Chicken calves - F%$!

[Omegasox]

Great post saibotica, that should be a sticky. Many, many have calf issues.

 

[crxdog]

saibotica thanks bro!

 

[deathdroprob]

I notice that when I start running a few times a week my claves swell up to a nice size.
But Ive been told a few years a go i run on my toes :S
Try this but it might be bad, Im fine though

 

[musketeer]

Claves a re a weird muscle group in that they often come with maturation. Seems like a few people get genetically blessed at an early age, however for most, their personal best calf development comes in their 30's. I used to hit my claves all the time and was never really satisfied with them in my teens and early twenties. Thought I was really unlucky because my dad had always had much better looking calves from sitting behind a desk. But look around, plenty of older guys seem to have rock hard looking calves - better than any other part of their physiques! Now I'm a bit older and just doing 5x5 routine and oly movements (and jogging) and my calves are a good as they ever were.

The most effective exercise I've found for calves is the seated raise with high weight and reps. I'll keep loading the machine and repping and loading again and again until the machine is ready to break from the strain and then do a massive quadrupple drop set until my calves are spasming. This way I'm treating the movement like an event, an actual show of strength as opposed to a 'feeling the movement' type affair. Imagine Tom Platz squatting for 10 minutes with 315 or Pudzianovsky doing the farmers walk with a pair of cement suitcases going off into the distance.

 

[SaiBoT]

Great info Saibotica!!! K to you!

Thanks!

 

[jonny jacked]

Its funny bro because i was just about to post something like this regarding myself... Alot of it has to do with genetics. I have long legs from the knee down to the foot and, shitty enough, my calves are placed at the very top. So there is alot of 'extra' length starting under my calf muscle all the way down to my foot..

Mine has got me so fucked up in the head that I don't even want to wear shorts. I feel like i'm getting judged and it really fuckin blows.. I've started to eat a really high protien diet along with other clean whole nutritious foods to cut, and I know its hard to gain alot of muscle while cutting.. But i'm starting to think that I don't need to be 250lbs at 20% bodyfat.. My calves are genetically skinny so I mine as well lean down as much as possible, of course not at the expense of losing muscle.

I've started jogging/walking on a steep incline on the treadmill and I have found that it really shocks and burns my calves which is something that I just might need.

Good luck to you bro. I hope you find out how to make them sons of bitches grow..

have you had any luck with walking on the steep incline with regard to overall development in yoru calves?

 

[jonny jacked]

thanks to all those who have chimed in thus far. some great info.

I would still love to hear from those who - in the past suffered from small calves but have since turned them around what what they did to accomplish this.

I stuggle to get a really good burn when training using regular sets and reps. the follwoing I got from Nelson Montana on here and gives a great burn.

do a few warm up sets.
pick a weight where you can bang out 20 reps (to failure)
wait just long enough for the burn to stop then go again till failure (usually get 6-12 reps).
repeat this until you get to 100 reps

 

[DaveTSI]

meh

calves are overrated






im just bitter cause mine are tiny lol

 

[SaiBoT]

thanks to all those who have chimed in thus far. some great info.

I would still love to hear from those who - in the past suffered from small calves but have since turned them around what what they did to accomplish this.

I stuggle to get a really good burn when training using regular sets and reps. the follwoing I got from Nelson Montana on here and gives a great burn.

do a few warm up sets.
pick a weight where you can bang out 20 reps (to failure)
wait just long enough for the burn to stop then go again till failure (usually get 6-12 reps).
repeat this until you get to 100 reps

That kind of workout is called GERMAN VOLUME TRAiNING popularized by Mr Vince Gironda as the 10x10 in which you pick a weight (60% of ur max) do 10 reps, 10 seconds rest more 10 reps until you complete 100 reps. Is great for working calves, forearms and to get past growth plateaus generally speaking.

 

[SaiBoT]

My calves used to suck big time, were smaller than my arms, I did my homework and now i'm not ashamed of using shorts anymore It hurts but it really works, just be patient!