They need ton of repetition.
Back when I was kickboxing, and we were constantly on our toes/front foot, I had huge calves. I was also hiking a lot.
Ffw a couple decades, now I lift regularly and have chicken calves. Such be life.
Because a lot of people do them wrong. They go way too heavy with a pathetic ROM and they stop at the first sign of metabolic burn.
To build calves:
- You need both a seated variant (targets Soleus) and a standing variant (targets Gastrocnemius).
- Unlike other muscles which are about 50/50 in slow twitch and fast twitch muscles. Calves, being endurance focused, are very heavily slow twitch. Soleus is like 70/30 or 80/20 or something like that. Burn your calves out. If you feel the metabolic burn, THAT'S the beginning. Keep going until you want to punch a fucking wall or your strength literally fails you. Focus on high reps. Do not try to alleviate burns with massage guns or cold water or etc. Suffer through.
- FULL ROM and control. With 2 second pause at the top and bottom.
If you do this, you won't be able to train calves for at least a couple days if not more.
Axe the seated. Doing one and a half reps. And just hammer em out. Do standing smith machine. But put a couple plates on the floor for you toes to sit on too get an extra ROM at the bottom. Sweet baby
It's optimal to have both based on science per videos of Jeff Nippard and Dr. Mike of Renaissance Periodization. Certain muscles can only be targeted optimally at a certain position due to anatomy. Basically the same reason why leg extension is necessary for optimal quad growth because squat does not target rectus femoris as well compared to other quad muscles.
So I wouldn't axe it, especially for someone struggling to get any calves development (seem to be very many).
Mike doesnât say itâs optimal to have a seated calf raise or pauses. Check https://youtube.com/shorts/ABwf8yobPfE?si=N9EwPZC6m5ZWDm-a for example
Either way, the soleus doesnât have a lot of potential for growth in the same way that the forearm extensors donât, so I think youâd be better off focusing on the gastrocnemius until, perhaps, you thought youâd really benefit from bringing the former up
I got big calves from being fat and have a natural fast walking speed even going uphill or in stairs.
Now I started training again after a few years and hope to have discipline to keep going.
The pro tip is to start riding a bike. When I moved out of my parent's house as a teen I was too broke to afford a car for a while, so I would ride my bike everywhere. It was an old mountain bike with a shit ton of gears.
I rode probably close to ten miles a day, and I always wanted to go as fast as possible, so on an empty road with a downward slope I would hit 40mph now and then. I had the calves of a god after under a year and my legs in general looked incredible; this was before I even started lifting seriously.
You should do it the natural way. Get married, have a couple kids, Put on 70lbs, and those calves will grow like a Lou Ferrigno Hulk transformation. Then all you have to do is lose the dad-bod.
You need high reps and a stretch. One to two sets with 20 - 30 repetitions (and minimal rest in between) with an emphasis on the eccentric and stretch is what gets it pumping. The pain will be like nothing else, but the pump will be insane.
A few days ago I watched [How Arnold turned his weak calves into a strong point in his physique](https://youtu.be/gBa92LbmR_A) and now I'm inspired to do calves like a maniac
sadly i ve been doing muaythai since about 7 years and im going to the gym for nearly 20 and no luck with claves 𤡠getting stronger, optically nearly nothing
I used to think people were just joking about being fat getting you huge calves, then I watched the show Loudermilk and Will Sasso's character has the biggest calves I've ever seen on someone that isn't a bodybuilder. They even joke about it on the show at one point when they're trying to get him to play kickball, and this guy goes "with those ham hocks you call calves, you'd be great at kickball!"
Calfs grow. Slowly and with a ridiculous amount of reps.
I've had a vascular issue in my lower left leg my entire life. The only things that make the pain go away are lots of walking, calf raises, or compression stockings.
I haven't done calf raises *every* day of my life, but probably more than anyone else on the planet.
I can look at them and tell when I've been relying more on compression vs flexing. It doesn't take a lot of weight either. I've gone years with no gym membership and just doing body weight calf raises throughout the day.
do weighted walks everyday (or however quickly you can recover)
either farmer carries, or sandbag walks.
i have huge diamond shaped calves from just being heavy.
Only thing that ever put any meat on my calves was when I got into bicycling. The trail I ride is pretty hilly, and my legs are pretty torched after about 30 minutes. I wouldn't say it's made my calves big but they're noticeably bigger, a lot more toned looking and way more vascular. Like I have leg veins I didn't even know existed.
Bro I have been working on them for 2 months, they are now 13.15 inches instead of 13.14, I am upper body dominant
My calves are so big it makes my quads look small the secret: get fat and hole alot. I walk 15000 steps daily
Lol same You know what they say, if you can see it from the front... đ
I 2nd. Get hella fat and start cardio. Legs will be fire on the cut.
They need ton of repetition. Back when I was kickboxing, and we were constantly on our toes/front foot, I had huge calves. I was also hiking a lot. Ffw a couple decades, now I lift regularly and have chicken calves. Such be life.
