Tiny Calves Man!

[Rebornlite]

This question is for those of you who are not blessed in the calves department and found a way to beat them into submission despite poor genetics.

How were you successful in getting them to grow? What was your routine and how often did you work them to get a response?

I am not blessed in this department and have really focused on them this year. I hit them 2-3 week and alternate between heavy/low rep and light/high rep with fascia stretching. They look a bit better but still not proportional to my quads.

Where have you found success??

 

[liftsiron]

High rep 5-6 times a week. Calves need extra work because they are working all the time you are walking or running.

 

[Kluso]

Mine suck too. 5-6 times a week? Guess they gonna stay small. Lol

 

[Darkness]

Something about those donkey machines seem to help me because you can go heavy as fukk

 

[Rebornlite]

Donkey Machine?

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

This question is for those of you who are not blessed in the calves department and found a way to beat them into submission despite poor genetics.

How were you successful in getting them to grow? What was your routine and how often did you work them to get a response?

I am not blessed in this department and have really focused on them this year. I hit them 2-3 week and alternate between heavy/low rep and light/high rep with fascia stretching. They look a bit better but still not proportional to my quads.

Where have you found success??

Are you going into the deeep pain zone? Calves are one of those muscles you gotta really go past that burn and digging deep dude. If you are, and you are doing exercises that hit both the gastrocnemius (standing toe raise, donkeys, toe raise on leg press) and the soleus (seated toe raise), then you are doing all you can do. Hitting them 3x a week doing all the above is gtg for building some killa calves...............IF you have the genetics for them.

Unfortunately, calves are prolly the most "genetcally gifted/fucked" muscles there is. Some guys have hammered them for DECADES, ie, Robby Robinson, Dennis Wolf, etc, and they still had shitty calves. Some other guys don't even workout and have calves that look to be on a pro caliber physique.

Keep banging them 3x a week with the combo of low reps/heavy and high reps/lighter, utilizing the exercises above, go deep into the pain zone, and be patient - calves take awhile to build.

 

[Rebornlite]

Are you going into the deeep pain zone? Calves are one of those muscles you gotta really go past that burn and digging deep dude. If you are, and you are doing exercises that hit both the gastrocnemius (standing toe raise, donkeys, toe raise on leg press) and the soleus (seated toe raise), then you are doing all you can do. Hitting them 3x a week doing all the above is gtg for building some killa calves...............IF you have the genetics for them.

Unfortunately, calves are prolly the most "genetcally gifted/fucked" muscles there is. Some guys have hammered them for DECADES, ie, Robby Robinson, Dennis Wolf, etc, and they still had shitty calves. Some other guys don't even workout and have calves that look to be on a pro caliber physique.

Keep banging them 3x a week with the combo of low reps/heavy and high reps/lighter, utilizing the exercises above, go deep into the pain zone, and be patient - calves take awhile to build.

Thanks for this DH. I hit them until I can't raise another millimeter and they burn like the fires from hell, then I rep it a bit more until they begin cramping up which is followed by a few theraputic choice words. It hurts so good and I love it.

What would you consider low and high rep sets for calves?

 

[A.B]

Genetically my chest and calves just won’t catch up. When I do legs I usually superset every set at the half way point into calve raises

 

[Dawgpound_Hank]

Thanks for this DH. I hit them until I can't raise another millimeter and they burn like the fires from hell, then I rep it a bit more until they begin cramping up which is followed by a few theraputic choice words. It hurts so good and I love it.

What would you consider low and high rep sets for calves?

Sounds like you are hitting it hard enough then - way to do it.
Regarding calves, I call low 8-12, high 20-30. I don't like doing higher reps than that bcoz the weight is soo light I feel it's not as effective as using heavier weights.

 

[kriegernindo]

Unfortunately I have found over the years that no matter how one trains them. Due to the perhaps significant evolutionary aspect that calves have had on survival, it is a muscle that is most set or predetermined to a certain growth regardless of training methods. I've been friends with guys who have been trying to get them big for 10 years and still haven't. Then guys like me who with just a couple weeks training have comments. It's evolutionary genetics here

That being said high reps is more important than weight. Really...you want moderate heavy weight with high reps every single day. Stretching also

 

[Guest]

Fire is what they are talking about.