skinny ass calves

[WyztaTrjnsFtbll]

ok heres the low down, im a pretty big guy and im strong for my age so there are constantly people pokin fun at the fact that i have skinny calves. i know they are the hardest place to add mass but any suggestions?

[LivinItUp]

Well the most basic answer you will hear is eat a lot, work you're largest muscles a lot (squat, deadlift, bench) and use heavy weights to train you're calves for lower repititions. Just to get this started for you may or may not already know that.

[heathj]

well, obviously eat more as that is the only way to actually grow.

on top of that i found that biking long distances multiple times per week and high rep standing calf raises helped the most (15-20 reps)

[seK]

ok heres the low down, im a pretty big guy and im strong for my age so there are constantly people pokin fun at the fact that i have skinny calves. i know they are the hardest place to add mass but any suggestions?
If you are bigger and stronger than most what are you doing taking that trash talk? :P
I don't usually do too much for the calf but the one workout I do consistently is the standing raises, I do this after squats while I have the weight on the rack.

Basically this but not on the smith.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Gastrocnemius/SMStandingCalfRaise.html

[bics56]

I am in the same boat...i used to always do 3 sets of calf raises at the end of a leg w/o. my 2nd to last exercise is leg curls...so now I superset calf raises with them...and do my normal 3 sets at the end. So 6 sets total...so far I notice some size increase and I also try to switch up how I do the reps. Sometimes I do slow controlled reps, other times I go down slow and power up, other times I go fast up and down. Hope this help...best idea I have. I also hear the sprinting up hills, steps, andd just in general will help. Also riding a bike up a hill on the balls of your feet. I do not do those b/c of time and I am trying to gain weight.

[SaVvY]

they are hard to grow for some, but for others they are not - dont go into training them thinking they are gonna be hard to grow

Calves are just like any other muscle, if your using nice steady reps, with a good stretch at the bottom, you dont need to do more than 10 reps

The best exercise is standing calf raise (machine), it just depends on how much weight there is at your gym, it will usually end up being too light, but definately use that all you can

[stevec087]

what are "ass calves" and how do they get skinny.

[care_bear]

what are "ass calves" and how do they get skinny.
lol....i hope your not serious

[Guido]

what are "ass calves" and how do they get skinny.They're those things you leave in the toilet.

[Natetaco]

my calves have gotten bigger from doing deads and atf squats especially, my calves are always a little sore after some atfs... try standing bb calf raises, they are nice.,

[LivinItUp]

I saw a guy on MTV a while back who got plastic thingies implanted into his legs, They basically sat him down and asked him how BIG do you want you're calves to look, lol.

[WyztaTrjnsFtbll]

yeah i saw that episode, i really hope the "ass calves" man isnt serious lol

[LivinItUp]

One thing I am doing is researching as much as possible via google or anything else to gather all opinions and learn about the calves that much more.

[Turnip]

4 sets, 8 reps calve raises works for me, on a smith machine with a plastic box thingy you put your toes on. But I dont understand the question really, theres no real trick to do them I dont think.

[laxguy1028]

Eat more

[LivinItUp]

I guess steroids might work as well :withstupi

I'm not going to even look into it until I'm 21

[webman]

I've found that I need to switch up calf raises between standing calf raises and seated calf raises. Switch between the 2 exercises every few weeks to keep the calf muscles guessing so they continue to get stronger. If you do standing calf raises all the time, eventually your calfs get stagnant in growth.

As someone else pointed out, switch up how you do the standing calf raise: low reps high weight, higher reps, lower weight. Pointing toes in or out can add a slight variation too. And do reps until you can hardly push that last rep. Always use a block of some sort so that you can lower your heal of your foot below your toes. Build a wooden calf raise platform for that purpose, but be sure it is made out of very thick boards. Ensure the platform raises your toes about 3-4 inches off the floor giving that achilles tendon a good stretch on the way down. Once your calfs are in shape, they will easily be your most powerful exercise surpassing your squatted weight by 50% or more (meaning for example if your squat is 300 lbs. your calf raise weight would be 450 lbs. approx.).

HTH :)

[LivinItUp]

I've found that I need to switch up calf raises between standing calf raises and seated calf raises. Switch between the 2 exercises every few weeks to keep the calf muscles guessing so they continue to get stronger. If you do standing calf raises all the time, eventually your calfs get stagnant in growth.

As someone else pointed out, switch up how you do the standing calf raise: low reps high weight, higher reps, lower weight. Pointing toes in or out can add a slight variation too. And do reps until you can hardly push that last rep. Always use a block of some sort so that you can lower your heal of your foot below your toes. Build a wooden calf raise platform for that purpose, but be sure it is made out of very thick boards. Ensure the platform raises your toes about 3-4 inches off the floor giving that achilles tendon a good stretch on the way down. Once your calfs are in shape, they will easily be your most powerful exercise surpassing your squatted weight by 50% or more (meaning for example if your squat is 300 lbs. your calf raise weight would be 450 lbs. approx.).

HTH :)

Agreed! point the toes in, out, and straightforward based on how you feel. Working every angle is supposed to be very important to get better shape in them.