How to Build Muscles In Your Calves
One of the areas that tends to frustrate beginning bodybuilders the most, is finding out how to build muscles in their calves. How to get more definition and get them more pronounced. The truth is, many will give little attention to their calves compared to what they would other body parts. If there is more attention paid, however, you can see
results pretty quickly.
To get a better idea of how best to work this area, it is necessary to know how the calf is constructed and how it is used. There are two major muscles involved, the Gastrocnemius and the Soleus. The Gastrocnemius is the muscle that you see on top and is what most people think of when they think about the calf muscle. It is the one that is most visible. It has two "heads," the medial and lateral heads. These are what you see on those defined calves that look like two separate muscles. It attaches on one end to the heel using the Achilles Tendon and on the other end to the Femur right behind the knee. It’s primary purpose is elevating the heel, also known as Plantar Flexion. This is important because it helps you to stand, walk, jump, and run, all of which require the heel being lifted.
The other main muscle is the Soleus, which is pretty much hidden from view but still incredibly valuable for standing and walking. It runs from just below the knee to the heel, much like the Gastrocnemius only laying right below the more visible muscle. There are many anatomists who consider the two muscles to be one and the same, which will give you an idea how close these are to each other. The only difference in the two, is that the Soleus plays more of a part when your knee is bent and you need to raise your heel.
For the calves to get a good workout, there needs to be a high number of reps involved, no less that 15-20. You also need to make sure that in each rep, you have a good long stretch at the bottom and a really hard contraction at the top. Make sure that you go through the full extension with every repetition. You will also want to do a different calf exercise each time because the calves adapt easily to training exercises and plateau quickly. Keep your calves on their toes by switching things up often.
Most of the work that you are going to do is essentially either standing or seated versions of the same exercises. The standing calf raises will be on a calf machine or with you holding a barbell on your shoulders and your feet half way on a platform or piece of wood, with your heels hanging off the back. The machine is better because it is safer to put a lot more weight on. Don’t be afraid to put a couple hundred pounds more than you normally would use. Your calves can support a lot of weight and it is going to take a lot to get them to take notice.
For seated calve raises, either use a machine or place weight on your lap and like the standing calf raises, you will want the front half of your feet on a block or something where you can lower the back half of your feet and get a good extension. Also, like the standing calf raises, you will want to use the machine more because you can safely use more weight.
Doing dead lifts is another great exercise to develop calf muscles. About 20% of the work is being done with your calves so be confident that you are getting them worked then as well.
Again, make sure that you do a large number of repetitions in each set and use as much weight as you can safely lift. Also remember to use as many different exercises as you can each time you work them out. Also, pay close attention to the work your calves are doing, instead of focusing on the weight. The more you are able to concentrate on the work, the faster your calf muscles will grow.
Are you sick and tired of busting your ass in the gym with nothing to show for it? Maybe you’re finally ready to discover the real truth about how to build muscle and gain weight.
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