Although it is true that calf size is determined by genetics, this does not rule out the possibility of adding mass and defining form! We'll correct a few common blunders and assist you in achieving the calves you want.
Few muscle groups are as difficult to build as your calves, and a lack of progress can lead you to abandon your lower leg workouts entirely. However, before you totally give up, keep in mind that your calf problems may be the product of some easily corrected training errors.
To balance the legs, every athlete desires a collection of well-developed calves. If you have been blessed with excellent lower leg genetics, pay careful attention to the following error prevention tips for optimum calves.
At the end of your workout, work on your calves:
Calves are often overlooked or saved for the end of a leg workout, when you're exhausted and low on energy. Muscles cannot develop if they are not properly trained; you must begin training them the same way you would your back or chest: completely new, from all angles, and to exhaustion.
Start your leg workout with calves, and work them as hard as you do your quads and hamstrings. Add an extra calf day to your split or switch the training to a separate exercise if you're trying to reach your upper legs hard but don't have the stamina to do the same with calves. The aim is to avoid your calves suffering from a lack of care.
Calves should be trained once a week:
One of the biggest errors you can make is only training your calves once a week. And if you only have one big leg day a week (quads, hamstrings, calves), consider incorporating calves into other workouts during the week so that you're training calves 2-3 times a week and staying within the 10-15 rep range.
Although this rep range can work for most other body parts, calves are a little different. You should aim for 20 reps or more, ideally closer to 30. As a result, you'll be forced to use a lighter weight, which will result in better shape.
Following those 30 reps, the calves muscles would have a stronger contraction and a better pump. It also helps you to overwhelm a muscle that is used to high rep work (remember, your calves get a lot of work just walking around all day).
Using Excessively Heavy Weights:
While lifting heavy weights is beneficial to muscle growth, if the weights are so large that you can't use proper form, you won't see much of a gain. Bouncing the weight at the bottom of reps or not contracting at the top of reps are signs that you're using too much weight.
Worse, you may find yourself using other leg muscles to help lift the weight. In addition to lowering your gains, exercising in this manner puts you at risk of injury. If you're experiencing pain in your Achilles tendon, you're probably lifting too much weight.
Similarly, if you can't do standing calf raises without bending your knees or sitting calf raises without using your arms to help lift the weight, you should lower the resistance.
Just Workout With Light Weights:
In the other hand, if you just practice with light weight and high reps, you won't see any results. Calves are a high-resistance muscle group that needs to be overloaded every now and then to develop. Try a combination of heavy weight/low reps and low weight/high reps to see which yields the best performance. Most farmers will discover that a combination of the two produces the best calf growth.
Placement of the feet:
Many people believe that depending on whether you point your feet inward, straight ahead, or outwards, you will touch various sections of the calves. People who turn their feet at acute angles reduce the exercise's effectiveness while also placing a lot of tension on the knees and ankles' joints and tissues.
Not contracting and isolating the muscles:
To get the most out of the calf rise, concentrate on the contraction at the peak of the exercise. Concentrate on flexing hard at the top of each rep to get the most out of your workout.
You can't drop the weight back to the beginning after you've contracted properly at the top of the rep. Do this with each rep, lowering the weight slowly and steadily.
Each rep should be controlled from start to finish. Even if you use the same weights and reps as before, taking your time during each rep will increase the amount of time your calves are under strain.
Stretching is skipped:
This popular blunder can be made with any muscle in your body, but it's especially noticeable when your calves aren't stretched. If you have flat feet or high arches, missing the stretch after a workout could already be causing problems.
Stretching can cause discomfort, but it also stretches out the fascia, a thin connective tissue "cocoon" that surrounds each muscle and can become very tight and compress the muscle. The muscle becomes compacted as a result, and it is unable to expand and develop as effectively.
You should also stretch your calves fully in sets and immediately afterward. This improves mobility, expands the fascia, and stimulates the pump, all of which help recovery and development.
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