Pencil Calves

[quote]Cathall L DW wrote:
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/exercises/exercise_of_the_week_the_luke_sauder_calf_routine

This worked wonders for me[/quote]

Okay I have to try this.

[quote]horsepuss wrote:
lower reps heavier weight[/quote]

You know what, I actually don’t think that’s going to work as well on this one. The range of motion is too limited to provide long enough time spend under the weight.

I think one thing that may often be overlooked is doing straight-leg raises properly.

I got a big growth kick out of my tiny calves once I figured this out. As you reach the end of the ROM, there’s almost this ‘forbidden’ area that isn’t necessary to look like you’re doing a proper calf raise but will make a difference in effectiveness. Reach the end of the ROM but then focus on this final piece, which feels more like standing on your toes rather than the tips of your feet. I hope I’ve made the distinction clear.

When I correct people in person, I show them how extending their calf looks like a dual hinge. You extend the first hinge, but then there’s a smaller one to really open up this ‘dual-hinged door’.

I also find it easier to control this when doing SEATED versions of STRAIGHT LEG CALF PRESSES (leg press machine usually).

[quote]Oleena wrote:
horsepuss wrote:
lower reps heavier weight

You know what, I actually don’t think that’s going to work as well on this one. The range of motion is too limited to provide long enough time spend under the weight.
[/quote]

My personal theory on weighlifting is the heavier weight you can lift means the heavier weight you can then lift for higher reps equating to more size.

Oleena, I don’t know about quickly but I don’t do any direct calf work but my calves are over 15 inches now, up about half an inch since last year and that’s just from running, jump-rope, walking, hiking (and lifting of course).

I should dig up a picture of my skinny legs from about 5 years ago before I did so much running, walking and hiking. I have a pair of boots I used to wear that I cannot get on anymore.

Over this winter, running in the snow really kicked the crap out of them and I wouldn’t be too surprised if that’s where most of my recent growth came from.

Edit: Hill sprints too, up and down, if you can manage without getting shin splints that is (and you’re not adverse to so much cardio)

[quote]AngryVader wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Cron391 wrote:
Hey Prof X since you are carrying a significant amount of body weight and you are training them I would imagine your are pretty big, being 250lb+

I always see overweight people with HUGE calves…I always though if you weighed enough you have to have big calves.

Thats what I thought! I’ve been carrying around 270+ lbs for several months now and I do not have the “fat man” calves…that was part of my plan :frowning:

I like the DC approach for calves, explode up, do a slow negative, emphasize the stretch at the bottom for 10-15 seconds and continue.

Have you still been playing around with that ‘walking on your toes all the time’ experiment?[/quote]

hah that lasted for like 3 days and then I completely forget, I haven’t even thought about it until now lol, FAIL sorry.

[quote]Oleena wrote:
B) forearms responding to heavy weight under tension the best way to train calves would be to use a lot of weight and a lot of tension even as far as to say to incorporate heavy static holds.

I nearly forgot about the static holds! Those worked overnight on my biceps. I will add them to the “cow calf” program (I know, that was shameless…)
[/quote]

really wouldnt suggest using static holds on anything other than calves.

forearms are trained statically through deadlifts, shrugs, or anything that requires a thorough grip. and this will probaly only work if you have good forearm genetics.

if you have bad forearm genetics youll of course need to add in direct work also. most likely a combination of high reps and also heavy weight work.

[quote]Oleena wrote:
horsepuss wrote:
lower reps heavier weight

You know what, I actually don’t think that’s going to work as well on this one. The range of motion is too limited to provide long enough time spend under the weight.
[/quote]

I really have no idea what this is supposed to mean, whatchu talking about Oleena? O.o

Calves are just like any other muscle group. Some respond better to high rep lighter weight, some low rep heavy weight. They are not an exception, you just have to find what works for you.

