I’m putting you on DC timeout after this question. 6 months before you ask anymore lol.
We use a high load exercise, calves on the leg press, hack squat, seated calves, standing calves in a machine
The protocol is all the way up on the big toes, 5 seconds lowering and 15 seconds in the bottom stretch position trying to force it deeper and deeper. 10-12 reps is the goal and if you quit at 5-7 you are a wimp. Everytime that exercise comes back up you need to progress in weight and or reps It sucks, you will be sweating and twitching and cursing, but I haven’t seen any other protocol work better for people as a whole.
If your calves attach 6 inches up your legs(long achilles tendon) you won’t get Mike Matarrazo calves anytime soon,re ever, but you can maximize what you’ve got so get to work.
I’m putting you on DC timeout after this question. 6 months before you ask anymore lol.
We use a high load exercise, calves on the leg press, hack squat, seated calves, standing calves in a machine
The protocol is all the way up on the big toes, 5 seconds lowering and 15 seconds in the bottom stretch position trying to force it deeper and deeper. 10-12 reps is the goal and if you quit at 5-7 you are a wimp. Everytime that exercise comes back up you need to progress in weight and or reps It sucks, you will be sweating and twitching and cursing, but I haven’t seen any other protocol work better for people as a whole.
If your calves attach 6 inches up your legs(long achilles tendon) you won’t get Mike Matarrazo calves anytime soon,re ever, but you can maximize what you’ve got so get to work.[/quote]
depending on if i flex with my foot up or down my calves are anywhere from 6-8in. up it looks like, thats worse right?
damn that calf routine sounds like hell…15 seconds in the bottom stretch is so long, better than the top at least.
the thing about calves growing from beach work is very true, I lifeguarded at the New Jersey shore and the soreness you get from sprinting and other manuvering is extreme, almost to the point where your achillies can hurt at the insertion in the heel. This is not something most of the people in the US can do on a regular so its whatever but if you do have access some HIIT on the beach is great.
David just like any other bodypart the day you maximize your strength limits for reps on the key movements for that bodypart is the day your calves will be as big as they can according to your genetics. To me 5s are too low of reps and people will usually compromise form too much going that low.
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Unfortunately at around 6ft. my calves are about 15in.
they look really small when im wearing shorts and compared to my upper body they look awkward. I’ve been training them with about 3-5 sets, 5-15 reps twice a week for the last 6 weeks but i wonder if they need more. nothings grown much in the last 6 weeks so i don’t know if i can blame the routine but do you have any tips for bringing up the calves faster than normal?[/quote]
Maybe gain weight? I can’t imagine that they’re severely lagging behind the rest of you.
I think calf muscles fail to grow properly because the fascia around em is very tight and rigid (to toughen it for the constant work). People whive been overweight (gained weight since childhood) will usually have big calves because the muscle wasoverloaded while the fascia were toughening! After adulthood, even getting morbidly obese may not bulk the calves up all that much if the fascia are not atretched frequently.
I think the DC protocol works so well because the exaggerated stretch at the bottom…also walking on your heels (working the shin muscles) for 60 seconds daily will make a difference.
actually, im experimenting with a new way to increae calf size. its like DC, but with more frequency, much more frequency!
it involves doing only ONE work set per workout. the work set is taken to absolute failure. however, instead of doing this every other day or once every two days, its done every day.
its high intensity, low volume, high frequency.
i’ll let you guys know how it works out for me after about 8 weeks! hopefully this forum will still be remembered.
I tried the Luke Sauder routine. I gained about half an inch and lost half an inch when I stopped. I didn’t really enjoy the routine, so I didn’t continue it. It is the hardest calf work out, in my opinion. If you can stick with it, I believe you’ll keep the gains you get.
The Old-School Calf Blast I also tried. It didn’t add the mass as promised, but gave me cuts and rips (definition) like I’ve never had in my calves before. So I recommend it.
What worked for me was taking Chad Waterbury’s advise and doing ten sets of five (heavy). I did this for six weeks, every work out.
Its strange, my calfs are a couple centimeters bigger than my arms, yet my calfs look tiny in comparison. I have pretty tiny joints, which make my biceps in particular look bigger than they really are. I also don’t train calfs much do to a total lack of calf equipment at the gym I go to. Granted both my arms and calves are pretty small, i think about 15 inches last time i checked. Think i might try some of rephore’s routines to bring them up to size, thanks for putting them up!
I’ve used a simple 4 sets of 25 reps for awhile now, but I’m generally pleased with my calf growth, it may be one of my easier-growth body parts.
Don’t forget about different things like drop sets for them, it’s an easy thing to use the machine in the gym and just pop the pin in a lower weight after going to failure.
With all those plates, you could make one hell of a multi-tiered drop set to where you could barely walk afterwards.
Make sure you are using a full ROM at the bottom your calfs should be fully stretched out; at the top you should be holding the contraction for at least a couple of seconds. I see a lot of people that aren’t doing this becuase they want to pretend they can calf raise 300+ pounds.
I do one set of seated calf raises once a week to 100% failure in the low rep range and my calfs are growing faster than anything else (done with a 3-1-2-1 tempo; extremely painful).
[quote]Scott M wrote:
David just like any other bodypart the day you maximize your strength limits for reps on the key movements for that bodypart is the day your calves will be as big as they can according to your genetics. To me 5s are too low of reps and people will usually compromise form too much going that low.
[/quote]
When somebody says 5rm they are talking about a weight that you can execute with proper form.
[quote]DanErickson wrote:
Make sure you are using a full ROM at the bottom your calfs should be fully stretched out; at the top you should be holding the contraction for at least a couple of seconds. I see a lot of people that aren’t doing this becuase they want to pretend they can calf raise 300+ pounds.
I do one set of seated calf raises once a week to 100% failure in the low rep range and my calfs are growing faster than anything else (done with a 3-1-2-1 tempo; extremely painful).[/quote]
one low rep set a week? i doubt most would get similar results.
When somebody says 5rm they are talking about a weight that you can execute with proper form.[/quote]
I understand the intention, but the execution rarely matches lol. It’s more likely someone keeps consistent form when they add 200 lbs to a calf exercise in the 10-20 range than the 3-6 range. Calves are an exercise people bounce around and use the most terrible form to begin with so I don’t see a reason to encourage the ego even further.
In my opinion, frequency with heavy weight is the way to go. To me, it seems obvious. Calves are essentially built for frequency and have a faster recovery time than most muscles.
I mean, you basically have the calve size you do because of 1. genetics and 2. How much you use them. So if you add weight and use them more, it seems logical that the only thing for them to do is grow.
idk if this is a double post i thought i just posted it.
anyway i was planning on doing 4x15-20 on calves twice a week on leg days. i think i might move it to 3x a week and make sure i get a good stretch at the bottom and hold the top position for a second
