Five Strategies to Beef Up Your Calves
Even many
easy gainers have difficulty building their calves, because, to a larger degree
than other muscles, their size and shape are genetically predetermined. Don’t
fret about what you can’t change. Get busy changing what you can, with these
five approaches to calf training.
STRATEGY ONE | Low and High
A common
myth is that calves are made up primarily of slow-twitch fibers. This leads to
two divergent approaches: high reps (20-25) to exhaust the muscles’ great
endurance capacity or lower reps (eight to 12) to shock muscles that are
already accustomed to the endurance work of walking. In fact, both approaches
are correct, precisely because the original premise is incorrect. Although the
soleus has more slow-twitch fibers than fast, the gastrocnemius is built for
both endurance and power, with approximately equal quantities of slow- and
fast-twitch fibers.
So, it
would follow that a two-pronged attack of lower and higher reps would be most
effective. Alternate a low-rep workout with a high-rep workout, or combine the
two as in our low/high routine.
STRATEGY TWO | Megareps
Although
gastrocnemius muscles have approximately the same percentage of fast- and
slow-twitch fibers, there is an abundance of empirical evidence that endurance
sets work for calves. In fact, with the possible exception of abs, calves are
the bodypart most likely to be trained with high reps.
How high is
too high? Very high reps can send signals to your muscles to increase their
endurance capacity, and one way they do this is to shrink in diameter, so the
nutrients for energy production can more quickly travel through cells to be
burned as fuel.
To avoid
the marathoner look, some warn against regularly doing sets of more than 25
reps. As an occasional shocker, high reps can jump-start complacent muscles,
but don’t perform a megareps routine more than once per month. Instead of
stopping at a predetermined rep, work through the burn and go to failure.
STRATEGY THREE | All Unilateral
Try working
calves unilaterally. One-leg calf raises allow you to concentrate more on the
muscles and, according to research, you are stronger when training unilaterally
than when training bilaterally. Incorporate one unilateral exercise in each
calf workout or, to truly get a leg up, try our all unilateral routine.
STRATEGY FOUR | Pigeon Toes and Duck Feet
The premise
goes like this: point your toes inward while doing calf raises and you work
your outer calves; point your toes outward and you work your inner calves. This
is indeed true, but it’s too often overstated. In fact, no matter what
direction you point your toes, you work the entire gastrocnemius when doing
standing calf raises; you simply focus more emphasis on one area or another.
The position of your toes is not as important as getting a full stretch and
contraction for each rep —don’t stand so awkwardly that you limit your range of
motion.
STRATEGY FIVE | Unique Lifts
One reason
calf training is frequently performed halfheartedly is the utter boredom of
using the same standing and seated calf machines each workout. If you train in
a gym with several types of calf machines, try them all. The following four
unique exercises can be done in virtually any gym. Add one to your current
routine, or try our routine of all four.
HACK-SQUAT CALF RAISES
While
facing a hack-squat machine, position yourself under the shoulder pads and
stand so your toes are on the edge of the platform with your heels unsupported.
Keep your knees slightly bent as you rise up and down on your toes. These focus
more on your upper gastrocnemius.
ONE-LEG STANDING CALF RAISES
Being both
free weight and unilateral, this lift forces you to balance while allowing you
to focus on one leg at a time. Stand with one foot on the edge of a block (at
least 4" high), and keep the other leg bent. With one hand, grasp
something sturdy, and hold a dumbbell with your other hand (the hand that
corresponds to the leg you’re working). Rise up and down on one foot.
ROCKING CALF RAISES
Either
balance a barbell on your shoulders as if squatting or hold two dumbbells.
While standing on a flat floor, rise up on your toes as far as you can. Then,
when your heels come down, lift your toes off the floor as far as possible.
That’s one rep. In this manner, your feet will rock back and forth, and you’ll
stress the rear (gastrocnemius) and front (tibialis) of your lower legs
equally.
TIBIALIS RAISES
The
function of your tibialis is to pull your feet toward your shins. Growing these
small muscles will not make a notable difference in leg circumference. However,
when developed, they provide detail and depth to the front of calves, and
training them helps prevent shin splints (a common running injury). Some gyms
have tibialis machines. If yours doesn’t, sit on a lying leg curl machine and
position your toes directly under the ankle pads. Pull your toes up and back
toward your shins, lifting the weight. Very little resistance is required to
work your tibialis.
WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY?
Opinions
about how often to train calves vary from once per week to once per day. We
recommend twice per week as a baseline, but you need to find the correct
frequency for yourself. Experiment with every-other-day calf training. You may
even want to try a week of hitting calves daily. Alternate a heavy workout
(eight to 12 reps) with a light workout (20-25 reps). Generally, training lower
legs more than twice weekly leads to either uninspired low-intensity workouts
or overtraining, but it can be an effective shock strategy.
Instead of
an excuse for giving up and going through the motions with lackluster sets of
calf raises, this is a call to continuously challenge your lower legs with new
high-intensity workouts. Don’t fret about the DNA you were born with. Instead,
use the approaches outlined here to start growing bigger calves.
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