Best Exercises for Stubborn Muscle Groups

Training Bodybuilding
21

[quote]thrasher_09 wrote:
Matty thanks for the calf training one I might give it a go. When you say you have freakish calves were they a stubborn muscle for you at one point and you used those methods to bring them up? or have they always been large?[/quote]

I don’t remember if they were relatively small before I trained them, but I trained the shit out of them(I wanted to jump higher lol), and I do think that I’m genetically predisposed to larger calves, so it’s like 1+1=3 I guess lol.
They weren’t a stubborn muscle at all. If I don’t train them they won’t shrink.

It’s kind of a pain in the ass for basketball :frowning:

22

[quote]MattyG35 wrote:

[quote]thrasher_09 wrote:
Matty thanks for the calf training one I might give it a go. When you say you have freakish calves were they a stubborn muscle for you at one point and you used those methods to bring them up? or have they always been large?[/quote]

I don’t remember if they were relatively small before I trained them, but I trained the shit out of them(I wanted to jump higher lol), and I do think that I’m genetically predisposed to larger calves, so it’s like 1+1=3 I guess lol.
They weren’t a stubborn muscle at all. If I don’t train them they won’t shrink.

It’s kind of a pain in the ass for basketball :([/quote]

lol i hate you…

23

I don’t work forarms at all and they look great compared to my tri’s and bi’s. I just do alot of reverse grip hammer curls and alot of rotation work with dumbells and it works them great. I actually view forearm work a waste of time.

Calves now, that’s another story.

24

From my observations forearms for the most part take care of themselves if the rest of the training is in order. i.e. Heavy Weight

25

Powerlifting as a gear whore for awhile made my shoulders lag behind the rest of my upper body. This should never be the case - Delts are awesome.

To remedy this, I started out by doing behind-the-neck push presses. I loaded the weight up and controlled the negative of the movement. Afterwards I would do lateral raises.

Now I’ve taken my numbers from the btn push press and am using them as goals for my standing overhead press since the OHP is a weaker lift. With my legs no longer contributing to the positive part of the movement, I am feeling the same overload I felt when I began this focused cycle. I continue to include the lateral raises and always strive for PRs - they don’t get enough stimulation from pressing movements.

The OP mentioned rear delts, so: face pulls and band pull-aparts. Lots of them.

Both can be done with a band!

26

All you guys having issues with calves do this as I’ve been doing the same exact thing for the past few weeks and have been seeing huge improvements (I have the worse calves ever, insanely high/small) can’t wait until what a year or two will do…

Calves are to be done 4-5 times a week before any other work (so pretty much anytime you’re in the gym since most of us train 4-5 times a week). I hit them as if I’m trying to overtrain them…(which is prob hard as hell to do anyways)

Pick one standing variation, one bent-knee seated variation, one straight legged seated variation (little different than your other seated calve raises)

So I alternate session to session between one of these (sometimes doing two of these sameday)…ramping up to 1-2 heavy ass top sets…moderate reps and controlled to failure, than going into some cheated reps with bouncing to failure and than into partials until utter failure. Than immediately after I go into drop sets stripping Plate(s) after each set, again to failure on every drop set. Than after I do the last drop set, I’ll immediately go into bodyweight calve raises to failure + some calve stretching after sometimes. (toes up straddled on something, push heel down use your bodyweight and stretch the fuck out of them)

I’ll also from time to time throw some DC principles in there…to mix it up. My calves haven’t looked more developed and size is growing consistently right now.

27

[quote]Ocelot82 wrote:
I don’t work forarms at all and they look great compared to my tri’s and bi’s. I just do alot of reverse grip hammer curls and alot of rotation work with dumbells and it works them great. I actually view forearm work a waste of time.

Calves now, that’s another story. [/quote]

How do you do a reverse grip hammer curl…

28

[quote]Carlitosway wrote:
All you guys having issues with calves do this as I’ve been doing the same exact thing for the past few weeks and have been seeing huge improvements (I have the worse calves ever, insanely high/small) can’t wait until what a year or two will do…

Calves are to be done 4-5 times a week before any other work (so pretty much anytime you’re in the gym since most of us train 4-5 times a week). I hit them as if I’m trying to overtrain them…(which is prob hard as hell to do anyways)

Pick one standing variation, one bent-knee seated variation, one straight legged seated variation (little different than your other seated calve raises)

So I alternate session to session between one of these (sometimes doing two of these sameday)…ramping up to 1-2 heavy ass top sets…moderate reps and controlled to failure, than going into some cheated reps with bouncing to failure and than into partials until utter failure. Than immediately after I go into drop sets stripping Plate(s) after each set, again to failure on every drop set. Than after I do the last drop set, I’ll immediately go into bodyweight calve raises to failure + some calve stretching after sometimes. (toes up straddled on something, push heel down use your bodyweight and stretch the fuck out of them)

I’ll also from time to time throw some DC principles in there…to mix it up. My calves haven’t looked more developed and size is growing consistently right now.

