Calves, Vanity, Being Black and Proud

[Gary Gibson]

As most of you have probably realized, the majority of my ancestry is from Africa (we presume the western sub-Saharan part). This means a few things for my anthropometry: distal elongation, distal tapering, and high calves.

Distal elongation means that my segments tend to get relatively longer the farther away they get from my torso. Not only do I have noticeably long arms and legs for my torso (compared to whites and especially to Asians), but I have relatively long forearms for my humeri and lower legs for my femurs.

The tapering means just what it sounds like; my limb bones tend to taper toward their ends so my wrists and ankles look especially smaller (again compared to whites and Asians of otherwise similar build).

And then there are the high calves. I've read that all that tendon is actually a good thing for transferring energy in sprinting and leaping (think of the tendon lengths in the lower legs of cheetahs and kangaroos), but it sure does look funny, especially as my thighs get bigger from all the squatting.

I've tried lots remedies for my skinny, high calves over the years. What's worked best is simply gaining weight. Luckily squats help do this Real Good. The people with the best calves (at least among whites and Asians; haven't noticed this among blacks so much) are very heavy. I'm sure they don't do calf raises either. Seems just walking around and standing around with all that weight trigger calf growth. Dave Tate said as much; just walking out really heavy squats will spur calf growth. Your calves react as if you'd become a very fat person from the time you take the barbell out of the rack till the time you put it back.

I've also found that when I'm squatting heavy, a little attention to my calves boosts this growth effect. But I'm not talking ultra high-rep stuff; that just gets them tired and can prevent me from walking for a while (I had to call in sick one day years ago after doing several 100-rep sets of calf raises the day before). You all should know that I love multiple (like 10-20) low rep sets to get volume with intensity and to cause growth in my other muscles. The same principle works for the calves, except that I up the reps a bit (hard to keep good form with single-joint movements when you approach higher percentages of 1RM before tipping into partial rep sloppiness): 10 sets of 10 reps using bodyweight and adding 10 lbs here and there.

This is a bit of vanity on my part. Strong calves are good, but calves will get pretty damned strong with the squats (the way forearms will get strong with deadlifts and heavy chins and without need of isolation movements), but I'm doing this less for strength and more for size. My calves for reason of unalterable genetic endowment stop just a four inches below my knee. I look like a big, brown chicken when I wear shorts or my singlet. Nothing I do will cover the bottom 2/3 of my lower legs with muscle; but having a nice big knot on the top 1/3 has to look a little better.

[PMDL]

* Pause your calf work. Nice, long, deep stretched pause at the bottom. Big Achilles tendon = big stretch reflex, so you need to kill that stored energy. All the assholes you see bouncing the stack on those exercises aren't really doing much for the actual calf muscle, thus "they're hard to grow". Slow the reps down, pause, and use a heavy progressive-overload strategy like you would for any other muscle - sets of 5-12 reps and add weight when possible.

* Work both seated and standing variations. Bent-knee calf work will hit the soleus more and "thicken" them up.

* Get fat and walk a lot. If you have access to a weighted vest, that does the same thing. Other ideas are lots of walking on an incline, if you like the treadmill (maybe even holding dumbbells to add weight for a low-tech solution), or even hill sprints if you like the outdoors. Or just go for a walk around a really hilly part of town. This tends to complement the heavy strength elements of your calf training.

* Realize that most of it is just genetic. My wife never does a damn thing for her calves and they're her most noticeable body part. I can work mine every day and they'll never get as big as hers.

[BryanM]

This is odd because there was a guy on a doct0re TV show just now was asking about calf implants instead of learn2squat. Are you watching the same thing I'm watching?

Because if you're not. This is spooky.

[Gary Gibson]

* Pause your calf work. Nice, long, deep stretched pause at the bottom. Big Achilles tendon = big stretch reflex, so you need to kill that stored energy. All the assholes you see bouncing the stack on those exercises aren't really doing much for the actual calf muscle, thus "they're hard to grow". Slow the reps down, pause, and use a heavy progressive-overload strategy like you would for any other muscle - sets of 5-12 reps and add weight when possible.

