Quads growing, calves lacking!

[Mikeybltd]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone's got some advice on putting mass on calves, I can grow really descent quads and hammys but my calves are so stubborn! I do quads and calves Wednesday and hammys calves on Saturdays mixing it up between heavy weight low reps on the calves and low weight high reps even up to 100 reps but they grow very minimal it's so frustrating, let me know if you've managed to grow big calves and how you go about it, cheers!

 

[Metalhead]

I like doing rest pause sets on my calves. On seated raises, i do heavy weight for 15 reps, pause for 10 seconds, do 15 more, rest for 10, and do this until i get to 100. If its too easy, add more weight. I do the same with heavier weight on calf ext on the leg press machine

 

[Mikeybltd]

Cheers metalhead, I do something similar but will give this a try, how often do you do this and are there any other machines you use for calves like the smith machine?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

This question gets asked alot so I apologise in advance for my long winded response

The calves are, arguably, the most genetically determined of all muscle groups, many people train them hard and still can't develop them properly.
I suspect the main reason for this is due to the location of androgen receptors (AR). AR are what testosterone binds to in order to stimulate protein synthesis. In men their is a higher AR density in the upper body, which is why you see shoulders/traps make huge gains when your on gear. However, the calves have a very, VERY low AR density so testosterone can't exert a strong effect here.

The two main muscles your working on the calf are the gastrocnemius (closer to the knee) and the soleus. The gastro gets worked on straight legged exercises (standing calf raise) while the soleus gets worked on bent knee work (seated calf raises).

The routine I recommend for maximum growth (alongside a caloric surplus obviously) is this:

Straight legged calf raise 5 x 5 with MAX weight
3 minutes rest between sets

For this you want to explode up, take a second to squeeze at the top, and then 3 seconds on the negative.
The gastro is a fast twitch muscle so it responds better to heavy loads & explosive movement, you also want to increase the weight with every set.

Donkey/seated calf raise 3 x 8-10
90 sec rest between sets

Here you want 2 seconds on the positive, 1 second pause, and 2 seconds on the negative (2/1/2).
You will probably have to reduce the weight on each set here because of fatigue, which is fine.
The soleus is a slow twitch muscle so it responds better to slow, long sets (you should feel a strong pump with this exercise).

Do this routine twice a week either on their own or after legs and follow it for around 8 weeks before deloading for 2 weeks.

I've had many people get good growth with this routine, so hope it helps

 

[Metalhead]

This question gets asked alot so I apologise in advance for my long winded response

The calves are, arguably, the most genetically determined of all muscle groups, many people train them hard and still can't develop them properly.
I suspect the main reason for this is due to the location of androgen receptors (AR). AR are what testosterone binds to in order to stimulate protein synthesis. In men their is a higher AR density in the upper body, which is why you see shoulders/traps make huge gains when your on gear. However, the calves have a very, VERY low AR density so testosterone can't exert a strong effect here.

The two main muscles your working on the calf are the gastrocnemius (closer to the knee) and the soleus. The gastro gets worked on straight legged exercises (standing calf raise) while the soleus gets worked on bent knee work (seated calf raises).

The routine I recommend for maximum growth (alongside a caloric surplus obviously) is this:

Straight legged calf raise 5 x 5 with MAX weight
3 minutes rest between sets

For this you want to explode up, take a second to squeeze at the top, and then 3 seconds on the negative.
The gastro is a fast twitch muscle so it responds better to heavy loads & explosive movement, you also want to increase the weight with every set.

Donkey/seated calf raise 3 x 8-10
90 sec rest between sets

Here you want 2 seconds on the positive, 1 second pause, and 2 seconds on the negative (2/1/2).
You will probably have to reduce the weight on each set here because of fatigue, which is fine.
The soleus is a slow twitch muscle so it responds better to slow, long sets (you should feel a strong pump with this exercise).

Do this routine twice a week either on their own or after legs and follow it for around 8 weeks before deloading for 2 weeks.

