Training The Calves

There are many ways to train the calf muscles. The exercises in this video post focus mainly on the gastrocnemius muscle in a standing position.  You can also train calves in a seated position.  This will also contract the gastronemius but in a secondary role as the soleus muscle, which is under the gastrocnemius, would be the primary firing muscle.  OK, I am sorry, I don’t want to sound like a textbook.

Training with high reps or low reps, toes in or out, wide, shoulder, or narrow stance, both feet or single leg is up to you.  Remember the calf muscle is no different than your triceps muscle so do not get pulled into the idea of needing to do isolated calf raises every workout.  There will be some level of calf stimulation with every standing exercise you do.  If you are doing isolation work; I would recommend trying to go the full range of motion each rep.  Hold it in the stretched position for a second or two and then in the contracted position for another second or two.  Your calf should almost feel like it is going to cramp up.  When you have reached this type of feeling you know you are getting great muscular recruitment.

In the video I show you how to use a simple chunk of 2″ x 4″ board; but really you will want it to be a little higher to get a truer full range of motion.  A step works great.   If you are just starting out; body weight calf raises in a controlled temp as explained would more than likely be all you need.  Progress by adding weight and experiment with different rep ranges.  I have some silly names that I use to represent these rep ranges.  I position the feet toes forward and in three different positions: shoulder width, wide stance, and narrow width and all reps done consecutively.  Here are some sample sets for you to try.

Satan Calves: 6-6-6 (Heaviest Calf Day)

Crazy Eight Calves: 8-8-8

Dirty Thirties: 10-10-10

Dirty Dozen: 12-12-12

I usually don’t go higher reps than that but I will do a 100 rep set and break it into sets of 25 reps and all reps are kept at shoulder width.

I hope that helps and I answered the questions that was asked.  If you have a training question or want some ideas on training just ask and I will try to keep up answering all your requests.

To your health,

Jerry