[quote]Oleena wrote:
Cron391 wrote:
Hey Prof X since you are carrying a significant amount of body weight and you are training them I would imagine your are pretty big, being 250lb+

I always see overweight people with HUGE calves…I always though if you weighed enough you have to have big calves.

I wonder what would happen if I just walked around with a weighted vest for a while? (in addition to a german volume training program for the calves, and then continue to wear the vest while doing a kick ass incline treadmill session)
[/quote]

One thing someone suggested for calves is when you do incline treadmill walking to make sure you really push off your big toes to put emphasis on your calves. I tried it and I definetly felt it in my calves during and days after, but I haven’t been doing enough cardio to say if it really adds size to them.

[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
Oleena wrote:
horsepuss wrote:
lower reps heavier weight

You know what, I actually don’t think that’s going to work as well on this one. The range of motion is too limited to provide long enough time spend under the weight.

I really have no idea what this is supposed to mean, whatchu talking about Oleena? O.o

Calves are just like any other muscle group. Some respond better to high rep lighter weight, some low rep heavy weight. They are not an exception, you just have to find what works for you.[/quote]

I’m basically repeating someone else’s work here, but when you perform a squat, it usually takes a minimum of 3 seconds. The minimum amount of time someone spends on a calf raise could be less than a second. Therefore, the amount of time spent under the weight is less, and the gains are less impressive. With a high weight, the amount of time under the weight will shorten when it comes to the calves (you push up as hard as you can, but the eccentric part of the movement naturally shortens due to the weight. With a squat the added weight actually makes the movement take longer.

That’s the difference I meant.

[quote]Oleena wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Oleena wrote:
horsepuss wrote:
lower reps heavier weight

You know what, I actually don’t think that’s going to work as well on this one. The range of motion is too limited to provide long enough time spend under the weight.

I really have no idea what this is supposed to mean, whatchu talking about Oleena? O.o

Calves are just like any other muscle group. Some respond better to high rep lighter weight, some low rep heavy weight. They are not an exception, you just have to find what works for you.

I’m basically repeating someone else’s work here, but when you perform a squat, it usually takes a minimum of 3 seconds. The minimum amount of time someone spends on a calf raise could be less than a second. Therefore, the amount of time spent under the weight is less, and the gains are less impressive. With a high weight, the amount of time under the weight will shorten when it comes to the calves (you push up as hard as you can, but the eccentric part of the movement naturally shortens due to the weight. With a squat the added weight actually makes the movement take longer.

That’s the difference I meant.

[/quote]

IDK what kind of raises you do but each rep of mine lasts around 8-10 seconds…

1 second would be the gay ass technique of just bouncing on your toes, obviously that isn’t going to work. Using the rebound mthod is s sure fire way to keep small calves.

Emphasize the negative, the fascia stretch, and the contraction. Simple as that.

This isn’t going to add a lot, but I get basically nothing from standing calf raises unless I start with my toes raised as high as I can get them at the beginning. I start from a calf stretch position. I typically put the balls of my feet on the edge of a stair, and use the railing for balance.

X2 on feeling the contraction, as waylander said. The railing helps here too, since going all the way up on your toes can be a bit unstable.

jump squats
hill sprints
higher reps, seated 15-30ish
standing 20-50ish
farmers walk up a hill
walk up hills
400m run
heavy deads, squats, O lifts

try barefoot training
train the hell out of them

do this all on sand if you can

My calves were at their best when I was playing badminton 4 times a week, sad but true. So perhaps it is the TUT that is important.

[quote]plateau wrote:
My calves were at their best when I was playing badminton 4 times a week, sad but true. So perhaps it is the TUT that is important.[/quote]

hahahahaha

[quote]plateau wrote:
My calves were at their best when I was playing badminton 4 times a week, sad but true. So perhaps it is the TUT that is important.[/quote]

Ha! Now we’re gonna get all these three-hundred pound bodybuilders knocking around the shuttlecock on the weekends.

Mental picture FTW.