Has anyone ever tried using a treadmill at full incline for a calf exercise? What were the results?
Dante of DC training has a cardio protocol he has his trainees do on their off days if they have shitty calves. It seems like it might work.
Here’s Dante’s post on how to do it:
Boy you guys are in trouble because Ill probably just use this thread to ramble on and jump from one topic to another.
Ok lets see here…
Calves: I wasnt ever going to put this on the net because its very hard to describe and I usually only used it with people in person (and i would say about 4-5 trainees online)…but what the hell…lets try it.
You got weak calves…they suck…you know it, your girlfriend knows it, Jill Pettengill that hot blonde in high school you had the fever for knew it, and your lifting partner that you blow away in spades on all bodyparts except calves knows it (thats why he wears shorts 24/7 around you.)
Hmmmmmm lets think it out…who has good calves?
a) genetically gifted people who have no idea where they came from, never had to bust their ass for them but love to give calf training advice to everyone who will listen…even though it wont do jack crap for you.
b) fat people (almost universally) and I surmise you would too if you had to one leg calf raise a great deal of bodyweight all the time when walking (remember this concept for below though)
c) geeks - guys who walk up on their toes since kindergarten, yes they look a little light in their loafers and like they just came from a starring role in Peter Pan but no doubt…those geeky toewalkers got some gastrocs and soleus’s to be proud of. (remember this concept for below though also)
So what does the above (a b c) do for you?
Dante wants you to do cardio on your days off training correct? You have to do it anyway AND YOUR CALVES SUCK! Hmmmmm…
So Im going to show you a way to get those babies up bigtime and kill 2 birds with one stone.
****Please be very hydrated and take some Taurine before you do this ok—there is a very good chance you will cramp if you dont (Trust me on this as someone who has been doing this for years…learn this lesson from someone its happened to…me…taurine + water especially if you are using creatine)
Allright you now do your cardio like this if you have suckass calves ok
We are going to start out so you dont kill yourself
Incline at 15 (yes the highest it will go), MPH at 3.0…I want semi-long strides and a slightly concious effort to push with your big toe during these long strides ok…and here is the key below–this is what must be done and the problem of why i never have described this on the net (and i still dont know if you guys are going to get it)
Lean forward so you are leaning over the (push button display board)…in fact you know what i would like you to do if possible so you are positioned just right? Bring your arms up on the display board and i want them straight out in front of you all the way to the crook of the elbow hanging off the top of the display board ok?
Grasp your thumb with your other hand if you have to…whatever feels right.
So stand up straight from the computer right now–and then put your arms straight out in front of you----see the crook of your elbow (where bicep and forearm meet)----that is going to be where the top of the treadmill display board is–at that crook–you probably are going to have to put a towel up there because you are going to be huffing and puffing and sweating. To accomplish that you are going to have to lean forward a little bit but i dont want you resting totally on the display board–i just want to put you in a mechanical position for your calves on the highest incline using one calf at a time (“oh dante i see what you are doing you freaking **&%$&^ slavedriver!”)
So we are in position now…ready?
6 minutes at 15 incline and 3.0mph
4 minutes at 15 incline and 2.5mph
3 minutes at 15 incline and 2.0mph
2 minutes at 15 incline and 1.5mph
and you might think those slower mph is going to make it much much easier—oh it is on your breathing but not on your calves.
So 15 minutes is what you will start out with and lets see who has balls or not…and then with time you could work your way up to whatever you wanted to do…but remember your going to be expending alot of energy in this 15 minutes so i would never be doing 45 minutes cardio like this.
i honestly think you could get great benefit sticking at 20 minutes with this and do a
10 minutes / 15 / 3.5mph
5 minutes / 15 / 2.5 mph
5 minutes / 15 / 1.5mph
or if absolutely topped out (and i dont think this is neccessary but for someone who does alot of cardio or needs alot of cardio and also needs some calves you could try this)
10 minutes / 15 / 3.5mph
10 minutes / 15 / 2.5 mph
10 minutes / 15 / 1.5mph
Id be personally destroyed with that at 275lbs bodyweight - but hey it really is up to you guys here on the timing you want to do—i just want the mechanics of it done right.
Try the 15 minutes first on your next cardio day and tell me how it goes–you are probably going to be pretty darn spent.
This is my promise to you—I promise you bigger calves with this in a short timespan if you do it mechanically correct—I PROMISE YOU THAT—actually I absolutely guarentee that.
And as you get larger and weigh more and keep doing this they are going to keep getting larger if you keep doing it.
Once again (water and taurine)…this would be the time to put some glycerol in your daily water intake if you are going to do these things.
again in my personal opinion 20 minutes tops would probably be all that is needed here but Ill let you guys do your thing and decide how you want to do it timing wise…just promise me you do it as I described above.
out…
PS: no you dont have to wear a Peter Pan outfit during it…and Jill Pettengill isnt that hot anymore so stop sweating her.