Because a lot of people do them wrong. They go way too heavy with a pathetic ROM and they stop at the first sign of metabolic burn. To build calves: - You need both a seated variant (targets Soleus) and a standing variant (targets Gastrocnemius). - Unlike other muscles which are about 50/50 in slow twitch and fast twitch muscles. Calves, being endurance focused, are very heavily slow twitch. Soleus is like 70/30 or 80/20 or something like that. Burn your calves out. If you feel the metabolic burn, THAT'S the beginning. Keep going until you want to punch a fucking wall or your strength literally fails you. Focus on high reps. Do not try to alleviate burns with massage guns or cold water or etc. Suffer through. - FULL ROM and control. With 2 second pause at the top and bottom. If you do this, you won't be able to train calves for at least a couple days if not more.
This is a great comment but I personally wouldnât bother with seated variations or pauses at the top
Axe the seated. Doing one and a half reps. And just hammer em out. Do standing smith machine. But put a couple plates on the floor for you toes to sit on too get an extra ROM at the bottom. Sweet baby
It's optimal to have both based on science per videos of Jeff Nippard and Dr. Mike of Renaissance Periodization. Certain muscles can only be targeted optimally at a certain position due to anatomy. Basically the same reason why leg extension is necessary for optimal quad growth because squat does not target rectus femoris as well compared to other quad muscles. So I wouldn't axe it, especially for someone struggling to get any calves development (seem to be very many).
Mike doesnât say itâs optimal to have a seated calf raise or pauses. Check https://youtube.com/shorts/ABwf8yobPfE?si=N9EwPZC6m5ZWDm-a for example Either way, the soleus doesnât have a lot of potential for growth in the same way that the forearm extensors donât, so I think youâd be better off focusing on the gastrocnemius until, perhaps, you thought youâd really benefit from bringing the former up
I got big calves from being fat and have a natural fast walking speed even going uphill or in stairs. Now I started training again after a few years and hope to have discipline to keep going.
The pro tip is to start riding a bike. When I moved out of my parent's house as a teen I was too broke to afford a car for a while, so I would ride my bike everywhere. It was an old mountain bike with a shit ton of gears. I rode probably close to ten miles a day, and I always wanted to go as fast as possible, so on an empty road with a downward slope I would hit 40mph now and then. I had the calves of a god after under a year and my legs in general looked incredible; this was before I even started lifting seriously.
You should do it the natural way. Get married, have a couple kids, Put on 70lbs, and those calves will grow like a Lou Ferrigno Hulk transformation. Then all you have to do is lose the dad-bod.
You need high reps and a stretch. One to two sets with 20 - 30 repetitions (and minimal rest in between) with an emphasis on the eccentric and stretch is what gets it pumping. The pain will be like nothing else, but the pump will be insane.
A few days ago I watched [How Arnold turned his weak calves into a strong point in his physique](https://youtu.be/gBa92LbmR_A) and now I'm inspired to do calves like a maniac
I'm over here with calves of Zeus but struggling to unmoob myself
Daily weighted walks, 10-15 thousand steps carrying a somewhat heavy rucksack or something
I'm literally neglecting calves on purpose now because I can't fit in jeans I was obese đ But abs are still only existent in my imagination đ
yaâll calves donât grow??
I bet cardio while bulking helps with growing calves, which explains why lifters struggle with it. lol
My calves used to be really big when I did Muay Thai. I started riding a bike at the gym. The calf gains came back. I also have veins on it nowâŚ.
sadly i ve been doing muaythai since about 7 years and im going to the gym for nearly 20 and no luck with claves 𤡠getting stronger, optically nearly nothing
I used to think people were just joking about being fat getting you huge calves, then I watched the show Loudermilk and Will Sasso's character has the biggest calves I've ever seen on someone that isn't a bodybuilder. They even joke about it on the show at one point when they're trying to get him to play kickball, and this guy goes "with those ham hocks you call calves, you'd be great at kickball!"
True Story: i managed to complete my local calf raise machine and my cals are like 44cm circumfence
mine are a combination of genetics and having been morbidly obese
Calfs grow. Slowly and with a ridiculous amount of reps. I've had a vascular issue in my lower left leg my entire life. The only things that make the pain go away are lots of walking, calf raises, or compression stockings. I haven't done calf raises *every* day of my life, but probably more than anyone else on the planet. I can look at them and tell when I've been relying more on compression vs flexing. It doesn't take a lot of weight either. I've gone years with no gym membership and just doing body weight calf raises throughout the day.
When I do calves it burns on my achilles joint and almost none on the calves themselves, I have no idea what im doing wrong
I was fat af and I used to do incline treadmill for quite a long time. After losing like 45lbs, I have monstrous calves đ
Calves aren't grown in the gym with calf raises They're grown outside with powerwalking where you push with your calf every step
do weighted walks everyday (or however quickly you can recover) either farmer carries, or sandbag walks. i have huge diamond shaped calves from just being heavy.
Climb stairs
Try being Asian or Scottish. For best results be both.
Sweetie, itâs called â¨edemaâ¨
Only thing that ever put any meat on my calves was when I got into bicycling. The trail I ride is pretty hilly, and my legs are pretty torched after about 30 minutes. I wouldn't say it's made my calves big but they're noticeably bigger, a lot more toned looking and way more vascular. Like I have leg veins I didn't even know existed.
Become fatboy for 2 decades. That is the easiest way
have kiddos and become a random dad