hi guys. with what frequency do you train your calves?
2x a week, one time is all soleus work, and the other is all gastroc work. Let’s me really ‘divide and conquer’ so to speak 
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
2x a week, one time is all soleus work, and the other is all gastroc work. Let’s me really ‘divide and conquer’ so to speak
S[/quote]
ah ok. im thinking about training calves twice a week myself. do you have any pics of your calves?
See Stu’s “Spring 2010 Contest Run Up” thread. Plenty of pics there.
I train mine daily. I am positive they were around 14" before I ever started training them and they are at a little over 18" now.
Calves are largely “genetic dependent”…meaning that those who truly lack the genetics for big calves will have to work extremely hard to see any progress at all.
That is why you do NOT follow the advice from guys who have super large calves because 99% of the time, those calves would have been bigger than most whether they ever trained them or not.
That means guys like Eric Fankhauser who have 24" calves can’t exactly help you much as far as strategy if you are walking around on toothpicks.
The same largely goes for forearms. Some guys can get away with never training and still have forearms bigger than most (I never train mine but they get comments anyway) while some need to specialize their training for them.
[quote]Clintern wrote:
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
2x a week, one time is all soleus work, and the other is all gastroc work. Let’s me really ‘divide and conquer’ so to speak
S[/quote]
ah ok. im thinking about training calves twice a week myself. do you have any pics of your calves?[/quote]
This is Mike Mattarazo. Before Eric Fankhauser came on the scene, he was known for having some of the biggest calves on stage. While his development was impressive, seeing as he was born with calves that were 20 before he got out of high school, it may not be best to follow what he did. He could train his legs once a year and he would still look like he obsesses about them.
Yates used to always get questions about his calves, but his response would always include a disclaimer that he isn’t the person you should be asking, because his came up pretty easily for him.
S
like X said and Stu quoted
my calves were pretty sick before I gave them attention and even now its only plyometrics and speed roping
if I had to give a suggestion it would be twice a week on your upper body days so you can hit them independent of your hams and quads
4 times a week. Every gym day except the day I train legs. I split up soleus and gastroc work too. My calves stalled at 16" but since I started the 4x plan theyve started growing again, now only an inch smaller than my arms and neck.
bonez, stu - you guys mind going into detail about what exactly you do on your soleus and gastroc days?
I’ve always hit calves twice a week but am now thinking of ramping that up to 4 and see if I can blow them up a bit more.
Donkey calf raise and stading calf raises on one day. Seated calf raises on the other. Rep ranges vary
Agree with all the posters. Figure out under what genetic category you fall under (example: stick calves wonder boy, or rarely trains them and they grow douche bag like myself) and train accordingly. A cookie cutter approach wont work.
X and Stu - does that also mean we shouldn’t be listening to Phil Heath about how he trains his arms?
I agree with your comments, but I’m just wondering why that type of thinking isn’t followed for all bodyparts.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
X and Stu - does that also mean we shouldn’t be listening to Phil Heath about how he trains his arms?
I agree with your comments, but I’m just wondering why that type of thinking isn’t followed for all bodyparts.
Edit - or ALL bodybuilders, really. These guys have the best genetics and would likely look bigger than most without serious training.[/quote]
No, you ask Lee Priest
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
X and Stu - does that also mean we shouldn’t be listening to Phil Heath about how he trains his arms?
I agree with your comments, but I’m just wondering why that type of thinking isn’t followed for all bodyparts.
Edit - or ALL bodybuilders, really. These guys have the best genetics and would likely look bigger than most without serious training.[/quote]
It’s not that you don’t listen to people with crazy body parts. Just that their specific advice may not be the BEST for someone who has a weakpoint in that area.
Dorian says that his advice may not be the best but he also advocates training calves separate from the upper leg and training them first in any given workout. Those are two pieces of good info from someone who had it easy in terms of calf growth.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
X and Stu - does that also mean we shouldn’t be listening to Phil Heath about how he trains his arms?
I agree with your comments, but I’m just wondering why that type of thinking isn’t followed for all bodyparts.[/quote]
We all have gifted areas, but calves and forearms seem to be the ones that are VERY limited by genetics. Biceps are not usually seen the same way because few people on the planet just accidentally get 20" arms while a shit load of fat asses are walking around on some huge fucking calves.
Phil Heath may be gifted, but he clearly still worked his ass off for his biceps size.
What I HATE is when clueless newbs act like anyone who is big can’t give de4cent advice. You won’t know how hard I worked to get big unless you asked me or watched me train.
Obviously there’s only so much you can do for a bodypart, specifically something simple like calves. Yates was just making a point that he didn’t have any magic formula that would explain his own progress. He applied intelligent principles with intensity over a duration, and luckily his genetics allowed him to reach the point that he did.
S
i have a thin bodytype, but not so-called high calves insertion… think they will get big when stimulated correctly. i have always enjoyed training calves, even more than my back, but i have never knew how to train them. gonna try twice a week first and then see…
Gotta try different things and see what works with your body. My baby brother always had huge calves. He was 5 or 6 years old and grownups would talk about his leg development. My calves have always been pretty big and I don’t work them nearly as much as I know I could. When I think about it I actually put calf work into my workouts, but I have always been one of those guys that tend to grow proportionally just by doing basic compound lifts. My neck, calves and arms have always been the exact same size as each other, regardless of what I did.
[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
Gotta try different things and see what works with your body. My baby brother always had huge calves. He was 5 or 6 years old and grownups would talk about his leg development. My calves have always been pretty big and I don’t work them nearly as much as I know I could. When I think about it I actually put calf work into my workouts, but I have always been one of those guys that tend to grow proportionally just by doing basic compound lifts. [/quote]
But youre black. Stop fucking with everyone