T Nation

Calves And Tall People

Bodybuilding
#1

anybody have any tips for building calves on tall people? primary goal being size (obviously). i’m ridiculously tall so my calves have always been lagging (not saying i’m able to say that everything else is where i want it to be [yet]. i’m still new to weightlifting). i just want to get on top of this weakness before everything else gets out of proportion since i know that calves are difficult to build on people of my height.

for example:
ideal rest between sets
fatigue loading (going to failure [y/n?])
volume vs progressive overload
bodyweight high volume vs weighted
seated vs standing
frequency?

thanks, yo.

#2

Well I’m tall (6’5) and have 17.5 inch calves (started with 15) that aren’t totally fat so take my advice for what it’s worth.

Okay so calves have a very short ROM so to compensate I would squeeze (maybe two second pause) at the top of the movement and do a slow negative. You can also do this thing that I call a double pop where you get up to the top then kind of flex your calves up, kind of like you’re trying to get on your tippy toes.

Heavy weight good with form can help. So can lightening the load and really feeling your contractions (pregnant?)

I’m not sure about this but I think calves recover faster so you can do them more often.

Good Luck!

#3

[quote]Meeko wrote:
Well I’m tall (6’5) and have 17.5 inch calves (started with 15) that aren’t totally fat so take my advice for what it’s worth.

Okay so calves have a very short ROM so to compensate I would squeeze (maybe two second pause) at the top of the movement and do a slow negative. You can also do this thing that I call a double pop where you get up to the top then kind of flex your calves up, kind of like you’re trying to get on your tippy toes.

Heavy weight good with form can help. So can lightening the load and really feeling your contractions (pregnant?)

I’m not sure about this but I think calves recover faster so you can do them more often.

Good Luck![/quote]

thanks, dude. i’ll give that a shot. i was reading Bauer’s thread and he stated that he works calves every workout seeing as they’re also his lagging body part so i’m going to do that as well.

i appreciate the tips and suggestions.

#4

Same tip id give for a short person trying to gain calves.

Look up the thread “Calves to Cows”

#5

Pick the right parents? my son’s 6ft 5 with 17 in calves doesn’t train them directly. BTW he’s 18yo & 225lb

#6

thanks for that suggestion, akuma. i’ll go check it out right now.

my father actually has ridiculously large calves. he played basketball in college and lifted, but for as long as i’ve known him he’s always had monstrous calves (probably the largest i’ve seen irl [and he’s 6’ 10"]). i’m hoping i inherited those genes the same as i inherited his height, hahahaha. i’ve only been lifting seriously for ~6 months now so there’s still a lot of time to tell (i would guess).

thanks again for all of the insight.

edit: also, my calves are 15" right now without any specific training so i hope I can get them up to where you guys have them with the right tools and methods. that calves to cows thread is great, akuma. should be stickied imo.