None. The gastrocs work hard in the squat, so the mechanism is there, but I've never heard of tweaking one. Must have something to do with knees sliding forward.
Member
calf tweak
Rip
48 years old. 275 pounds. I keep tweaking or pulling my calf while squatting. Its not real bad, just enough to make me have to stop squatting that day. A day or two later I feel fine and go back to train but I tweak it again. I wear squat shoes. Any ideas why?
TMPHBITEU
None. The gastrocs work hard in the squat, so the mechanism is there, but I've never heard of tweaking one. Must have something to do with knees sliding forward.
Member
Maybe a balance thing. Are you up on your tippy toes? Time to get a form check.
Used to get really bad cramping in my calves at night, long before I started lifting. Putting up my feet would help most of the time, but not always. Kind of like a Russian roulette but with calves.
Oh, can I still say Russian or are people going to think I got hacked?
Anyway, maybe sleep with your feet up if you aren't already. Couldn't hurt. Get that form checked.
Member
Interesting to think about....Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
In the first part of squat, the ankle flexes, but the knee also closes, so like the biarticular hamstrings, the gastroc would mostly just be under mostly isometric contraction.
Once your knees "find their home" at halfway down, the ankle angle really doesn't move too much anymore, or, it shouldn't.
Moment arms on the ankle/calf are minimal.
TMPHBITEU
Yes, they are very active posterior stabilizers. Even front squatters never report calf tweaks. I am puzzled.
✓ Member
Is your weight up on your toes while squatting? Or are you pushing through your toes rather than the mid-foot during the ascent?
Member
I have fairly well devloped calfs, so I probably "fire" them a lot during my squatting (I know Rip hates that term since they fire for everyone, but still...). I should probably pay more attention to remaining center balanced. But I know (or have been told) that even when I'm standing there with a higher weight squat (anything voer 405 is heavy for me) my calves appear to be highly flexed/activated. I'm going to try light day squatting in flatter sneaker today (first time in over 5 years without squat shoes) and we shall see what happens. Im hoping its just a onece or twice off thing and I can get back to normal form soon.
Member
I understand that the gastroc’s are ankle extensors and are therefore at least partially activated in the squat position. However, they aren’t exerted through the full range of the squat in that the ankle is never fully extended (unless one was to rise up to tippy toe position like a ballerina). Though MY squat is continuing to improve, I don’t think my calves are getting appreciably stronger.
Would you ever recommend weighted calf raises as an assistance exercise to the squat for this reason? My guess is that if I was able to do power cleans which DO work the gastroc’s through their full range of motion (given the jump within it) they would work but they’re a bit hard on my aging body.
Might calf raises help the OP as well with his issue?
TMPHBITEU
Squats strengthen the calves. But it's so thoroughly isometric that their function is subtle. You'd have to rupture an Achilles tendon to learn this.
Member
So squats can improve my calf strength but increased calf strength won’t necessarily improve my squats?
If I understand you correctly, that answers my question of whether or not calf raises are a waste of time for me.
Maybe for the OP they may help him push through his “calf tweaks” though.
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