How to Build and Fix Your Calves Crisis

[FUZO]

TweetHow to Build and Fix Your Calves Crisis


This article was originally posted on FitnessGeared.com, one of the leading fitness and bodybuilding forums on the web.


Some individuals out there are blessed with bigger muscles than others. We can be talking about the chest, the arms, legs, whatever. Genetics for sure does play a role in your overall physique, but it is not the deciding factor. Do not let it be. You are the one in charge of your life, so go ahead - take charge and make something of it. One of the body parts that countless individuals struggle with are the calves. Some are blessed with a huge chunk of muscle back there, while others look like a couple of toothpicks with shoes on. Here we will highlight some tricks of the trade to get this obstacle tackled.


There are methods and tactics to overcome this problem and to put an end to the jokes. “Don’t skip leg day bro”, “friends don’t let friends skip legs”. Sound familiar? The crazy thing is though, you can hardly walk half of the week because you are putting your time in and working like you should be. Yet, why are your calves never sore?


We all have our problem areas that we need to concentrate on. Sometimes though it is not a matter of concentrating harder on whichever muscle is your problem area. The problem is how you are working out the particular muscle. The following concepts may be applicable to your particular problem area whichever that may be. Here though we will discuss the calves.


So the lower distal portion of the leg is composed of a good amount of muscles. Note that there is for sure more than we will discuss in here. These muscles include the ones that operate the functions of the toes, stabilizers, and what not. We do not directly work on those muscles; they do though get incorporated in our lifts, as well as everyday life. A couple of muscles that we can work on at the gym are the ones here we are going to explore. We will discuss the main muscles of the calf – gastrocnemius. This has a lateral head and medial head. The muscle under, or inferior to the calf – the soleus.


How Do I Fix My Problem?


When it comes to most exercises or lifts, there are a few things that are pretty common. There are obviously more aspects that can go into a problem, but ask yourself if you are running into one of these common problems?


• Are you performing the lift wrong?
• Are you using too much weight?
• Are you overcompensating one body part over the other?


Too often will you see people in the gym messing up their calf workout by doing a combination of two or even all of the above common mistakes.


If you are performing the lift wrong, then you are basically not activating what the muscles was designed to do. The Gastrocnemius is in charge of plantar flexing the ankle, inverting and adducting the feet, and flexing the knee. It moves the foot back, and twists it side to side. The soleus (which is under the gastrocnemius) is responsible for specifically plantar flexing the ankle. AKA moving the foot back hinging at the heel of your foot.


The point here is, do what the muscles is designed to do. You will get so much more out of your calves if you work them out properly. Teeny tiny short bursts of twenty half assed calf presses on a machine or free weight will probably be a less successful way of adding some mass to the bottom portion of your legs. Instead, when performing your calf / soleus exercises, keep in mind you want to get a decent stretch, and an adequate timed contraction in order to get the full range of motion, as well as a decent pump in those muscles. Also, since the gastrocnemius is responsible for the abduction and adduction of the foot, it’s a good idea to work the calves in these positions as well. Try not only pointing your toes forward during isolation exercises, but also point them in and out. Since the gastrocnemius is mainly composed of fast twitch muscle fibers, for growth its best to give the muscle what it’s mainly comprised of; Your calves will get a lot of use from explosive exercises like sprints and jump rope. If it’s been a while, give the jump rope a try and see how those calves feel the next day.


This goes hand in hand with using too much weight. Chances are, if you are using too much weight, you will not have the muscle energy to give that necessary contraction in your lifts. Simple solution is to lighten up the load. To be very honest, it’s also not a bad idea to start with the basics. If you feel like you are doing it all wrong, and you are having a major calf catastrophe then just start fresh and do bodyweight stuff.


Overcompensating can lead to a stronger muscle overpowering the weaker one. The soleus is incorporated a lot when doing daily activity such as walking, cycling, and a good amount used in a light jog as well. Then if you go ahead and hit the seated calf raise (bent knee) each and every week, your soleus muscle is getting worked yet again. Overall you would be obviously be a little skewed on the soleus portion here, and that can take away from your activation of you gastrocnemius.


Give these tips a go, and with anything keep consistent and work on improving yourself always.

[Trixie]

TweetHope this article was helpful for someone but it lacked a bit of substance for me. I have decent calves with very little to no extra work. Rake had a completely severed Achilles just 3 years ago and has built it up to equal size of his other leg. Rake has super tall skinny legs and of course the girth of his calves will never be earthshaking but with diligent consistent work any calf can be better.