[/quote]

How many reps does that typically come out to? I’ve been training them 4x/week as well the last 2 months or so working up to a max set with some partials at the end but haven’t seen any improvements.

29

[quote]pumped340 wrote:

[quote]Carlitosway wrote:
All you guys having issues with calves do this as I’ve been doing the same exact thing for the past few weeks and have been seeing huge improvements (I have the worse calves ever, insanely high/small) can’t wait until what a year or two will do…

Calves are to be done 4-5 times a week before any other work (so pretty much anytime you’re in the gym since most of us train 4-5 times a week). I hit them as if I’m trying to overtrain them…(which is prob hard as hell to do anyways)

Pick one standing variation, one bent-knee seated variation, one straight legged seated variation (little different than your other seated calve raises)

So I alternate session to session between one of these (sometimes doing two of these sameday)…ramping up to 1-2 heavy ass top sets…moderate reps and controlled to failure, than going into some cheated reps with bouncing to failure and than into partials until utter failure. Than immediately after I go into drop sets stripping Plate(s) after each set, again to failure on every drop set. Than after I do the last drop set, I’ll immediately go into bodyweight calve raises to failure + some calve stretching after sometimes. (toes up straddled on something, push heel down use your bodyweight and stretch the fuck out of them)

I’ll also from time to time throw some DC principles in there…to mix it up. My calves haven’t looked more developed and size is growing consistently right now.

[/quote]

How many reps does that typically come out to? I’ve been training them 4x/week as well the last 2 months or so working up to a max set with some partials at the end but haven’t seen any improvements. [/quote]

I honestly don’t count ever rep or record how many reps I did as I go off how I FEEL…It’s all done with the intent to try and OVERTRAIN them if that makes sense (which like I mentioned is probably hard as hell to do anyways) That should be your mindset every session every time you walk into the gym…It fuckin’ sucks honestly and I hate having to do them so many times a week like this with drop set after drop set + heavy sets every time (than the stretching + bodyweight reps to failure @ times). Yet I know it’s working as I’m actually starting to enjoy wearing shorts more, as my calves don’t look as pathetic . I’ve recently included short sprint sessions on days after doing leg work also (per Thibs recommendation), actually did some short sprints/technique work today (I just watch a lot of Joe Defrancos athletes/vids for tips) these might be helping some too. (I’m careful to always do some mobility/warm up work beforehand/ to not strain something)

this with increasing my overall bodyweight, I can’t see how my calves won’t get to something at least respectable (for what I was dealt with in first placE) in the next year or so.

My form doesn’t look perfect @ times either, after hitting failure the first time with decently controlled reps I’ll go into reps where I’m bouncing a lot…I’ve done the perfect reps, with the long stretch and all that jazz before. Yet heavy ass reps with bouncing/partials I think help a lot too in the end.

example of what I do my later sets when I use what’s heavy for me, this is a guy who trains at a gym I used to frequent…:slight_smile:

30

Seems like really limited ROM, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I did drop sets for awhile too, what I would do (somewhat from what I got from Stu) was train them twice per week with 6 sets. On the last set I would do 3 drop sets…no growth during this time either. What you’re doing is kind of combining the 2 of the many things I’ve tried, might be able to try it when I get back to a real gym.

What I find really weird is that my calves actually used to be bigger but for some reason they just won’t grow more. Not a huge difference but they used to be 15.5in and now I can’t get them above 15in

31

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Seems like really limited ROM, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I did drop sets for awhile too, what I would do (somewhat from what I got from Stu) was train them twice per week with 6 sets. On the last set I would do 3 drop sets…no growth during this time either. What you’re doing is kind of combining the 2 of the many things I’ve tried, might be able to try it when I get back to a real gym.

What I find really weird is that my calves actually used to be bigger but for some reason they just won’t grow more. Not a huge difference but they used to be 15.5in and now I can’t get them above 15in [/quote]

only 2X a week?Just start training them first any time you walk into a gym…with intent to murder them, doesn’t matter if you’re doing chest/tris or shoulders that day. I’ll always be like you know what last time I did standing calve raises…time for a bent knee variation and I’ll alternate. It’s like I imagine myself being an insane man and I have two people hostage:my calves…and I’m fully intent on torturing the fuck out of them any which way I can…I don’t count sets I just warm up…to heavy weights until my calves painfully hurt…boom heavy partials, heavy bouncing…than into drop set after drop set. Until my calves are begging me to stop. Than I’ll do it again the next day or day after=).

