calfs
 

anyone got any solid info on training genetically resistant calfs, I train my calfs 3 times a week with good intensity there sore all the time but my growth is non existant, looking to make 16" calfs into the 18" variety without spending 30 minutes a session on them.

I do my calves DC [doggcrapp] style and they grew twice as fast as anything else I've ever tried.

Here's how to do them:

1. Fast, explosive concentric
2. 4-5 second negative [one-one thousand..two-one thousand..] bringing your toes back up [visualize trying to touch your toes to your shins]
3. In the hardest stretched position, hold the intense stretch for 10 seconds
4. Repeat

I can manage 12 DC reps. All you need is one set if you are doing it right. So in essence, I only do one set of calves before moving on. Like I said, doing one set this way is all I needed.

Doing such a elongated stretch serves a good purpose. It first takes away your natural stretch reflex that your calves have. Most people (much like yourself I'm guessing) do countless reps, bouncing the weight up and down using some momentum into the lift whether they realize it or not. IMO that's halfassing it. To me, that's the same as bouncing the barbell hard off your chest doing bench. The second benefit is that the 10 second stretch before the concentric will ensure you recruit every muscle fiber within the muscle. You cannot use any momentum this way.

It's good to mix it up every once in a while, but I've really never had to do it any other way for max growth. I recommend at least trying this method on one of your scheduled calf days. In my experience, I personally prefer using one of the calf machines that keeps your legs straight. I really never feel a decent stretch using the seated calf machine. My favorite one is the hammer strength that is seated w/ your feet forward and legs straight.

Sounds to me like your overtraining them. if they are constantly sore, then they arent healing after you work them. Post what you actually do on each of those days, and we can look at it further.

Get implants brother.


GM

I think that what 0311 was saying about people bouncing up and down
doing calf raises is one of the major problems trainees have, no matter what rep range or style your using.

The important thing is not to concentrate on just getting reps but on raising the heel as high as possible. I think a lot of people never get a full
contraction. And whether your doing the extended negatives or not, which do work very well, you definitely need to pause at the point of maximum stretch, again, no matter what style of training you're using. The calves are like loaded springs that will bounce you up and down with
very little effort if you don't take a moment to eliminate momentum.

The posterior calves are made up of the gastrocnemius medial and lateral heads. Underneath these lies the soleus.

Generally, the gastroc medial is 51% slow twitch and 49% fast twitch. The lateral head is about 46% slow twitch and 54% twitch fibers. The soleus is about 90% slow twitch fibers, however.

That might give you an idea of what rep ranges to employ. Remeber that
the fast twitch 2A and 2B are larger and have the greatest potential for
growth. But slow twitch fibers will grow, too.

As far as the seated calf raises, they are really only good for the soleus and I recomment doing them for that since it's the only way to hit it thoroughly. The soleus goes all the way underneath the gastroc and so will make the entire calf seem larger. In fact it is the largest anyway. You'll want a 25 to 50 rep range with slow controlled reps. NO BOUNCING. Hit 'em with lower reps sometimes also to bring up that 10% of fast twitch fibers.

Damn, I could go on and on about calves. Mine are the bane of my existence, but they do grow, and so will yours.

Here is some good calf info:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/calvesanatomy.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/calvesanatomypart2.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/calvesanatomypart3.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/calvesanatomypart4.php

*Edit* Now that I have learned more about muscle fiber recruitment and I know that you can't selectively isolate fiber types I no longer recommend these articles or all of my statements in this post.

this is my calf routine on mon, wed, fri, 2x20 increase weight 2x15 increase weight 2x10 back to original weight 1x20, standing calf raises, 3x15 seated

Well, if they're anything like mine then I don't see that overtraining them.

I know you said they're sore all the time but how close are you coming to
failure on your sets? Also have they grown at all in the past? My calves do
seem to stall out after a while no matter what I do and I have to change
things around often. They'll be sore and the weight will be increasing but still no growth.

If that's the case then 0311 DC training suggestion may be a good "shock".

so your doing 10 sets, 3 days a week? Thats a hell of a lot more then you need to grow IMO.

Drop your rep ranges 5-8, drop your sets 6-8 per week, and up your wieghts. concentrate

Well, he's really only hitting the gastrocs with 7 sets. They are barely going to notice the seated raises, IMO.

However, I miscounted the sets and I agree that's probably more than necassary. You could also try shortening your rest periods between sets.

yeah I got my calfs up to almost 17" last year after about 4 months of constant work, but after I slacked off alittle they were back to 16" in no time growth is slow and diappears quicker than morning dew DAMN! think I'll give 0311 suggestion a try