Bow Legs

just out of curiousity, i have somewhat bowed legs. with my feet together and my legs straight, my knees are about 7 inches apart. i have no problem putting on quad/ham mass, in fact they probably grow 2nd fastest to my back, but do you think that it has anything to do with my slow calf development? my calves grow, but slower then the rest of my body, and they were small to start out with. i just want to prove (wrong) my hypothesis that bow legs contribute to small, slow growing calves.

I too am severely bowlegged, and coincidentally, have rather small calves. I’ve always suspected my bowleggedness (??) to be the culprit, but it always seemed to me to be too fabricated of an excuse (Franco Columbo, if I recall correctly, was bowlegged). Nevertheless, my experience suggests that there is something to your hypothesis. That is, in all my years of training, I have yet to “feel” the inner half of my calf working (the part on the inside of my leg). I’ve tried countless different exercises and variations (as well as other training variables), but I never really feel anything there, and I can count on one hand the number of times it has felt pumped. Along similar lines, I’ve always experienced an soreness (and this definitely isn’t DOMS) along the outside of my calves. This soreness extends down to the tops of my ankles. Thus, I, in my infinite wisdom :wink: have concluded that my bowleggedness somehow redistributes (not equally, of course) the weight to the outsides of my legs, and thus makes calf work frustrating and, for the most part, annoyingly unproductive. And yes, I tried the Luke Sauder routine and just about every other routine under the sun. The Luke Sauder routine produced minimal results. My frustration with my calf progress has led me to devote an entire day to them (yes, “calf day,” as silly as it sounds). I’m only a few workouts into my new program, and if anybody is interested, I’ll fill you in on my progress. I’d like to hear from anybody else out there with this problem…

yes, franco was bowlegged. i too work my calves into the ground, but i always do get a realy good pump. the outside of my calves is also bigger, but the inside is growing. so yeah it may be true that the curviture of the legs causes the distribution of the muscle to be a little different. i have been doing waterbury’s 100 reps, and i am going to start hitting my calves 3 times a week instead of 2 to see if it helps them grow (which im sure it will.) although, once i do get calves im pleased with, they will look very nice b/c they will stick out of the curvy legs!