I've had many people get good growth with this routine, so hope it helps

Thanks for that response. Ive never thought to do a 5x5 on a smaller muscle group like i do on compound movements. Will definitely check it out

Cheers metalhead, I do something similar but will give this a try, how often do you do this and are there any other machines you use for calves like the smith machine?

I do thiseverytime i hitlegs. Usually tuesday and friday. Ive had good progress with this style but after seeing rippedzillas response, i will definitely try that also

 

[Mikeybltd]

Cheers mrrippedzilla for the awesome response ill definitely be giving this a go over the next couple of months, it frustrates me so much I wear shorts and people give me shit about my calves but then pull them up n show my quads n it blows them away the size of my quads compared to my calves haha. Also when you say straight leg calf raises do you mean on the smith machine and do you bend your knees a bit to take stress off the knee joint?
I did a cycle last year and like you said my upper body blew up but my quads and hammys did as well but not so much my calves, I want to do another cycle and really smash my calves.

 

[Mikeybltd]

Also is it bad to get doms behind the knee in the hinge part of your leg after doing calves or is my form wrong on standing calf raises wondering if I'm stretching that part of my leg wrong when doing them?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Also when you say straight leg calf raises do you mean on the smith machine and do you bend your knees a bit to take stress off the knee joint?
I did a cycle last year and like you said my upper body blew up but my quads and hammys did as well but not so much my calves, I want to do another cycle and really smash my calves.

For straight leg calf raises you can do it on the smith machine or with free weights, whatever your comfortable with.
You want to keep your legs straight otherwise you take the focus off the gastro muscle (which happens to be the larger, more impressive muscle of the calf by the way).

I should mention that the only people who seem to develop consistently impressive calves are those on cycle YEAR ROUND (like the ifbb pros).
I suspect being on cycle all year makes up for the AR issue I mentioned previously, while a normal cycle will help but not guarantee maximum growth with calves.

Also is it bad to get doms behind the knee in the hinge part of your leg after doing calves or is my form wrong on standing calf raises wondering if I'm stretching that part of my leg wrong when doing them?

Where is the pain exactly? Is it directly behind the knee or the top half of the calf? Is it in both legs?

 

[Mikeybltd]

It's right up the top of my calve just before the bend in your leg just worried I'm doing damage to my tendons, every other body part it can manage the doms (quads can get a bit hard sitting down for too long an trying to get up!) but with my calves ill have doms for up to four days and I mean struggling to walk 50m pain!

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Hmm its a little bit difficult for me to judge without seeing precisely where the pain is but this is an educated guess:

If its at the top of the calf, just before the knee bend as you mentioned, it could be a minor calf strain from stretching it too much on the exercise.
On the eccentric portion of the lift avoid placing your heel completely back on the ground, you want it to be an inch or so above the ground at all times.

If its directly behind the knee, or the method above doesn't work, then it could be a sign of muscle imbalances - this could involve your hips, hams, quads and calves.
If the pain is severe I suggest you get it checked out because you won't be able to figure out the imbalances yourself.

 

[Mikeybltd]

I do tend to bring my heels right down to how ground so that may be my issue I'll try keep them off the ground as you suggested, thanks heaps for the info man a lot of negativity on this site good I see someone that's happy to help! Had all the help I needed back home training with a lot of different people with a lot of experience but I'm travelling round a bit at the mo so thought I'd join this site to find other like minded people.

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Your welcome dude.

It takes a while to workout who can help you & who cant on this forum, but I'm sure if you browse around you'll learn to separate the bad eggs from the good ones

 

[Mikeybltd]

Yeah man just like most gyms there's always the fuckwit wannabes that try staunch each other out, myself I may look intimidating in a singlet and shorts (covered in tatts) but ill always give people advice or a spot no matter who they are! How do I rep you bro?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Click on the small black star under my post you liked, right under my posts/rep power numbers

 

[rdavis]

I'll have to give this a try Mrrippedzilla. My current workout isn't seeming to stem any growth