You might see drops in weights used on top sets after upping frequency, who cares just keep hitting them as hard as possible. IMO I just viewed it as I’m challenging my calves real good and they have no choice but to grow from then on…

I’m guessing it would be good after every few months to take a straight week off of doing this…Don’t know we’ll see though lol. I worry about straining a calve muscle at times, yet haven’t really heard of this happening to anyone.

32

For calves, all you need is one stair to hang off of, do one leg at a time, toes straight ahead, toes pointed in, toes pointed out, do each way until failure, back and forth between legs. You really want to stretch them, and get full extension as well, not that limited ROM crap.

33

[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
For calves, all you need is one stair to hang off of, do one leg at a time, toes straight ahead, toes pointed in, toes pointed out, do each way until failure, back and forth between legs. You really want to stretch them, and get full extension as well, not that limited ROM crap.[/quote]

I think it was you who mentioned that you do that 50 times per leg for each position…my calves must be ridiculously weak (or yours are really strong), I can only get about 10 reps on doing full ROM with one leg at a time.

[quote]Carlitosway wrote:

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Seems like really limited ROM, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I did drop sets for awhile too, what I would do (somewhat from what I got from Stu) was train them twice per week with 6 sets. On the last set I would do 3 drop sets…no growth during this time either. What you’re doing is kind of combining the 2 of the many things I’ve tried, might be able to try it when I get back to a real gym.

What I find really weird is that my calves actually used to be bigger but for some reason they just won’t grow more. Not a huge difference but they used to be 15.5in and now I can’t get them above 15in [/quote]

only 2X a week?Just start training them first any time you walk into a gym…with intent to murder them, doesn’t matter if you’re doing chest/tris or shoulders that day. I’ll always be like you know what last time I did standing calve raises…time for a bent knee variation and I’ll alternate. It’s like I imagine myself being an insane man and I have two people hostage:my calves…and I’m fully intent on torturing the fuck out of them any which way I can…I don’t count sets I just warm up…to heavy weights until my calves painfully hurt…boom heavy partials, heavy bouncing…than into drop set after drop set. Until my calves are begging me to stop. Than I’ll do it again the next day or day after=).

You might see drops in weights used on top sets after upping frequency, who cares just keep hitting them as hard as possible. IMO I just viewed it as I’m challenging my calves real good and they have no choice but to grow from then on…
[/quote]

Funny because that would be retarded logic for any other muscle group (“Yea I just train chest and biceps every day I go in the gym, I don’t count sets or anything I just beat the shit out of them every day so they have to grow”), who knows for calves though…

I train them 4x/week now, the 2x/week was when I was doing drop sets. Like I said I haven’t seen results from either but maybe combining the 2 would do something. I only have standing options right now and I’m cutting anyway so it’s not like they’re really going to grow but we’ll see in the fall.

34

[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
For calves, all you need is one stair to hang off of, do one leg at a time, toes straight ahead, toes pointed in, toes pointed out, do each way until failure, back and forth between legs. You really want to stretch them, and get full extension as well, not that limited ROM crap.[/quote]

Yep…let me know how that works for you there buddy…:slight_smile: I’ll stick to my way, doing heavy ass controlled reps/with deep stretchs and heavy limited ROM reps/partials/drop sets 4-5 times a week. Don’t forget all the overweight people with huge calves having to carry all that heavy excess fat day in day out.

Also I’ll listen to guys like Bret Contreras (whose got some respectable size/strength himself)

[quote]Bret Contreras Here’s what I think about the calves:

First, many powerlifters have huge calves from squatting. I have a video with Jim Wendler and his pal (can’t remember who it was) and their calves are busting out. They actually talk about it in the video…their calf development is a byproduct of heavy squatting, not doing any specialized calf work. And judging by the very high peak EMG levels in squatting, it makes sense.

Furthermore, the calves are highly activated during walking. Due to this I believe they need to be stimulated with heavy weight to cause a growth stimulus. Obviously calf development is highly genetic but to maximize their growth I believe that one should:

  1. Get strong at squats and deadlifts
  2. Get strong at all types of calf raises
  3. Perform a variety of rep ranges, sometimes 5-10, sometimes 20, and sometimes 50-100.
  4. Sometimes do pause reps, sometimes explosive reps, sometimes straight heavy sets, and sometimes do shock techniques such as drop sets, supersets, etc.
  5. Do them 3 times per week

So don’t feel bad that you went heavy today! It’s good to do that here and there. [/quote]

Except I like to do them heavy 4-5 times a week than do explosive raises after, deep stretch (sometimes cutting back to 3 sessions a week if my calves just can’t take it anymore)

k SICK of talking about calves right now. (as I’m doing shoulders/back in a little, of course hitting calves first on some torturous shit :slight_smile:

Lets talk about quads…:stuck_out_tongue: I’ve seen some good size added in my upper legs incorporating lean away leg extensions before squats…and now have added heavy high bar back squats back in ( a lot better form than what I did 2 years ago haha) hitting parallel or just shy. Need me some Oly shoes though! Oh gay looking adduction machine is a must to for me nowadays for inner thigh size…

35

[quote]AndrewG909 wrote:
Thanks for all the forearm tips to those that posted them.

