how do i make my calves bigger?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

my upper body is decently built. my lower body, not so much.
i neglected legs until a year ago but it seems too little too late now.

i hit my calves hard on Tues and Thurs, on my "off days" from my MWF SS routine.
3 sets of standing, 3 sets of seated calf raises with heavy weights.
i have definition but no size.

what can be done?

 

[DomS]

Building "Fat Guy" Calves

 

[StageLeft]

A lot of forefoot running put some good size on mine (relatively to their chicken nature) in a few months, but otherwise I'd say hit them basically every day.

 

[BlackTigers]

Eat and squat more.

=o

 

[brikis98]

To be honest, back when I did a BB-style routine, I never had great results with making my calves big doing calf isolation exercises. However, once I switched to a Starting Strength routine, and more recently Crossfit, my calves got noticeably bigger from the following types of exercises:

* Power lifting exercises (build mass everywhere in your body, especially the legs): squat, deadlift
* Olympic style lifts (many many olympic weight lifters, even short ones, can dunk a basketball): clean, jerk, snatch, power clean, power snatch, etc
* Plyometric: box jumps, stadiums (or running stairways anywhere), sprinting, burpees

Not only will these make your legs/calves big and strong, many of these exercises will work your entire body and produce awesome results everywhere. Oh, and of course, you need a diet to match. Proper caloric surplus + lots of protein are needed to add any real muscle mass.

 

[TecHNooB]

Do isolated calve workouts and squats. Eat plenty. Be patient for 1 year.

 

[presidentender]

Squats, to make your metabolism anabolic. Jump squats, to hit the calves hard.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: DomS
Building "Fat Guy" Calves

i like this.
some new stuff i haven't tried yet - namely the toe raises.

 

[Special K]

I hate to say this, but there may not be much you can do. Calves and forearms seem to be strongly genetic, at least in my opinion. I have increased my calf strength dramatically since I started training a few years ago, yet they aren't much bigger than when I started, even though I was able to make gains elsewhere. I increased my deadlift to 545 for a single, yet my forearms are pretty much the same size as they were before I started training. My advice would be to hit your calves heavy once per week and eat enough to grow.

 

[Deeko]

Add variations of calf raises and plyometrics. Box jumps & rim jumps are a good start.

This is assuming you already do standard compound exercises like squats.

 

[scootermaster]

You have three choices:

1). Magically change your genetics (most likely to work!)

2). Give up.

3). Do things that build mass in other arenas (big lifts, protein, eat a lot). Or are the calves otherwise magical?

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
You have three choices:

1). Magically change your genetics (most likely to work!)

2). Give up.

3). Do things that build mass in other arenas (big lifts, protein, eat a lot). Or are the calves otherwise magical?

Calves ARE different in that they're notoriously difficult to add mass to. The big compound lifts that are so good at mass-building don't really hit your calves enough to do that, and so many new weightlifters have "COMPOUND LIFTS YARRRR DO AN ISO EXERCISE AND I'LL STAB YOU IN THE BRAIN" pounded into their head that they're hesitant.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: scootermaster
You have three choices:

1). Magically change your genetics (most likely to work!)

2). Give up.

3). Do things that build mass in other arenas (big lifts, protein, eat a lot). Or are the calves otherwise magical?

Calves ARE different in that they're notoriously difficult to add mass to. The big compound lifts that are so good at mass-building don't really hit your calves enough to do that, and so many new weightlifters have "COMPOUND LIFTS YARRRR DO AN ISO EXERCISE AND I'LL STAB YOU IN THE BRAIN" pounded into their head that they're hesitant.

Well, see, here's the thing...my entire body is notoriously difficult to add mass to. So I guess for me, they're not that different. And while there are certainly people who can add mass to their bodies everywhere BUT their calves, that's not everyone. But I guess my thought is that if you don't do curls to "pound your biceps" and get big guns, why would you do toe raises to pound your calves?

But hey, we skinnies just should stick to the basics anyway.

 

[Deeko]

Mainly because you can build big biceps through other means - back exercises do a good job there. Whereas your standard squat and deadlift really doesn't hit your calves like that.

edit: this is, of course, assuming that muscle size is one of your goals. I'm guessing since that was the question posted in the title, that the OP is indeed interested in that.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: scootermaster
You have three choices:

1). Magically change your genetics (most likely to work!)

2). Give up.

3). Do things that build mass in other arenas (big lifts, protein, eat a lot). Or are the calves otherwise magical?

Calves ARE different in that they're notoriously difficult to add mass to. The big compound lifts that are so good at mass-building don't really hit your calves enough to do that, and so many new weightlifters have "COMPOUND LIFTS YARRRR DO AN ISO EXERCISE AND I'LL STAB YOU IN THE BRAIN" pounded into their head that they're hesitant.

Well, see, here's the thing...my entire body is notoriously difficult to add mass to. So I guess for me, they're not that different. And while there are certainly people who can add mass to their bodies everywhere BUT their calves, that's not everyone. But I guess my thought is that if you don't do curls to "pound your biceps" and get big guns, why would you do toe raises to pound your calves?

But hey, we skinnies just should stick to the basics anyway.

i don't isolate my bi's, but as others have said, the other compounds are hitting the arms enough, to the point where they are decently sized.

my legs on the other hands... lets just say my gf's calves are basically the same size as mine.
i will spend an extra 10 minutes per workout to iso the calves.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: scootermaster
You have three choices:

1). Magically change your genetics (most likely to work!)

