im 5’6’’ 160 and my calfs are bigger then average and pretty strong naturally just from my family genetics, i dont mind them but i would like to work them out to get more cut and not bigger, i really dont have too many calf exercises, i use the sit down calf machine at my gym and the leg press just extending my ankles and sometimes ill do lightweight squats and totally lift my heels when i come back up… the thing is i dont really want them to get bigger, i want them to get cut so i dont know whether to do light weight/high reps or heavy weight/low reps, any exercises or suggestions would be much appreciated… thanks
I know exactly what you mean.
The best way to tone your calves, is do high rep one legs dumbbell squat on a bosu ball. And use light weight with a slow and perfect form. You have to feel the muscle. This is the key or your calves may growth too fast and you may create imbalance. Calves growth easily. You may even end looking bulky.
Pink dumbbell works best IMO
whoa!! what the hell is a one leg dumbell squat on a bosu ball?? haha ive never really messed with the ball things and to tell you the truth i really dont want to, but im open minded, thanks alx
[quote]ALX wrote:
I know exactly what you mean.
The best way to tone your calves, is do high rep one legs dumbbell squat on a bosu ball. And use light weight with a slow and perfect form. You have to feel the muscle. This is the key or your calves may growth too fast and you may create imbalance. Calves growth easily. You may even end looking bulky.
Pink dumbbell works best IMO[/quote]
+1
Remember you need to TONE up. You dont wanna look all bulky. Also I recommend looking into spinning classes
[quote]ALX wrote:
I know exactly what you mean.
The best way to tone your calves, is do high rep one legs dumbbell squat on a bosu ball. And use light weight with a slow and perfect form. You have to feel the muscle. This is the key or your calves may growth too fast and you may create imbalance. Calves growth easily. You may even end looking bulky.
Pink dumbbell works best IMO[/quote]
PWNED
Let’s see how big these calves are. Seriously.
[quote]Manimal85 wrote:
i would like to work them out to get more cut and not bigger[/quote]
I think a knife would work best.
If they are already the size you want them, do cardio to cut up. There are no calf exercises for “cutting up”. Calf exercises make the muscle grow or get stronger or both, but won’t spot reduce fat. Unless by “cut up” you mean something else. Striations come from being super lean, not from the type of exercises you’ve done (assuming you have size already).
[quote]Manimal85 wrote:
whoa!! what the hell is a one leg dumbell squat on a bosu ball?? haha ive never really messed with the ball things and to tell you the truth i really dont want to, but im open minded, thanks alx[/quote]
No problem.
Here is how to perform the exercise perfectly:
[quote]Manimal85 wrote:
whoa!! what the hell is a one leg dumbell squat on a bosu ball?? haha ive never really messed with the ball things and to tell you the truth i really dont want to, but im open minded, thanks alx[/quote]
… and here you can see the guy did use too much weight and become bulky. I would stick with your body weight or light dumbbell.
[quote]ALX wrote:
I know exactly what you mean.
The best way to tone your calves, is do high rep one legs dumbbell squat on a bosu ball. And use light weight with a slow and perfect form. You have to feel the muscle. This is the key or your calves may growth too fast and you may create imbalance. Calves growth easily. You may even end looking bulky.
Pink dumbbell works best IMO[/quote]
a brilliant answer to a great question
[quote]davidcox1 wrote:
If they are already the size you want them, do cardio to cut up. There are no calf exercises for “cutting up”. Calf exercises make the muscle grow or get stronger or both, but won’t spot reduce fat. Unless by “cut up” you mean something else. Striations come from being super lean, not from the type of exercises you’ve done (assuming you have size already).[/quote]
This is complete disinformation, the man came here for help…
thanks for the input everyone, seems like people have some different opinions but, i still appreciate it…
thanks for the smart remark 50 cal… i actually own a 50 cal, and i sure hope you do too with a name like that
[quote]Manimal85 wrote:
thanks for the input everyone, seems like people have some different opinions but, i still appreciate it…
thanks for the smart remark 50 cal… i actually own a 50 cal, and i sure hope you do too with a name like that[/quote]
If you haven’t noticed, all of the responses have been smart remarks. The only one that wasn’t was david.
I understand you came here for advice, but this should have been in the beginner’s section.
To increase muscle tonus, HEAVY weightlifting could increase how hard your muscles appear at rest.
However, you were probably referring to just having low levels of body fat, something a calve exercise can’t do. You have to lose body fat.
Seriously, put up a pic of your calves. Maybe we can judge if you’d be better off adding more mass or just cutting all over.
forbes that makes sense… but ive had these calfs ever sincee i was a little kid and ever since i was 13 and had a six pack, i got a camera somewhere around this house, ill find it and get back with a picture.