My Calves!

Question: can you recommend a good calf workout? I run, squat, and lift, but nothing really works my calves. If I want to make them bigger, what should I do?

Answer: first, don’t feel too bad about your lack of calf growth; many people have this problem. Why? The all-powerful G word: genetics. Even more so than most other muscle groups, calves are impacted by the tissue you’re born with. Calves, in particular the soleus — one of the two primary muscles that make up the calves, with the gastrocnemius being the other — are largely comprised of slow-twitch muscle fibers. Slow-twitch, unlike its sibling the fast-twitch muscle fiber, has less of a propensity for growth. The proportion of these fibers differ in each person.

Before addressing your question, I’ll highlight two exercises you listed: running and squatting. Both can help build the calves, but each have limitations. Running is a high-volume, low-intensity exercise; therefore, it’s not designed to fully build the calves, or the other leg muscles. Now, if you sprint or run hills, your likelihood of growth increases some; sprinting allows for more of an explosive, power-based movement, and running hills allows for more eccentric contraction. These two scenarios can aid in growth. Squatting relies on the calves for stability, namely around the ankle. Although heavy loads can be applied in the squat, the calves remain mainly stationary; due to a lack of movement, less muscle damage occurs, and therefore, growth is limited.

Getting to your question: a number of exercises you see from us hit the calves. For example, box jumps and jumping rope. If you’re a novice to these movements, you’ll most likely be sore after the first few times performing them. As we’ve said a number of times on our page, our approach is that of an athletic look, one built on performance. This routine differs from that of a bodybuilding format, which hinges on building large muscles. So what I’m recommending next is less of a Farmer Gym approach and more of a traditional bodybuilding approach: perform weighted calf raises, then take the calves to failure. When executing the raises be sure to take your muscles through a full range of motion; all the way down, all the way up. By doing so, you’re enabling the maximum eccentric contraction. Why is this important? It best tears down the muscle fibers. With proper nutrition and recovery, the muscles can then build themselves up to become a bigger, better size.

Here’s a sample routine:
Perform 5 sets:
12 weighted calf raises (rep 12 should be tough), then immediately go into weightless calf raises — full range of motion! — until it hurts. Rest 1 minute and then repeat.

So, there you have it! (Sorry for being long-winded.) Yes, it will take some time, but growth can happen. Just stay diligent! And #dowork!