figure it will never happen. I gained an inch on my calves this last year. Haven't even started working my soleus (makes up 60% of calf) with the sit down machine, so it was an inch in the gastrocnemius. There are type 1, and type 2 muscle fibers in there, and you need to work each one accordingly. I do MWF workouts, I superset them with whatever upper body part I'm doing that day. 15 sets of 16 reps. Donkey calf raise machine has worked the best, but it's hard to find nowadays. Started out at around 280lbs for all the sets, and now I'm up to 400lbs. THEY WILL GROW, but you have to put the work in, and have the same intensity that you do when you work out a bodypart that you love. I don't care who you are. Arnold said he had to work his calves to total exhaustion to get them to grow. You just got to think about what they do all day....carry you around. They have to be pushed extremely hard to be overloaded enough to start growing. There are some good articles out there on calf training. The one listed below is good for the basics.

http://www.realsolutionsmag.com/ezine/26/issue26b.asp

Damn good thread and damn good responses. I posted another thread on this subject but this one is going in a better direction. I don't mean to hijack BUT, do any of you site inject your calves with IGF-1 or anything else? Damn good ideas, I too blamed genetics, not anymore. I am sick of this shit with the bird legs!

 

[bigcountry61]

u should see the polynesian kids on my team they have serious calves wit fuckin viens and they dont even lift seriously. its genetics bro.

 

[OMEGA]

believe it or not 2 brief heavy calf workouts a week worked best for me.

it simply consisted of 7 sets in pyramid fashion on the calf machine, focusing on controlling the contraction and NOT going to deep on the negative

 

[wrknonit]

Damn I'm glad to be one of the lucky ones with naturally good calves! However, mt thighs are getting big enough that I could use sone more size on them. Has anyone ever tried a "cheat" calf raise set? As in using a lot more weight than you could normally handle and using your quads to begin a little momentum. Same principle as doing power shrugs for traps. If nothing else, the negative would be unreal.

 

[52_21_30]

Genetics can only get you so far. You have to work your calves hard if you want results. Mike Matarazzo is a prime example. He was genetically gifted and worked his ass off for calves. Arnold is the opposite. He used to wear cut off sweats because he hated his calves so much and so everyone saw how bad they were. He used that as motivation to create some of the best calves ever.

So yes, there are people with genetically big calves, and some may be well developed without much hard work, but you're not going to step on stage and beat anyone with a good physique just relying on genetics.

And I'm going to say this because it is true and it's not a racist comment or politicaly incorrect, in fact it's one of the things talked about very often in competitve bodybuilding. Genetically, african americans are usually handicapped by their calf development. I think it has to do with a very high insertion point of the gastroc's. But since 2 of the past 4 Mr O's have been african american (and won a total of 16 times between them), genetics can obviously be overcome.

And for those of you that are bragging about your genetics, why not work even harder??? That's how you get a truly freaky physique. You dont just half-ass it and say "my genetics will take care of it". I mean you can if you're a loser i guess...

 

[wrknonit]

Since Looking to Lean is the only guy besides me who said his calves are good naturally, which one of us are you calling a loser?

Genetics can only get you so far. You have to work your calves hard if you want results. Mike Matarazzo is a prime example. He was genetically gifted and worked his ass off for calves. Arnold is the opposite. He used to wear cut off sweats because he hated his calves so much and so everyone saw how bad they were. He used that as motivation to create some of the best calves ever.

So yes, there are people with genetically big calves, and some may be well developed without much hard work, but you're not going to step on stage and beat anyone with a good physique just relying on genetics.

And I'm going to say this because it is true and it's not a racist comment or politicaly incorrect, in fact it's one of the things talked about very often in competitve bodybuilding. Genetically, african americans are usually handicapped by their calf development. I think it has to do with a very high insertion point of the gastroc's. But since 2 of the past 4 Mr O's have been african american (and won a total of 16 times between them), genetics can obviously be overcome.

And for those of you that are bragging about your genetics, why not work even harder??? That's how you get a truly freaky physique. You dont just half-ass it and say "my genetics will take care of it". I mean you can if you're a loser i guess...

 

[52_21_30]

Whichever of you decides to half ass your calf workouts...and I'll believe these world class calves when I see them

 

[danymal04]

being an athlete, the more calf work stuff you do the better and ankle work... the reason behind it is because it takes more pressure off your quads and knees you know? think about it.. less chance of injury is what were all working for.. and calf strength can help trendously.. usually what I do is sets of 15-20 of a set weight.. or until burn..

 

[looking to lean]

is doing 250lbs for 4 sets on leg day half assing? Im kind of offended by that 'loser' comment.

I dont need more than that considering the 19" monsters I have. they are cut and pump up some nice veins when I hit them on leg day.

I only posted in this thread for fun cuz of the gift I have. didnt come here to get called a loser.

just terrible......

