Calf building

[Ozkon]

I've been trying really hard to find an effective way to develop my calves. They're looking alright, but I definitely want to take things further.

As of right now, I am doing the following routine:

Superset
Standing calf raise machine - 360 lbs. (15 reps)
Seated calf raise machine - 45 lbs. (15 reps)

I rest for a minute and then repeat this pattern twice more, completing three supersets, in total. I generally end up working to failure in both portions of the superset - the final time I do them - hitting 12-13 reps.

I don't know if this is effective or not, but one thing that I have noticed is a very long recovery time after this exercise. I am generally sore for 2-3 days after completing this routine, experiencing pain during daily tasks. I always stretch my calves (20 seconds for each calf) after exercising and feel relief, but am still wondering how I can tweak things to better my recovery/results.

 

[danrojigga]

Maybe hit the calves everyday but lower the impact...just do sitted machine for 45 3 sets of 15. Then maybe blast em the last day of the workout week. If your recovery times arent fast enough it could be overtraining. Also could be diet. I hit calves 4 days a week 2 sets daily. Just a thought and good luck

 

[IronInsanity]

I do calves twice per week. You may also want to consider using the leg press for calf raises and donkeys.

 

[PillarofBalance]

Smith press and two 25lb plates is good for standoff calf raises as well. You can go real heavy there.

 

[Ogre717]

give the stair stepper a shot. up the resistance and stay up on your toes the whole time. worked like a champ for a lady friend of mine.

 

[Ozkon]

These are all really great suggestions! I'm going to take some time and give them all a shot over the next few weeks. Admittedly, I've avoided donkey calf raises simply because I can imagine all the stares I'd get if I did this exercise in the gym. I've never actually seen someone do this before! Then again, people will find a reason to stare, regardless, so maybe I will.

In terms of diet, danrojigga, what exactly did you mean? I have 1/4 of my daily carbs in the form of simple sugars immediately after my workout, and I also take in about 20g of glutamine a day, with most of this being consumed after my workout. I also get about 1g of protein per lb. of bodyweight and drink around 5L of water a day.. Any suggestions for improvement?

I'll look into the other mentioned exercises! It's clearly time for me to change things up.

 

[danrojigga]

Well i recently added bcaas Sippin on em throughout workout and my recovery time is significantly improved.....i am not a good diet advice person. I wasnt Trying to suggest you werent eating properly. I just know ya need food to recover. Hope i didnt offend you.

 

[Ozkon]

Oh! No, sorry if I came off as being defensive. I was just trying to outline everything clearly so that any potential flaws could be spotted! No worries. I've been looking into an intra-workout drink, since I currently sip on diluted gatorade (roughly 15% gatorade, 85% water in 1L bottle). I take GP3 before and after my workouts - each serving of 4 capsules has 1250mg BCAA Alpha-Ketoglutarate (625mg L-Leucine AKG, 312.5mg L-Valine AKG, 312.5mg L-Isoleucine AKG). Would you recommend adding more? In reality, I should look at adjusting my routine, I guess, since that's a little more cost-effective than adding another supplement my current stack!

 

[Ogre717]

im sure as long as you really change how you train them, you will see results. when that starts to stall out on you after a while, change it up again. good luck and keep us posted

 

[Ozkon]

Thanks! I'll start adjusting things as early as tomorrow and let you know how it goes!

 

[biguglynewf]

Calves by nature can be very hard to grow. Think about how much work they already see everyday just by walking around. They need lots of reps with little rest in between.

Ever seen a mountain biker with small claves? Never.

 

[dangerouscurves]

are you looking to grow your calves?
I have trouble that my calves grow too easily. I have to drop weight and do a million reps to keep them working, and not growing. I was seeing a ton of growth when I did calf press at 4 to 5 sets of 10 reps using the incline leg press. then I would drop weight and do it isolated. when I do lower weights higher sets I get longer recovery time, and more cramping and pain, but no growth which is what I am trying to minimize at this point. I also do standing calf press, and calf raise, but the leg press calf press was the winner for growth for me.