SofaKingA

I was hoping that someone could give me some useful info on how to get bigger calves. Is there a secret excercise that I am missing. I would consider myself an athletic person, but my calves are embarassingly small. So small I wear pants instead of shorts. I am 5'11 150lbs, PLEASE HELP!

skinnymofo

stand up and lift up off the balls of your feet for long periods of time. you can also hold weight while you do this.

apeman

yeah ... like the man says (1) you should be able to do big weights on leg work with no problem ... here's a list

1) get a big weight and do squats, followed by tiptoe - REPEAT UNTIL YOU FALL OVER!
2) do mountain biking
3) do plyometrics (see other threads)
4) Judo is a good all-round muscle builder I believe

good luck (2) works well I can vouch for

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almostaugust

Skipping (using a jump rope) is ideal for calf development, awesome cardio workout aswell. We use a jump rope in my dojo for at least 15-20 mins a week.

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Jam

I dont really exercise and my calfes haves always been pretty big , but i guess thats no help to you.. /me wanders off

JStrider

run! nothing ive seen shapes and streamlines calves/whole legs like running

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pocon1

I am letting my calves out for a little milk so that they continue to grow into bulls. Right now they are about 17.5 inches. Actually, for all little calved people, you are shit out of luck. Calves are determined by genetics. I usually end up working calves about 15 times a year, three straight sets of standing calf raises. If you want to reach your potential, you must understand that calves are a muscle, and that muscles respond best to shorter high intensity workloads like strength training. Running, cycling, judo, walking on tiptoes, etc... will not build your calves to their potential. Lift heavy weights, full range of motion, toes straight ahead, make them strong and make them work. 3 sets straightleg, 3 sets bent seated. Do not bounce through the movement, push through the movement.

If you don't have big calves, blame your parents.

hannukah harry

i don't know, i think with hard work a good nutrition even genetics can be overcome to some degree. if you ever read an interview with arnold about his calves, he basically says that his weren't developing, so he started hitting them harder than normal. once they started to feel fatigued, that's when he'd really start on them. his thinking was that since you use them every day for every step they're used of taking a lot of punishment, so you need to hit them super hard. don't know if that will work for other people (or be safe, could over do it), but it worked for him... so that's one theory.

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wonderwench

I saw a news item awhile back about implants. Some guy actually had calf implants done. I think that is a bit much.

hannukah harry

marcus "buff" bagwell of the old WCW had them put in, had to have them taken out because one or both popped (not sure which, it was before i watched).

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TheKak

While I was a rescue climber in Iceland I had to stand at the bottom of towers for 4+ hours at a time with not much to do but wait by a radio and made sure no one fell. I would do calf exercises during that time and after I while I noticed a different (they looked better, though I'm not sure they would qualify as bigger). I would do 3 sets, first set would be 200-300 on both feet, then 100-200 standing on each leg.

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Kazic

someone posted a link to www.abcbodybuilding.com hope I got it right. go to the routines page. I found an excelent workout for calves.

you have to get into a mentallity that its you against them. Mine have responded. I am gonna contine to kick the asses until Iam satisfied.

work them past the pain as they are short twitch muscle and in the pain factor is where they are going to grow.

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sashime76

A lot of it is genetic, I was nicked named thunder calves. Look at a lot of the pro athletes, high jumpers, sprinters, basketball players, many of them don't have big calves, but large thighs. Squatting can help to a degree but it will build up your thighs much more than your calves.

sailor

Believe it or not, cycling will give you some stacked calves. They arent really worked so much as just clinched for hours at a time. Regardless, they are definitely noticably large

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Rodney

My calves hadn't developed as much as rhe rest of my body, despite the fact that I was doing calf exercises with heavy weights. Then my wife got me into roller skating (traditional skates, not blades), which I did fairly regularly. And I noticed, finally, the beginning of those diamond-shaped calves that people want. Just the beginning. So I started skating 3-4 miles a day wearing ankle weights. Started at a pound each ankle, worked up to three. Inside a few months I had diamonds. And even though I haven't skated in years, they've stayed with me.

omega2K4

Wait. People actually get implants in their fucking calves?

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Nefir

I'll second Rodney in saying that rollerblading is a great and fun way to get those iron calves you crave. It worked for me, and chances are, it will work for you, if you put enough effort into it.

The more you weigh, the better it will work, so if you are skinny (and 150lb IS skinny), weigh yourself down with something when you go skating.

Now if only I had the same kind of luck above the waist as I've had below...

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rockzilla

Yep, you can get pectoral implants too. Like a male boob job. It's pretty sad.

If you don't have access to a calf raise machine, you can either use a leg press machine with your tiptoes or you can hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands while standing one-footed on a box or ledge with the back of your foot hanging free. Then raise yourself up by the toes and lower until the back of your foot is lower than the box. Keep going then repeat with the other leg.

st33lr4t

the only way your going to get big calfs is by heavy weight with low reps and the proper nutrition. if your not getting the proper diet then how do you expect them to grow? if your not breaking them down with big weight then how do you expext them to grow?

you will never get big calfs by running/blading/cycling or whatever. do you get a big chest from doing pushups all day?...nope....so why would running give you big calfs?

bookerV

Calves are the bane of my working out existance. I have incredibly strong calves but they are way too skinny. I can do way more than some of my friends whose calves are double or triple the size of mine. Now I am a big guy (6'5", 230) and I work out a lot, but my cavles have just never developed well. I do the right things, get them tired first, then load up the weight and do max weight for low reps. But they just don't come the way they should.

I think genetics plays a huge part in calves. My dad has really skinny calves. Now I have skinny calves. At the same time I can't be too mad at him, he gave me good arm genes.

For the most part I have given up on ever getting my calves massive. They are the only body part that I don't think I could ever get to where I want them to be, but I can live with that. I'm just going to keep on going with the high weight / low rep routine and see small gains. Oh well...

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st33lr4t

how is your nutrition?...there is ALOT more to gaining mass then lifting.

bookerV

Excellent. When I try to bulk up I have no problem at all packing on the pounds. It's just that when it comes to calves everything else bulks EXCEPT them. It's such a pain. I have never had a problem putting on mass / muscle or taking off weight / fat. It seems I can do it very easily. I can easily put on size in any body part when I am doing a mass up phase, with the exception of my calves. I don't know what it is about them, but they just don't respond like the rest of my body. It's the one place where I am a really hard gainer. I'm a bit of a hard gainer in the forearms too, but that's not so bad because I'm a really easy gainer in the bi's/tri's.
I think I'm just cursed...

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MSD

With bare feet, stand on the edge of a stair (the bottom stair, in case you fall,) hold wieghts if necessary, and lift yourself up and lower yourself rapidly. If you bump your head on the ceiling, move to a different staircase.