 

[LITTLEMAGS]

Damn good thread and damn good responses. I posted another thread on this subject but this one is going in a better direction. I don't mean to hijack BUT, do any of you site inject your calves with IGF-1 or anything else? Damn good ideas, I too blamed genetics, not anymore. I am sick of this shit with the bird legs!

nope....just train them hard enough where you feel like to have to walk on your toes/
FOR those who have you know what Iam talking about...lol

 

[mobro]

nope....just train them hard enough where you feel like to have to walk on your toes/
FOR those who have you know what Iam talking about...lol

Thanks Bro. Took notes and I am going to try your twice a week and feeder sets everyday. I may replace some of the lighter sets with jump rope as mentioned in one of the articles. Like I said, I am sick of the bird leg comments. Gonna give you guy's suggestions an honest try for the next year at least. I will know by then if it is genetics or not. So much for walking normal! Thanks bros.

 

[52_21_30]

is doing 250lbs for 4 sets on leg day half assing? Im kind of offended by that 'loser' comment.

I dont need more than that considering the 19" monsters I have. they are cut and pump up some nice veins when I hit them on leg day.

I only posted in this thread for fun cuz of the gift I have. didnt come here to get called a loser.

just terrible......

Didnt call you a loser bro. I just said that people who rely on genetics in place of hard work are losers. I'd like to see these 19 inch monsters of yours though. ANy pics??

 

[looking to lean]

here they are... 19" measured on the 5th

and for non plat... shame on you.. pay.. pay ... pay!! geezuz.. Im souding like George S.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2860/calveskr2.jpg

looking at them.. I see I could work out the outside a lil more. but that could be cuz they arent pumped and I was only standing on my toes.. not really flexing any certain way.

 

[str8cubano]

You have to train calves twice as much as other body parts. Remember you always walk with your legs, so there is always some stress on your calves. They are used to being worked everyday. You need to go above and beyond to make them grow. There are guys and girls out there that are bodybuliders and still don't have huge calves. It's genetics and how much your willing to sacrafice to get them big. Good luck

 

[52_21_30]

here they are... 19" measured on the 5th

and for non plat... shame on you.. pay.. pay ... pay!! geezuz.. Im souding like George S.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2860/calveskr2.jpg

looking at them.. I see I could work out the outside a lil more. but that could be cuz they arent pumped and I was only standing on my toes.. not really flexing any certain way.

You definitely have the genetics going for you that's for sure. But 4 sets on leg day only I feel is not enough. They could be even better with more frequent and higher volume work.

 

[Mac173]

Usually you lift big to get big. What do you guys think about high rep (50-75)low weight for calves? Anybody have any success w/ this method? Heavy weights don't seem to get that good burn like when doing higher repped sets. This is only the case for my calves though. Calves for me seem to be trained totally contradictary to the rest of my body.

 

[52_21_30]

I've never done more than 20 reps in a set, and for the most part I go between 10-15 for calves. I get the hi-rep pump effect from just walking the treadmill at an incline. I did 40 mins this morning and my calves were almost as pumped and vascular as they get after working them with weights.

 

[Mac173]

I've never done more than 20 reps in a set, and for the most part I go between 10-15 for calves. I get the hi-rep pump effect from just walking the treadmill at an incline. I did 40 mins this morning and my calves were almost as pumped and vascular as they get after working them with weights.

Do you have big calves to begin w/ though? Mine are small and extremely resistant to any kind of training.

 

[52_21_30]

Do you have big calves to begin w/ though? Mine are small and extremely resistant to any kind of training.

Well I'm Italian (most Italian men have pretty good calves genetically) and played soccer for many years before turning to weights, so they were always shapely and of decent size, but nothing genetically crazy. I'd say they were about in the middle of the bell curve to begin with, but like I said I've been training them 3-4 times a week for a good while, and of course using AAS, GH, IGF-1 etc doesn't hurt either. I don't think there's any magic formula for calves. I do feel that they can be trained at this hi frequency without overtraining, just because of the pounding they take day after day, every day of your life. Other than that, it's all diet, AAS, and other anabolic agents. Genetics just really govern insertion points and to only some extent, how fast and dramatically they respond to resistance training.

 

[Mac173]

Well I'm Italian (most Italian men have pretty good calves genetically) and played soccer for many years before turning to weights, so they were always shapely and of decent size, but nothing genetically crazy. I'd say they were about in the middle of the bell curve to begin with, but like I said I've been training them 3-4 times a week for a good while, and of course using AAS, GH, IGF-1 etc doesn't hurt either. I don't think there's any magic formula for calves. I do feel that they can be trained at this hi frequency without overtraining, just because of the pounding they take day after day, every day of your life. Other than that, it's all diet, AAS, and other anabolic agents. Genetics just really govern insertion points and to only some extent, how fast and dramatically they respond to resistance training.

