Building Bigger Calves

Building Bigger Calves

 If you’re like a number of men out there, one muscle you likely struggle with is the calf muscle. Most men will state that one of their training and fitness goals is building bigger calves since they have put in a lot of work to develop powerful legs, but yet this lower leg muscle is still lagging behind.

In some instances, it’s genetics that destines you to have a hard time building bigger calves, and in other cases it’s a lack of proper training that keeps the calves from taking shape.

Whatever situation you’re in, taking the time to learn some new training techniques and then implementing these into your regime will be vital to seeing increases in this muscle tissue and building bigger calves.

Training frequency

The first thing to consider when building bigger calves is your training frequency. Far too many people believe that the calves are an “endurance” muscle and thus, respond better to very frequent training in a much higher rep range.

While it is true that the calves will typically work any time you are standing or walking, the degree of muscular force generated with performing these activities is going to be much lower than when you are in the gym working them out.

Therefore, if you go into the gym and start training your calves four or more times a week, you will place a much different stimulus pattern on the muscles than regular daily activities do.

If your goal is building bigger calves, you will want to train them three days a week, being sure to allow for one full day of rest between each day you work them.

Designing the workout

Now that you have your frequency set for building bigger calves, it’s time to design the workout you will be using.

You should perform just one calf exercise variation each session, but be sure to switch your variation each week. The reason for this is because calves adapt very quickly to a given exercise stimulus; changing the stimulus, or workout variation, will force the calves to keep responding.

One big reason for a lack of growth in the calves for many men is because they perform the same calf raises each workout. You’re far better off using more variations but performing fewer sets. This allows you to really hit them hard and then allow for sufficient rest before hitting them again 48 hours later.

Exercise variations

When it comes to different calf exercise variations to perform, both seated and standing are good options. From there, you can also turn the feet slightly inward or outward to change the exact angle of force. Performing single-leg calf raises is also a smart move, as this will ensure that you are not overcompensating by using one leg more than the other.

Another additional move you can make for building bigger calves is to utilize a short rest period right at the bottom of the exercise. This will really increase the intensity of the exercise, stimulating the muscles further to grow larger.

To do so, take about two seconds to lower to the bottom (where the calf is fully stretched), hold for two seconds and take two more seconds to rise up again. This pause makes a dramatic difference in your calf workout.

Alternatively, yet another variation is to take a short pause at the top of the movement, which will again really increase the total intensity.

Progression

You should start out aiming to do three heavy sets for each session you perform, trying to increase the weight on each exercise each week.

Work across a variety of rep ranges throughout the week, shooting for a set of eight reps the first day (using the heaviest weight of the week), 12 reps the second day (adjusting the weight downward), and then 15 to 20 reps the third day of the week, using a slightly lighter weight. This third day will help train the muscles to deal with lactic acid.

After that week is completed, cycle on to a different exercise for the next week of training.

The stretch

Finally, be sure to stretch at the end of the workout. This is a common mistake that is made and will really stifle your progress. The reason the stretch is so vital is because not only does the stretch help to promote faster recovery between sessions so you can grow muscle faster, but it also increases your range of motion. As a result, when you are working through various exercises, you will be able to stimulate a higher number of muscle fibers.

Calf conditioning

So, be extra sure you have a good look over your current calf routine if you are not getting the results you’re aiming for. Building bigger calves is certainly possible if you take the right training approach.