QUESTION: When I see some bodybuilders in the gym training their calves, it seems to me that I work harder and do more sets. But for some reason my calves are not growing. I’ve tried high reps, low reps with heavy weights, weight loss sets (they give me the best pump), but the calves still lag behind. What should I do?

ANSWER: Good, beautiful caviar is a gift of nature. The fact that these muscles are very stubborn and difficult to train is especially offensive.
Of course, this is unpleasant: you feel an unbearable burning sensation during training, you work to failure and even more, but the size of the calves remains the same. And what is most unfair – athletes with outstanding calves most often do not even train them, or do it in passing. Mike Matarazzo, the undisputed owner of the best caviar in the world, admitted that he never paid much attention to them, and that nature itself gave him such caviar. Moreover, Mike’s father, who never touched iron in his life, could boast of even bigger calves! Ms. Olympia Juliette Bergman, whose calves are amazing, doesn’t even know what a calf trainer is. Thanks to narrow joints, her calves, relatively small in girth (only 35 cm), look amazingly developed!

I would like to take a look at your training program: maybe something is wrong with the exercise technique? Watching someone with big calves in the gym throwing up weights and rebounding at the bottom, you might think: “He has big calves, so I can hit and throw.” This is a mistake – you need to load the calves in full amplitude.

When doing calf raises while standing, turn off your knees so that your legs and torso are in one line. Slowly and under control lower yourself down, constantly feeling the stretch. Don’t stop until your calves are fully stretched. Then begin to rise on your toes, leaning on your big toes. Hold for a second at the top and feel the contraction of the muscles. If at this point you transfer the load to the knuckles of the big toes, then load the inner parts of the calves more; if on the little fingers – external. In addition, here you can either keep the socks turned outward or turn them inward. Try all of the above methods to see what works best for you. Need to go down very slowly – 6-10 seconds; the rise should take 2-3 seconds plus a second pause at the top.

As a general rule, calves respond better to higher reps. Nature has endowed these muscles with a high resistance to fatigue because we use them all the time. Celebrity bodybuilder and trainer John Parillo advises his trainees to do up to 100 reps on an easy training day, and 10 reps with heavy weights on a heavy day. Alternating heavy and light workouts is very useful – it does not allow the muscles to get used to the loads. You can get to a high number of repetitions gradually: in one workout, do two sets of 50 repetitions, in the next – 75, and then go to a hundred. On an easy, high-rep day, it is advisable to reduce the number of sets. For example, on a hard day, calf work might consist of three sets of three exercises, and on an easy day, one or two sets of three exercises.
Don’t worry about the amount of weights used on an easy day. Even seasoned bodybuilders cry when doing 100 reps in a row with the most “baby” weight. The main thing is that it works! The next day you will hardly be able to walk.

Bodybuilders with poorly growing calves often have weak neuromuscular connections in this area, which can take months to develop these muscles. In addition, the problem may be insufficient blood flow to the calves, and this problem will also have to be addressed. Until you increase the size of the veins and arteries along with the number of capillaries and red blood cells, you should not expect any growth from your calves.
If you’re training with a partner, use forced reps and weight loss sets. Unfortunately, most calf machines don’t allow you to perform unaided forced reps.

Don’t limit yourself to just sitting and standing calf raises. Work your calves from every possible angle. Do calf presses on the bench press machine, calf raises on the hook machine, calf raises on the Smith machine, calf raises in the squat (for the soleus), and especially standing calf raises while standing (donkey raises).

The latter are the best exercise for the calves. When you rise on your toes while standing in an incline, the following happens: the stretched biceps of the legs at the same time stretch the calves; thus the calves are stretched even before as you begin to descend. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a big fan of this exercise. He performed it with three partners on his back, who, upon reaching failure, jumped off one at a time. Arnold was the only one who started with very modest calves and achieved phenomenal development of them – in his time they were the best in the world.
And the last. The secret of developing calves lies not so much in simulators and weights as in a footrest. Larry Scott believed that its height should be at least 15 cm so that the heels can go as low as possible. In addition, he advised using a rubber stand so that the exercises could be performed barefoot (without rubber, this is very inconvenient).

A few years ago, an excellent calf training stand was patented: the angle of its working surface can be changed. Thanks to this, a phenomenal stretch of the calves is achieved at the bottom point and a complete contraction at the top. Such a stand allows the athlete to work with maximum amplitude, improving neuromuscular connections, capillarity and innervation of the lower legs.