HELP!!! I have TINY calves!!!

[yeahbuddy289]

I want to hear from the guys who had small calves, and found a routine that grew them. I want to know what you did as far as exercises, amount of sets, reps, and how many time a week you hit them. I am 6'2" 200lbs im not huge but I have pretty good size all over. But I have 14" calves and I look stupid in shorts. I was planning on hitting them for 6 sets after I squat on my leg day. But im a total newb to calve training so I dont know how many sets, reps, or if I should use weight. I do work out at home and only have free weights so that will limit what I can do. Help me out guys!

[mirin_serratus]

any olympic lift will incorporate a lot of calf work, especially if it's your weak point. so will most hamstring exercises like glute ham raises and sldls. calf isolations are mostly a waste of time

[yeahbuddy289]

so your saying deads and squats will build them?

[mirin_serratus]

somewhat, not as much as oly lifts

[kelkel]

You can get some ancillary calf growth from squats/deads but it won't be enough to make you happy. You will need direct work. Shoot for something standing as well as seated. I'm a believer in training them heavy with moderate reps in the 10-12 range. I don't care for high reps as to me, thats what they get just from walking around. After warm ups I don't see where you should need more than 2-3 sets of each excercise. They do recover well so frequency is up to you.

One thing that I think is a key mistake is that your doing them after heavy squats and other leg work. Your tired then from a major compound movement. I doubt they are getting 100% effort. Most people seem to do calves with the mindset to "get them over with." Try doing calves first in your routine. They don't fatigue you and I've found that they tend to warm up your body for the heavy leg work that follows. My 02.

[Hitman Heimler]

I have trained mine 3 days a week before ( different workout intensities). Most people don't recommend that. I now train them once a week. Great results still, but don't overtrain them. Make sure that you aren't using too heavy of a weight either! I believe you should have a good pump in them! I do no more than 4 sets, and you could be different but that may help. Check out some of Dorian Yates advice on Calf training. I use it and have experienced results from it. Good luck!

[FireGuy]

any olympic lift will incorporate a lot of calf work, especially if it's your weak point. so will most hamstring exercises like glute ham raises and sldls. calf isolations are mostly a waste of time

Stiff legged deadlifts will not make your calves grow. Where do you come up with this stuff?

[Revelations]

Calves are my weak point also..and I work them. But they have definition, but they are not "big"!! Would u guy suggest adding more weight to my sets and lower the reps?

[cubnlynx]

Have you tried running using a forefoot/midfoot strike? I got Into the whole barefoot minimalist running trend and my calves grew a decent amount.

[Times Roman]

mate,
i'm a former distance runner, and my legs always looked like they were made for that very thing. i'm finally starting to get some good results. but it takes along time. i have a machine that i use, and it isolates calf exercises. in the old days, i'd call them "toe ups", and it incorporates the same motion. but my calves are still lagging. another issue i have, is that im doing way too many reps. i put the bands on max, grab a 20kg plate, hold it on my chest, machine is at maximum altitude, and i do one legged toe ups. but i still hammer out 60 reps. i know, too much. but without proper equipment, and remember, i'm here in afghanistan, but without proper equipment, i'm fairly limited. but you get the idea.

[kelkel]

Calves are my weak point also..and I work them. But they have definition, but they are not "big"!! Would u guy suggest adding more weight to my sets and lower the reps?

Try everything until you find something you feel is working for you. Intensity is what matters here. Combine a heavier movement and a moderate or lighter one in the same workout. Every exercise does not have to be done with the same rep scheme. Don't sacrifice form and do try to maintain a full range of motion. Honestly, most people just don't train their calves as hard as their "showy" muscles (chest-arms, etc.)

[mirin_serratus]

Stiff legged deadlifts will not make your calves grow. Where do you come up with this stuff?

not sure if serious... any heavy hamstring work will activate calves

[FireGuy]

I am dead serious. My triceps, deltoids and mandible are all "activated" while doing hamstring work as well but this doesnt mean its an effective exercise to stimulate growth. If you have even the most basic knowledge of anatomy/physiology and kinesiology you would know the calf muscles are not receiving anything more than a static contraction during these movements, just as my my arms are while doing these movements. This is bordering on ridiculous, please give me an example of a bodybuilding who does hamstring curls or stiff legged deadlifts for calves?

[baseline_9]

any olympic lift will incorporate a lot of calf work, especially if it's your weak point. so will most hamstring exercises like glute ham raises and sldls. calf isolations are mostly a waste of time

not sure if serious... any heavy hamstring work will activate calves

I hope this doest look like we are ganging up on you but I have to agree with Fireguy again in this thread as well....

The gastrocnemius does cross over the knee joint (its origin is on the femur (thight bone) , hence why when we try to target the soleus (does not cross the knee) we take the tension off the gastro by bending the leg...