2). Give up.

3). Do things that build mass in other arenas (big lifts, protein, eat a lot). Or are the calves otherwise magical?

Calves ARE different in that they're notoriously difficult to add mass to. The big compound lifts that are so good at mass-building don't really hit your calves enough to do that, and so many new weightlifters have "COMPOUND LIFTS YARRRR DO AN ISO EXERCISE AND I'LL STAB YOU IN THE BRAIN" pounded into their head that they're hesitant.

Well, see, here's the thing...my entire body is notoriously difficult to add mass to. So I guess for me, they're not that different. And while there are certainly people who can add mass to their bodies everywhere BUT their calves, that's not everyone. But I guess my thought is that if you don't do curls to "pound your biceps" and get big guns, why would you do toe raises to pound your calves?

But hey, we skinnies just should stick to the basics anyway.

i don't isolate my bi's, but as others have said, the other compounds are hitting the arms enough, to the point where they are decently sized.

my legs on the other hands... lets just say my gf's calves are basically the same size as mine.
i will spend an extra 10 minutes per workout to iso the calves.

I wouldn't work them every workout. Honestly I think the routine you have now is fine. If anything, I would scale it back to 1x per week. Working a muscle more often is not going to produce better results. On the other hand, calves are a fairly small muscle group, and are used little, if at all, in the big compound lifts. If you wanted to experiment with training them every day, it probably wouldn't adversely affect any of your big compound lifts, even if it isn't the best way to be training your calves.

You just don't want to fall into the trap that more lifting = better results, because it just isn't true in general.

What are your stats - height, weight, and approximate bodyfat %? A lot of times, beginners become too focused on trying to improve small muscle groups. If you are a 6' 250 lb., <10% bodyfat bodybuilder who is having trouble with calf development, that is one thing. But if you are a 6', 150 lb. guy who is just starting out, then trying to focus on individual muscle groups isn't a good approach to take.

Also see my post above - there may not be anything you can do about it. Your existing calf routine isn't bad.

 

[TallBill]

I superset 10x weighted calf raises with 25-30x body weight, short rest, 3 sets.. 1-2 times a week. They've grown an about 7/8ths of an inch in a year.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I superset 10x weighted calf raises with 25-30x body weight, short rest, 3 sets.. 1-2 times a week. They've grown an about 7/8ths of an inch in a year.

You have a calf machine that goes up to 6000 lbs?

 

[GenHoth]

he means 25-30 reps at body weight

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TallBill
I superset 10x weighted calf raises with 25-30x body weight, short rest, 3 sets.. 1-2 times a week. They've grown an about 7/8ths of an inch in a year.

You have a calf machine that goes up to 6000 lbs?

lol, i was about to ask the same question, except not about the machine, but his ability to get under 3 tons without being crushed.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: GenHoth
he means 25-30 reps at body weight

I first read it as 10 reps with 25-30x his bodyweight. I guess he means 10 sets, 20-30 reps with his own bodyweight.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: TallBill
I superset 10x weighted calf raises with 25-30x body weight, short rest, 3 sets.. 1-2 times a week. They've grown an about 7/8ths of an inch in a year.

You have a calf machine that goes up to 6000 lbs?

You idiot, 10 reps of weighted calf raises, and then 25-30 reps of bodyweight calf raises.

 

[Deeko]

hahahah I wondered the same thing. Hilarious

 

[KoolDrew]

Lyle McDonald on calf training...

Q: Do you have any suggestions on how to make stubborn calf muscles grow?

A: Pause at the bottom. The achilles tendon has an incredible ability to return elastic energy, it's an adaptation that makes walking more efficient. It's also why guys with no calves can bounce the entire weight stack without really doing any muscular work: they are just storing and returning elastic energy through the achilles.

So try starting every repetition of your calf work with a 2-4 second pause in the bottom, as this will dissipate stored elastic energy. You will feel the difference in how hard the calves are working almost immediately (don't be surprised if you have to drop your work weights considerably). That's because you're finally making the muscles do the lifting, instead of just relying on recoil.

After that suggestion, I think the other mistake people make in calf training is not going heavily enough. The calves have a tremendous mechanical advantage as a consequence of a short lever arm. And the gastroc (part of the calf that forms the 'diamond') is primarily fast twitch. This means heavy loads and low reps. Hitting the soleus is generally better done with higher reps. One of my favorite routines is the following

A straight legged calf raise (leg press calf raise works well): warmups and then 5 sets of 5 with a 2-3' rest between sets. Each rep should be done from a 2-4 second stop, take 2 seconds to raise the weight, hold for 2 seconds, 2 or more second eccentric. Go heavy on this, when you can get all 5 sets of 5 with the same weight, raise the weight at the next workout.

A bent-legged calf raise: 2-3 sets of 12-15 with a 1.5' rest. Again, start each rep from a 2 second dead stop. Go 2 seconds up, 1 second pause at the top, 2 seconds down. When you get all 3 sets of 15, raise the weight.

Do this workout twice per week or every 5 days (at least) while eating to gain weight and see what happens.

Oh yeah, don't be mad at me when you can't walk for 2 days afterwards

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
Lyle McDonald on calf training...

Oh yeah, don't be mad at me when you can't walk for 2 days afterwards

Mad? Pfft, that would be awesome. Oh and doesn't this same information apply to squats and other exercises where you can unconsciously bounce or recoil in a manner that could be considered cheating your body. This is something I battle in every exercise I do, making sure I don't abuse momentum in any manner.