question about calves

[Deadly_Assassin]

I am 20yrs old, 5.7 about 63 kgs (139lbs )I am trying to put more weight on like I wanna weigh about 155lbs in 3 months time. I know its hard but i can make it if I go hard eating.

The problem is my calves. The gym I go to has a calf raise machine. I have been using it for nearly a month now but havent seen much gains in my calves. I do 4 sets of 6-8reps, twice a week. Thats the only excercise I can think of for doing calves. I have even stopped playing soccer cos everytime I play a game the next day my calves look even skinnier.

Do you guys have any tips?

 

[DJBen]

Calves are tough muscles. Real rough to train.

You need to hit them a lot harder. What worked for me, until my calfs got out of proportion, was 4X20.

Try that and see if it helps.

 

[Barbillus]

I am 5'11 I use to weigh 130-140 from my junior year in highschool to my soph year in college.

I am now down with college and am approaching 170. (I hover around 165)

Keep at it and you will get there. The key is to eat a lot of food and stay on your routine. Be sure to read diesel's guide to buking up as well.

As for your calves try squats. Also try getting the bar and putting plates on it and do calf exersicez with those. Mke sure you have a spotter. !

 

[Deadly_Assassin]

yeah i think i better start doing some squats but I am just worried about my back. Yo DJ Ben wats 4x20?

 

[NEWBIE101]

Calfs are unfortunately very genetic.

However, I would suggest trying some higher reps while training them. A lot of people respond better to training calfs and traps with higher reps (10-20).

Also, if you can, try doing your calf raises without shoes on. It gives a better ROM.

Donkey calf raises are a great exercise if you don't already do them.

 

[Ice Cold]

If you hit:

Chest
Legs
Back

It will release enough hormones for all of the muscles to grow, so while training calves they will grow much faster if you train those 3 muscles at the same time.

Empirically proven.

 

[Omega]

The trick to calves is low reps since they are a slow twitch msucle group. You use them everyday unless your fat and need a prying board to get up, so they adjust to constant tension under time.

Plyometrics are very good for this. The link below is exercises I used today. The exercises are done over the ball always. I hold a 12lbs medicine ball when doing them.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=3797892

 

[rudygee2]

Im kinda new so I cant give you any personal advice..... but I somewhere in the posts on this site a thing about calf raises. I think the original author was DIESEL, but im not 100 % sure. Anyways, the person said:

"On the standing calf raises - go ultra heavy, then hold the contraction for a 2 count at the top and hold the stretch at the bottom for a 2 count. Find a weight where you can only do about 6-8 reps. Once you hit failure drop the weight and keep going with the same 2 pause at the up and 2 pause at the down.. continually dropping weight until you get to 50 reps total. Repeat 2-3 times. It's fukkin' vicious. "

 

[true|hockey]

all sortsa good stuff for calves to build them.

1- 30 total X3, 10 with heels pointed out, heels pointed in, than neutral. After three sets, you will not be able to walk if you use a reasonable weight

2- Regular 3X10, than do as many sets as you can to failure ( I do 60 more or so).

Both of these will burn your calves, but they are great

 

[Deadly_Assassin]

how do I do donkey calf raises?? like I have no partner in the gym to jump on my back.

 

[Duke Togo]

Originally posted by Deadly_Assassin
how do I do donkey calf raises?? like I have no partner in the gym to jump on my back.

dont, just do seated and standing calf raises, that will it both heads.

 

[Paintballguy]

I hit the calve machine pretty hard. I usually do atleast 95-100 and do 3 sets of 5 reps. I noticed within a few weeks, they toned up alot.

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by Deadly_Assassin
how do I do donkey calf raises?? like I have no partner in the gym to jump on my back.

Well your gym might have the machine. If it doesn't, don't worry about it. It was only a suggestion. A good list of calf exercises can be found here.

 

[Deadly_Assassin]

cheers for dat link really good

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by Deadly_Assassin
cheers for dat link really good

No problem.

That is a great site to look up exercises for any muscle group and get the correct form.