I do find it interesting that in my forearms thread I got nothing but flames for saying my forearms are small compared to the rest of my arm and was looking for advice with pictures. Then I post in a thread stating I’m actually starting to see progress and now I get all this advice AND pictures. HAHA Where were you guys when I needed you?? ;)[/quote]

PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN! Another common theme nowadays…

I’ve got one for calves. Start off with heavy Smith Machine calf raises for 4-5 sets of 10-12, drop set the last one, by peeling plates off one by one till you’re down to a plate a side. Then switch over to a flight of stairs. Take each step and perform full ROM reps. Start off with two reps, step to the next step, now increase the reps by two each step, till your hitting 20 reps at the top step, or whatever you can handle. So, progression like this 1 set x 2reps, 4reps, 6reps, 8reps, 10reps, 12reps… if you can still walk afterwards you’re doing it wrong. Add a DB in a hand if you need to…

Quads- superset (leg extensions x front squats; leg extensions x leg press) Always gives me a good pump and focuses directly on the quads. Another good one is just a 30 second exercise. Set your interval timer on your watch to 30 seconds of work: 10-20 seconds of rest and do an exercise that really targets your quads, front squats, back squats, trap bar squats, leg press, Smith Machine press. Pick a weight that you can handle, but heavy enough that by 30 seconds your form is starting to erode. Don’t focus on the reps, just go as fast and smooth as you can until you hit 30 seconds.

Now, whose got something for delts and chest, I need some suggestions to spark ideas?

v/r

Gremlin

36

any thoughts as to whether quad size relates to calf sizes? I know when my calves were a little bigger I was doing significantly more leg work…not sure if my legs were any bigger though and I know my squat was weaker.

37

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
I think it was you who mentioned that you do that 50 times per leg for each position…my calves must be ridiculously weak (or yours are really strong), I can only get about 10 reps on doing full ROM with one leg at a time.
[/quote]

50 reps straight(for multiple sets) was what I eventually worked up to. It didn’t happen overnight, but I did do this regularly, probably everyday, maybe even a few times a day(hard to remember it was over 10 years ago, and I’m only 25). I probably said this, but I really liked the toe press on the leg press machine, you can really stretch your calves and control the reps up with whatever load you choose to use.

Whenever someone comments on my calves, saying how big they are I tell them that they’re not calves they’re cows(what a knee slapper eh?!?)

38

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
any thoughts as to whether quad size relates to calf sizes? I know when my calves were a little bigger I was doing significantly more leg work…not sure if my legs were any bigger though and I know my squat was weaker.[/quote]

That would make sense, as the saying goes, ‘You can’t shoot a cannon from a canoe’.
Obviously this isn’t always the case, but I’m sure you get the meaning.

39

[quote]MattyG35 wrote:

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
I think it was you who mentioned that you do that 50 times per leg for each position…my calves must be ridiculously weak (or yours are really strong), I can only get about 10 reps on doing full ROM with one leg at a time.
[/quote]

50 reps straight(for multiple sets) was what I eventually worked up to. It didn’t happen overnight, but I did do this regularly, probably everyday, maybe even a few times a day(hard to remember it was over 10 years ago, and I’m only 25). I probably said this, but I really liked the toe press on the leg press machine, you can really stretch your calves and control the reps up with whatever load you choose to use.

[/quote]

Well I’ll be continuing to try to increase the reps on these. You mentioned toes in, straight and out. So you would do all 3 (3 sets) each time or was it a different position each time? There seems to be a discrepancy as to whether that actually matters but I know I’m much weaker pushing with a certain position

40

[quote]MattyG35 wrote:

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
any thoughts as to whether quad size relates to calf sizes? I know when my calves were a little bigger I was doing significantly more leg work…not sure if my legs were any bigger though and I know my squat was weaker.[/quote]

That would make sense, as the saying goes, ‘You can’t shoot a cannon from a canoe’.
Obviously this isn’t always the case, but I’m sure you get the meaning.[/quote]

Yeah guys who squat big weights usually have big/decent sized calves…as was mentioned in my previous post if pumped would have taken the time to read through it all. :slight_smile:

today I did seated calves raises to failure than into drop sets(think ramped up to 190 lbs, than drop sets until I was doing only 5-10 lbs each side)…than into single legged calve raises off a platform… I feel there’s no set way just hit em with serious intent to do damage:)…