I don’t know if this topic as been approached but just something I discovered the other day while training trying to maximize my limited time in the gym and trying something new. I thought I would share. Maybe its nothing new but it is to me.
So here is the routine.
You load up your bar with 90-95% of max on a power rack. Put 2 25lbs plates on the ground beside one another. Next you Rack Pull the weight while standing on the floor plates. Next while your at the top of your movement. Shrug and calf raise. Repeat. Make sure you use good form.
If you have tried this or planning on trying it lets hear your results.
That’s funny, I decided yesterday to experiment with doing calf raises with just a barbell in a rack and standing on some 10s or 25s. I did a few sets just to see how it felt and it was so much harder for me to do them than using the machine for calf raises.
I’m going to give them a shot for a few weeks and see what happens.
[quote]dirtbag wrote:
I don’t know if this topic as been approached but just something I discovered the other day while training trying to maximize my limited time in the gym and trying something new. I thought I would share. Maybe its nothing new but it is to me.
So here is the routine.
You load up your bar with 90-95% of max on a power rack. Put 2 25lbs plates on the ground beside one another. Next you Rack Pull the weight while standing on the floor plates. Next while your at the top of your movement. Shrug and calf raise. Repeat. Make sure you use good form.
If you have tried this or planning on trying it lets hear your results.
I’ve tried it. But, I need balance and a stretch that only a machine can offer. Too much traps and forearms to stand upright holding all that damn weight. I prefer to focus on the calves only when I work them.
It’s funny, according to Starting Strength a properly performed shrug is actually done out of the rack more or less like the top part of a hang clean. In other words, a shrug is a hang clean with so much weight that your elbows stay locked and only your knees, hips, and shoulders move. The calf raise is an interesting touch.
I did them again last night. This time I loaded the weight close to a 1 rep max. Forget trying to shrug that weight. But I was able to calf raise it. My traps really feel it today thought. People looked at me like I was crazy. And the co-ordination is hard to keep up when your getting to the point of failure. So that is the time you know you should stop your reps. Well I did.
Ok just another evaluation of the exercise after a week. My shoulders are more full then before. My calfs don’t seem to get the full load on the workout. I might start to drop them. I still think seated calf raises with plates are far more effective. So I am thinking just a rack and shrug is better.