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Turn your Calve's into BULLS Turn your Calve's into BULLS
Complete Exercises & Workouts!
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Turn your Calve's into BULLS

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Exercise & Workouts! “If you have real high skinny calves, you need to do exercises that steretch and lengthen the calf muscle.”

All great bodybuilders have awesome calves. Big calves are rare and hard to find and unless you know the right calf workout, you may never find them. Ever single has worked his ass off to get big calves. Every single one has put meat on their under pinnings or they would not be Mr. Olympia. What we want to show you today is how to pack some serious meat on your lower legs. Real calf workout require pain and a whole lot of stretching. If your ready - lets do this!

Anatomy of the Calf

Its Made More Than the Soleus & Gastrocmenius

The base part of your calf is your soleus. The soleus muscle is the big muscle right behind the ball part of your calf muscle. This muscle is engaged when the knees are bent around ninety degrees. If you have the high calves you may want to blast the soleus muscle extra hard. By doing this you will build up the lower portion of the calf -- making your calves appear not as high looking, but wider and bigger. The best exercise for building the soleus muscle are seated calf raises.

The part of the calf is the gastrocmenius which has two heads the medial and lateral heads. This part of the calf is known for the large of the ball of the calf muscle. This is the area that is hit the most when doing calves. This muscle works the most when the knee is straight or at a slight bend. If your calves are long with no shape you need to work this area the most. This will give your calves shape at the top, making them appear more a tapered looking.

To work the different heads of the gastrocmenius, all you have to do is change your feet position. To focus on the medial head, put your heels together and feet pointing out. The lateral point feet in and heals out. The best exercise for the gastroc is the standing calf raise. Now the most neglected part of the calf is the anterior tibia--the front or shin. Training this part of the calf will give thickness. This is achieved when doing a reverse calf raise. Hitting these different parts of the calves will give you a well balanced calf.


Simple Calf Anatomy

Functions of the Calf Muscles:

Eversion is the movement of the sole of the foot away from the median plane. It occurs at the subtalar joint. This means to roll the bottom of your foot outward.

Inversion is the movement of the sole towards the median plane (as when an ankle is twisted).

Isometric Calf Stretch

Training Your Calves

The calves are usually a very stubborn muscle group that needs extra work to grow. Most people usually train calves along with their leg training. This usually means calves are going to be either in the beginning of the workout or at the end of the workout. Training calves at the beginning means that you will need extra stretching to loosen up the Achilles Tendon and various muscle of the calf before adding any extra resistance. Calves can be stretched using a weight plate or calf block if your gym has one. Stand on the block and slowly lower your body weight onto one leg letting the foot flex upward. NO bouncing or sudden movements as this could cause injury and that is not what we are trying to DO! Repeat with both legs a couple of times until you feel you rare sufficiently warm. Finish with some static stretches leaning against a wall or piece of equipment. If you are training calves after training your legs you should have good blood flow already with in the leg and calf muscles and some quick static stretches to stretch the Achilles Tendon, and you should be ready to go.

Calf Training Routines:

Exercise/ Routine #1 # of Sets # of Reps
Standing Calf Raises click to see image 3-4 sets 15-20 reps
Seated Calf Raises click to see image 3-4 sets 10-15 reps


Exercise/ Routine #2 # of Sets # of Reps
Standing Calf Raises 3-4 sets 15-20 reps
Seated Calf Raises 3-4 sets 10-15 reps
One Legged Calf Raises off of Block (Bodyweight) 2-3 sets 15+ reps


Exercise/ Routine #3 # of Sets # of Reps
Toe Raises on Leg Press 3-4 sets 15-20 reps
Donkey Machine Calf Raises 3-4 sets 10-15 reps
Seated Calf Raises 2-3 sets 15+ reps


Rotate these three routines to keep some excitement in your calf training. Training calves doesn't have to be boring, and these three routine should develop wide diamond shaped calves every time!

Tags: Calves

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