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2 Ways to Build Massive Calves

Some say calves are hard to build. But I say no. The workouts are hard, but the concept is really simple. There are two main muscles in the calves, and each works in a different way. The gastrocnemius is the “showy” muscle of the calf. It is the one with the two visible heads. It is most easily developed by doing standup exercises (with leg nearly straight) like calf presses, donkey, calf presses on a leg press machine, standing one-legged dumbbell presses and the like. The soleus is the muscle under the gastrocnemius and it extends from the knee down to the ankle. It is best stimulated with a bent leg. Seated calf presses are about the only exercise you need. Calves sometimes take more volume for muscle growth. Reason? You use them all the time. Therefore, they're used to high volumes. But what they're not used to is really heavy weights. At the most, the most they're worked out is your body weight. So, in order to blast them into super-growth, you need to train with very heavy weights. Shoot for body weight on the calf press to begin, but make it your goal to get at least to double your body weight. The soleus doesn't get nearly as much exercise as the gastrocs. So you can really blast them with lighter weights and higher reps. A good starting calf routine is 2 sets of 10-15 reps standing calf press and 2 sets of 15-20 reps of seated calf presses. Work up in weights first, then add sets. For variety, throw in some calf presses on the leg press machine or some donkeys. That's really it. For more muscle-building training ideas, tips, and routines, visit my main site, Muscle-Build.com. If you're having a difficult time putting on size, check out Hardgainer Manifesto.