* Work both seated and standing variations. Bent-knee calf work will hit the soleus more and "thicken" them up.

* Get fat and walk a lot. If you have access to a weighted vest, that does the same thing. Other ideas are lots of walking on an incline, if you like the treadmill (maybe even holding dumbbells to add weight for a low-tech solution), or even hill sprints if you like the outdoors. Or just go for a walk around a really hilly part of town. This tends to complement the heavy strength elements of your calf training.

* Realize that most of it is just genetic. My wife never does a damn thing for her calves and they're her most noticeable body part. I can work mine every day and they'll never get as big as hers.

Thank you for the tips. I have often considered becoming a fake fat person by means of a weighted vest in order to get the "fat man calf effect", but I never thought about the physics behind letting the tendon energy dissipate (though I did this almost as a matter of instinct).

I'm following the same protocol for calves that I do for size with the rest of my body except that I'm working in a slightly higher rep range. Volume (~10 sets of 5 with ~80%) works great when I want to get bigger. I've shifted the calf work up to the German Volume range (10x10) which favors sarcoplasm over sarcomeres, but in the case of my calves, I'm actually seeking a little "puffy, useless muscle." (Shhh, don't tell the functional crowd.) Will be adding weight either linearly or in waves just like I do with bench and squat.

And yes! Calves are mostly genetic! What has pissed me off a lot is when the uninformed tell me I need to work on my calves more. I KNOW how genetic calf size is. It's just one of those things like power-to-strength ratio, though calf size is indeed a bit more amenable to improvement through training.

My most recent ex lady friend (dumped me just in time for the holidays) had some of the freakiest calves I'd ever seen in my life, and certainly the biggest I'd ever actually touched. Almost the size of my head. I couldn't help but be amazed whenever she'd flex them for me. They were so alien to my own experience with my own puny lower legs. She said she got the calf genes from her father whose calves were equally freaky.

This is odd because there was a guy on a doct0re TV show just now was asking about calf implants instead of learn2squat. Are you watching the same thing I'm watching?

Because if you're not. This is spooky.

Then it's spooky because this just came to me. Just threw in some volume calf work last night after volume bench and squats and thought I'd share my thoughts on it.

[Dastardly]

Im asian but have thin lower legs/calves compared to my thighs. They were like that before I started lifting. And all the squats have increased the 'goat-leg' effect.

Squats for me seem to produce absolutely no calves. But did notice a lot of pump in calves when beginning to do some single leg exercises. Ive never attempted to train calves directly, but this seems to have been the only thing to spur some growth for me.

You could maybe try some bodyweight pistols and see how it feels?

Ive also heard watching videos of various strength coaches, that sled pulls (or pushes) are by far the best for working calves.

[cervicornis]

Dastardly - nice sig.

I used to wish for the higher calves/skinnier ankles look. Consider yourself lucky that you've got those sprinter's legs, as opposed to a pair of cankles. Cankles suck.

One day, your future son-in-law will thank you for passing on the genes that made possible your daughter's long legs. Other men may also thank you, and it could get to the point where you're wishing for the cankle gene. Such is life.

[Gwyn Brookes]

I have the same issue but lack the motivation to change my skinny calves. I also have an ex who has genetically improved calves; no training but naturally scrumptious.

But really, you have nice legs, Gary. :-)

[Gary Gibson]

I have the same issue but lack the motivation to change my skinny calves. I also have an ex who has genetically improved calves; no training but naturally scrumptious.

But really, you have nice legs, Gary. :-)

Awr, shucks!

[RobertFontaine]

Those of us who were born without ankles are envious of your pretty little legs. You probably look good in a thong.

... I currently rotate through standing, seated bent leg, seated straight leg calf raises using the DC program. An interesting approach in the program is that you do 5 second static holds for 10-12 reps, rather than a heavier weight. It likely works no better than anything else but it works.

As you already know you aren't going to change muscle attachments through exercise, you'll just have to live with being pretty.

[cannibal.horse]

wear jeans?