I’m 6’5" 260lbs and I need help on thickness in my calves and just over all growth. My muscles are just so long and lack thickness.(Arms and calves). I work calves twice a week as heavy as possible. I just want some thinkness in my arms to. There strong but lack that thick developed look. Is it just my height? Please if any one has any advise.
Thanks, Rifle
Yes, part of the problem is your height. I posted some pics of basketball players at your height and weight and none of them really looked “built”. At that weight, you aren’t skinny, but the truth of the matter is that it will take more muscle mass and body weight for you to start to look the part. You will often hear that it takes about 15-20lbs of weight gain to see an inch on your arms.
What do your calves measure?
Do you do any jogging? I know that put some size on my calves after I gained a lot of weight. That and walking up the stairs on the balls of my feet.
My $0.02 - Squat HEAVY!
At 77" tall you’ll need to use a wide stance too, but my calves rally started getting bigger when I started squating heavy with 180 seconds between sets of 10-12 reps.
BTW - All this growth happened AFTER three months of 3 sets of 12 on a calf machine 3 times a week!
As for weight to use - you know what you can do, but if you can get that last reps of every set w/o a BIG problem, then it’s time to move up!
HEAVY means precisely that.
Now go kick that fat guy / kid doing arm curls out of the squat rack and go heavy!
MIKE
What does your calf routine look like? Standing calf raises will hit the medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius (the inner and outer visible heads of the calf), and seated raises will hit your soleus (muscle that’s under the gastrocnemius). Calves are a small muscle group, recover relatively quickly, and can be trained more frequently than other groups. Up the weight, up the frequency, and hit 'em from all angles.
Yes, I do calve raises on the leg press, the standing machine and sitting maching. I do calves twice a week and go as heavy as I can with out buckling my knees… I don’t do as much squats and deads as I should…=( I have no major back issus so I don’t know why I listened to him. Does deads and squats really make a major diffence in size gains?
Thanks, Rifle
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Yes, part of the problem is your height. I posted some pics of basketball players at your height and weight and none of them really looked “built”. At that weight, you aren’t skinny, but the truth of the matter is that it will take more muscle mass and body weight for you to start to look the part. You will often hear that it takes about 15-20lbs of weight gain to see an inch on your arms.
What do your calves measure?[/quote]
Prof. X What would you recommend as a good weight for me? You said I’m not skinny but need size.
Thanks Rifle
Deads and squats work the larges muscle groups you’ve got. When you work the larger muscle groups, your entire body will respond with growth. Don’t just focus on the show muscles, work 'em all.
[quote]Steve-O-68 wrote:
Deads and squats work the larges muscle groups you’ve got. When you work the larger muscle groups, your entire body will respond with growth. Don’t just focus on the show muscles, work 'em all. [/quote]
I agree completely, I work everything, I’m not a “corn dog”. I just think I’m losing the oppertunity to gain good overall size from squats and dead because my fat chiroprator doesnt recomend it.
[quote]ThisIsMyRifle wrote:
Steve-O-68 wrote:
Deads and squats work the larges muscle groups you’ve got. When you work the larger muscle groups, your entire body will respond with growth. Don’t just focus on the show muscles, work 'em all.
I agree completely, I work everything, I’m not a “corn dog”. I just think I’m losing the oppertunity to gain good overall size from squats and dead because my fat chiroprator doesnt recomend it.
[/quote]
As long as your form is good, you won’t have problems. Not only will you see size gains, but you’ll see strength gains as well.
Never take lifting advice from someone in worse shape than you dude.
this may not make sense, but i think it is working for me. my calves are noticeably bigger, though not big
i do about 250 standing calf raises a day (no weights and just off of the floor)
seems like it wouldnt do anything, but it has
i implemented this after i kept reading Waterbury talk about soccer players, i just substituted in ballerinas and figured that they have disproportionatley large calves, and they dont use a machine
[quote]ThisIsMyRifle wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Yes, part of the problem is your height. I posted some pics of basketball players at your height and weight and none of them really looked “built”. At that weight, you aren’t skinny, but the truth of the matter is that it will take more muscle mass and body weight for you to start to look the part. You will often hear that it takes about 15-20lbs of weight gain to see an inch on your arms.
What do your calves measure?
Prof. X What would you recommend as a good weight for me? You said I’m not skinny but need size.
Thanks Rifle
[/quote]
That depends on your own personal goals. I know if I was 6’5", I wouldn’t be shooting for less than 270-280lbs just to look “muscular”. You have to realize, 6’5" is VERY tall. That is nowhere near average. You at 250lbs is like being under 200lbs at 6 feet tall.
5x5
I did a calf program suggested by Poliquin (i think) and put 1/4 in on my calves in 8 weeks- pretty good for having a vagina. 
Just type in “Luke Sauder” in the search bar. I really think this is a great program, but you have to DO IT til you wanna pee down your leg. If you really want to add mass to your calves you have to let them have it–just fucking around a couple times a week won’t do it.
So if I’m 6’4" and about 200#… what the fuck does that make me?
To try to add something useful, my dad has some of the biggest calves I’ve ever seen and he’s never touched a weight. He just worked as a roofer for 30 years of his life and had to carry 100# rolls of tar paper up and down ladders all day. Of the two main muscles in your calves, one of them is predominantly slow twitch (soleus I think? I hope I’m not talking out of my ass), so I think the calves will probably respond better to more volume than say the hamstrings. I think you could probably work the calves 3-4 times a week if you really need to bring them up.
I sprained my ankle two weeks ago, and so I’m really worried about my calves. I took a week off from legs, and now I’m on 2x a week, and I can leg press, squat, or deadlift, but flexing the ankle is going to give me problems for a bit. I figure the heavy lifts and some more walking should maintain the calves.
The two things that finally made my calves grow were a combo variety of high/low rep sets and perfect form with peak contraction. I’d do standing raises for 3 sets of 30 perfect reps and really squeeze at the top and full extension at the bottom. This meant only using 70-80 lbs. I had old ladies chuckling at my weights. Then do seated raises for 3 sets of 12. Then next workout reverse it or switch up exercises but always do one exercise high reps and the other low. I usually do 2-3 calf workouts a week. If you’re really serious the priority principle is a must. Hit them 1st in your workout. Your calves can’t see the #'s on the weight stack so set your ego aside and focus on form.
[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
So if I’m 6’4" and about 200#… what the fuck does that make me?
[/quote]
Skinny. Anymore questions?
Calves are largely genetically influenced regardless of training. Mine are about 18" and it took years for them to get to this size. Meanwhile, there are people walking around who never train their calves at all who look like their’s measure 20". Mine didn’t start to make any progress until my body weight increased significantly. I personally think that has more to do with their growth than any particular training program simply due to carrying more body weight all day long. I train mine often lately and would say that they respond better to higher volume. Either way, I think even more important is full body growth. Don’t focus on calves at the expense of your upper legs and the rest of your body. It all has to grow.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
jtrinsey wrote:
So if I’m 6’4" and about 200#… what the fuck does that make me?
Skinny. Anymore questions?[/quote]
You should’ve seen me when I was 170, I was invisible when I turned sideways. Thank god my college strength coach showed me that gain weight (in the form of muscle) didn’t actually make you slower or less athletic. Whoda thunk it?