I can see why you may think that the gastro may get some work in a hamstring movement however your wrong... Your point would hold more ground if the gastro did not insert in the Achilles tendon and actually inserted on the lower leg... This would then act as a knee flexor....

Another point worth mentioning to highlight your lack of anatomy is the fact that durring a SLDL there is no flexion at all at the knee joint... So how would there be any calf involvement at all.

[BBrian]

calf isolations are mostly a waste of time

Calves, similar to abdominals, are unique in that nearly all movements we perform throughout the day include their use. Because of this those muscles require a different approach in terms of weight and repetitions to activate growth as compared to a muscle such as the pecs or biceps, and as well, they tend to heal much faster than other muscles. But calf isolations are far from being a waste of time. We still have to isolate them for optimal growth just as with any other muscle. Consider the fact that calves are not allowed the same amount of rest as other muscles because we rely on them so heavily...unless of course you spend a great majority of your days sitting or lying down, which is a "luxury" most of us don't have.

[bmit]

work out them 2x week with:
1st workout focusing on bent knee with mostly higher reps and shorter rest periods (10-18) since gastro has higher proportion of slow twitch muscle fibers
2nd workout focusing on straight with mostly lower reps and longer rest periods (4-12) since soleus has higher proportion of fast twitch fibers.
Explosive concentric (positive) and slow eccenteric (negative) to get a good stretch
Stretch them afterwards
They will grow if you do this and train them with INTENSITY.
If you plateau doing this then do a period of very high reps (20-50) to hit a new stage of growth.
This worked for me and this method is a distillation of the best of calf training I have learned from the most knowledgeable sources over the years

[bmit]

work out them 2x week with:
1st workout focusing on bent knee with mostly higher reps (10-18)and shorter rest periods since gastro has higher proportion of slow twitch muscle fibers
2nd workout focusing on straight knee with mostly lower reps (4-12) and longer rest periods since soleus has higher proportion of fast twitch fibers.
Explosive concentric (positive) and slow eccentric (negative) to get a good stretch
Stretch them afterwards
They will grow if you do this and train them with INTENSITY.
If you plateau doing this then do a period of very high reps (20-50) to hit a new stage of growth.
This worked for me and this method is a distillation of the best of calf training I have learned from the most knowledgeable sources over 16 years

[M302_Imola]

work out them 2x week with:
1st workout focusing on bent knee with mostly higher reps (10-18)and shorter rest periods since gastro has higher proportion of slow twitch muscle fibers
2nd workout focusing on straight knee with mostly lower reps (4-12) and longer rest periods since soleus has higher proportion of fast twitch fibers.
Explosive concentric (positive) and slow eccentric (negative) to get a good stretch
Stretch them afterwards
They will grow if you do this and train them with INTENSITY.
If you plateau doing this then do a period of very high reps (20-50) to hit a new stage of growth.
This worked for me and this method is a distillation of the best of calf training I have learned from the most knowledgeable sources over 16 years

Sounds logical...nice post!

[soulstealer]

One very good exercise that has helped my calves explode is done on the smith machine... I usually do seated calves to failure followed by loading up the smith machine feet flat on the floor and just contract all the way to the top of the motion... no ankle inversion... just flat floor to extended... but with a shit load of weight.... and like any other muscle group... its about the hardest contraction possible and feeling the flexation of the muscle during the concentric and eccentric movements... I think alot of people have a problem with feeling certain muscles... Mind muscle connection ya know...

[AllAmerican-PCS]

I got some tips last year from a BB I ran into at The Arnold Classic, he told me you have to find that sweet spot with the calves, he gave me about 8 different ways, and the one that works for me (seated calves, smith machine feet flat on ground, and seated dumbell raises) is to mix up heavy/low reps one week until that fails then switch to light weight/highreps until that one fails, somtimes mixing them both, but I do them on upper body days first before starting my main workout, took my calves last yr from 13 1/2" to 16 3/4 to this year. Now im not saying that my cavles are big by no means, im just saying this is working for me and I am finally happy as hell!!! to be making results. IMO you have to find out what works for you.

[yeahbuddy289]

This is what I have been doing:
Monday after back/ deadlifts- 6 sets standing calf raises standing on a piece of 2x4 with weight keeping in the 10-12 rep range
Thursday after squats- same as above but I do 10 sets.
I know I should probably add more but I only have free weights so im limited. Calfs are at 14" right now... really would like to add an inch or two.

[PrairieDawg]

read this article. I've always had tiny calves as well. Just not gifted like some guys. Nothing seemed to work. But I tried this workout and I've added nearly an inch to them in 5 months. I was on gear for 3 of those months though so hard to say if that's the sole reason. Regardless, it's a good one to change things up and shock them.

http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/site/...-greater-size/