Extremely small ankles and high calve muscles don't help either.

 

[looking to lean]

Well I'm Italian (most Italian men have pretty good calves genetically)

Ditto... Im part italian... which means Ive got those godly genetics too. lol. no really I do. it just hidden under 20% bf. 272.5 lbs today. 230ish... here I come.

 

[ironclaw]

I've got gifted genetics for calves, but due to an accident and having to have a fasciotomy down both sides of my left calve, I cant' get that particular calve to grow worth a shit, I don't know if it's permanately damaged due to the surgery or what, I just keep on keeping on, I work calves every other day at the beginning of my workouts.

 

[52_21_30]

Ditto... Im part italian... which means Ive got those godly genetics too. lol. no really I do. it just hidden under 20% bf. 272.5 lbs today. 230ish... here I come.

LOL I hear you. I was 268 today. Was 290 a month ago. That was the biggest and strongest I ever was. Looking to land at 245-250 @ 8%. 2 years ago I was 227 @ 6% in peak condition, so I think 245 @ 7-8% is definitely a reasonable goal seeing as how I've been training my ass off and have had all of 4 months off AAS in that time.

Best of luck to you in your pursuits bud!!

 

[td1111]

I bought a set of the shoes from http://skyflex.com and they kill my calves. Even just walking around the block was murder. With gear and these shoes plus the usual weight training, I gained 1" on my calves. I have terrible genetics (calves were 14"), and I remember training them into oblivion without gear at the gym and never gained ANY size, just strength. I've also tried a short run of IGF-1 directly in the calves with little results. PGF2a is apparently incredible for calf growth if you can stand the nasty sides. I may try that next!

 

[bigjd69]

Calves are very much genetic IMO; you either have em or you don't. That being said my favorite calf workout is as follows: Start with a cple of 45lb plates on each side of the leg press. Proceed to do 10 reps, after the 10 reps are performed, stretch your calves for 10 seconds. After the 10 secs are up proceed to do 9 reps, stretch your calves 9 secs. Perform the exercise all the way down to 1 rep. Trust me if this workout is done properly you will have some burn and forget about walking the next cple of days. Remember performing the workout all the way down to 1 is 1 set. In the beginning you will prob. not be able to add another 45lb plate on each side.

 

[Mac173]

I bought a set of the shoes from http://skyflex.com and they kill my calves. Even just walking around the block was murder. With gear and these shoes plus the usual weight training, I gained 1" on my calves. I have terrible genetics (calves were 14"), and I remember training them into oblivion without gear at the gym and never gained ANY size, just strength. I've also tried a short run of IGF-1 directly in the calves with little results. PGF2a is apparently incredible for calf growth if you can stand the nasty sides. I may try that next!

Maybe those things work but I can't imagine walking around w/ them. Have you ever go beat up wearing those things?

 

[mobro]

I bought a set of the shoes from http://skyflex.com and they kill my calves. Even just walking around the block was murder. With gear and these shoes plus the usual weight training, I gained 1" on my calves. I have terrible genetics (calves were 14"), and I remember training them into oblivion without gear at the gym and never gained ANY size, just strength. I've also tried a short run of IGF-1 directly in the calves with little results. PGF2a is apparently incredible for calf growth if you can stand the nasty sides. I may try that next!

How much IGF-1 did you run and how long? Ulter advised that the pgf2a was useless. a lot of other guys said that it would only make you so sore you couldn't walk. I trust Ulter's opinion. He didn't stutter about it either. Ulter, what about HGH directly injected into the calves?

 

[thelion2005]

im not sure about eating more?? i have a great diet. like I said the rest of my body is great - im 5'10" 223 (as of yesterday) body fat around 9-10%.

i do hit them hard - always doing different exercises (you name it I do it).

just wondering about the numb feet thing??

i will post some pics when I can. I lost the cord to connect my camera to my laptop. I need to replace it!

I have had a long history of foot problems with numbing and other pain. Heavy calf work is partially to blame. The nerves run along the flex area of the ball of the foot and get compressed.

I've had good luck with a treatment called prolotherapy. Also ... simple massage with a pedicure. My toenails were a mess ... not growing and the massage/pedi really got things healthy again.

As for growth ... many theories from super heavy, low reps (Arnold) to high reps to the special shoes.

I got best results from one legged calf raises off 2 x 4 with dumbell in free hand. I also got best pump. Left/right ... back and forth for 6 sets of 10. It is just a unique movement. Ken Waller did these (Pumping Iron) and his calves were like footballs.

Holding at the top seems to make the "cut" at the bottom more defined. That sure helps the appearance.

If juice or HGH would help, I'd inject right in the muscle. Nothing helps but hard work.

I read that Ferrigno had implants and they were too visible.