how do i make my calves bigger?

[Special K]

Originally posted by: 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

Where did you get that info from? Is that from one of his books?

 

[KoolDrew]

Where did you get that info from? Is that from one of his books?

An interview on WBB.
http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=172

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: 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.

There's often a natural recoil, yes. I think what he was getting at is that this recoil is much stronger in your calves than other muscles.

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: 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?

it might be part genetics.

uphill bicycle riding - where you ride uphill for about an hour,
then enjoy the ride on the way down. a few days a week for
a year or 2.

incline leg press - 10-25 sets of 10 reps @ about 2 times
your body weight - a few days a week for a year or 2.

+ plenty of rest & university food between workouts.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: 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

I tried Lyle's suggestion at the gym last night (at least the long pause at the bottom of each rep) and I must say, it does make a huge difference. My calves are definitely sore, and they normally never were sore after doing my standing calf raises the "regular" way.

I should add the standard disclaimer that soreness is not an indicator of progress, but it is an indicator that you at least doing something that is affecting the muscle in a way that it is unaccustomed to.

 

[Shortass]

I can give you mine! I'm a pretty small guy, but I got some rather large calf muscles. Any way to make em smaller?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Special K
I tried Lyle's suggestion at the gym last night (at least the long pause at the bottom of each rep) and I must say, it does make a huge difference. My calves are definitely sore, and they normally never were sore after doing my standing calf raises the "regular" way.

I should add the standard disclaimer that soreness is not an indicator of progress, but it is an indicator that you at least doing something that is affecting the muscle in a way that it is unaccustomed to.

yes, and i added the toe raises as well and now my calves hurt like hell.

 

[Alienwho]

I'm going to try that Fat Guy Calves routine.

There was a time in my life where I was walking 5+ miles a day for work, and my calves were huge and defined (especially when a lot of hills were involved). I stopped that 3 years ago, and I've watched my calves slowly diminish.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Alienwho
I'm going to try that Fat Guy Calves routine.

There was a time in my life where I was walking 5+ miles a day for work, and my calves were huge and defined (especially when a lot of hills were involved). I stopped that 3 years ago, and I've watched my calves slowly diminish.

You must have exceptional genetics. When I ran cross country for 4 years, we ran ~70 miles/week, including hills, and my calves probably shrunk during that time.

 

[GenHoth]

BIG big difference between running XC and walking 5 hilly miles.

 

[Alienwho]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: Alienwho
I'm going to try that Fat Guy Calves routine.

There was a time in my life where I was walking 5+ miles a day for work, and my calves were huge and defined (especially when a lot of hills were involved). I stopped that 3 years ago, and I've watched my calves slowly diminish.

You must have exceptional genetics. When I ran cross country for 4 years, we ran ~70 miles/week, including hills, and my calves probably shrunk during that time.

That doesn't surprise me, you probably became a more efficient runner as your calves shrunk. I've never seen a XC runner with big defined calves. Sprinters on the other hand need explosive power, and they generally have big calves.

Believe me, walking up and down very steep hills all day long will do wonders for anybody's calves. I should also mention I was usually wearing a pack with 35+ pounds. I'm also sure you will never find a XC runner with calves like these.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Alienwho

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: Alienwho
I'm going to try that Fat Guy Calves routine.

There was a time in my life where I was walking 5+ miles a day for work, and my calves were huge and defined (especially when a lot of hills were involved). I stopped that 3 years ago, and I've watched my calves slowly diminish.

You must have exceptional genetics. When I ran cross country for 4 years, we ran ~70 miles/week, including hills, and my calves probably shrunk during that time.

That doesn't surprise me, you probably became a more efficient runner as your calves shrunk. I've never seen a XC runner with big defined calves. Sprinters on the other hand need explosive power, and they generally have big calves.

Believe me, walking up and down very steep hills all day long will do wonders for anybody's calves. I should also mention I was usually wearing a pack with 35+ pounds. I'm also sure you will never find a XC runner with calves like these.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend walking 5 miles as a method for building calves. Using heavy weights on a calf machine is a far more efficient way to build calf muscles.

Ultimately building muscle is all about diet. You must have also been eating sufficient protein and calories during that time as well. You can't build muscle out of nothing.

Having said that, some people's calves are naturally bigger than others. I have seen people that never workout that somehow have large forearms and calves.

 

[mizzou]

IMO,

I totally agree with the other posters saying that forearm size and calf size are largely genetic. Almost to the point of wrist-size.

I have never seen anyone with genetically skinny legs or forearms come up with a working plan that makes you look like you have "fat guy legs"

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Special K
Having said that, some people's calves are naturally bigger than others. I have seen people that never workout that somehow have large forearms and calves.

another thing is, those usually with large calves also have large forearms.

 

[NuclearNed]

I had huge calves when I was cycling 30 miles a day, and they were insanely cut. Sadly, they packed up and left when I traded cycling for weight lifting.

 

[Muse]

Early in his body building career, Arnold Schwartzenegger had thin legs. I have his big body building book from way back. He has some pictures. He discusses how he attacked and solved the problem. That was way before he was a contender and eventual winner of bigtime body building contests, of course. The book, The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding came out in 1985, predating his movie career, basically.

Building up your calves takes time. There is equipment in decent gyms specifically for calves, and you can stack weight, do both calves at once. Myself, I do one calf at a time just using my body weight and I don't use a machine, just a surface where I have extension, such as stairs with a handhold so I keep balance. I don't run any more and I do it just to maintain some reasonable strength and endurance but if I was serious about building mass I'd use a dedicated calf machine.

 

[theMan]

run up and down stairs. at least, when ever i do it, my calves burn like hell so i assume it will make them bigger.

 

[theMan]

GROSS.

 

[AUMM]

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.

I've had small calves for years, and i did tons of isolation lifts....nothing worked

I started squatting regularly and they put on noticeable size in just months.....
everyone is different though

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: theman
run up and down stairs. at least, when ever i do it, my calves burn like hell so i assume it will make them bigger.

That burning sensation is a sign of lactic acid accumulation in muscles and is not an indicator of progress in and of itself.

Neither is muscle soreness.

 

[nerp]

Ride bike with heels down.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Special K
That burning sensation is a sign of lactic acid accumulation in muscles and is not an indicator of progress in and of itself.

Neither is muscle soreness.

While not a sign that the muscle itself has actually gotten stronger yet. It does show that intense exercise has taken place with the muscle in question, which is the intended path towards stronger muscles.

However, muscle soreness, from DOMS, could possibly be a great sign of progress.

 

[KoolDrew]

However, muscle soreness, from DOMS, could possibly be a great sign of progress.

Not really.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

Calve raises. Do 100 a day in the shower, you'll notice results in 4-6 weeks.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
Not really.

Some research claims that DOMS is not caused by the pain from damaged muscle cells, but from the reinforcement process.[3] The muscle responds to training by reinforcing itself up to and above its previous strength by increasing the size of muscle fibers (muscle hypertrophy). This reinforcement process causes the cells to swell in their compartment and put pressure on nerves and arteries producing pain. DOMS

---

You have to ask yourself what exactly the purpose of working out is? You are wearing muscle fibers down so that they grow back stronger.

Are you saying that you never work out until you are sore? You can always do another set but don't bother?