By Jason Ferruggia
Author
of Muscle Gaining Secrets
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Question:
I have a question about how to build big calves. Mine are
like string beans and can’t get them to grow. Got any
good suggestions?
Answer: Whenever people ask me how to build big
calves, I immediately check their training volume. High volume
works great for calves. They are probably the hardest muscle
to build. I have always had calves like string beans.
Just doing a few sets for them
never did anything for me. Since I had no desire to train
them and preferred to focus on strength, athleticism and bigger
compound lifts they stayed that way for years.
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The only time they finally responded
was when I hit them with very high volume. I usually do this for
about a month and then I am bored to tears and stop training calves
again for another year. Also, you can’t really tolerate the
high volume loading for too long before you will start to develop
some ankle/achilles problems. If you are an athlete and run or jump
a lot, don’t even consider doing high volume calf work.
If you just want to get them jacked
then you need to really increase your volume and frequency. I have
put two inches on my calves in just over a month! Now, don’t
get me wrong, my calves are still small, but the point is you can
add significant size to your calves if you really want to.
They were Arnold’s worst bodypart
and he dedicated all his time and effort to bringing them up. He
even cut all of his pants off at the knee so he had to suffer the
embarrassment of having his calves exposed wherever he went.
One option is to do a set of calves
between every set of every exercise you do at each workout. Be sure
to go heavy, get a good, deep stretch and hold it for a second (and
up to ten seconds) at the bottom and get all the way up on your
big toe at the top while flexing your calves hard. When you do standing
calves your knees should be slightly bent on the way down and then
locked out on the way up.
Another option is to start each workout
(or each lower body day) with calves. One day per week would be
heavy standing calf raises for 5-10 sets of 5-8 reps and the other
day would be seated calf raises done for 4-5 sets of 15-30 reps.
You should also consider training
the tibialis anterior muscles. These are the muscles that run down
the front of your shin. Some people develop imbalances from too
much ankle extension and not enough ankle flexion. When this happens
and becomes a problem, the calves will not grow. So train these
muscles by hanging your feet off the end of a bench and holding
a dumbbell or DARD device between them and flexing your feet up
toward you for a few sets of 10-20 reps, twice a week.
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After you finish
up with standing, seated and donkey calf raises and the tib
raises, try doing farmers walks for up to five or even ten
minutes while remaining on your toes the entire time. This
will absolutely smoke your calves.
Finally, finish
up your workouts with 10-20 minutes of jumping rope.
The above strategies
should definitely get anyone’s calves to grow rapidly
in a couple of months. Just be sure to ease into the extra
volume slowly and gradually and take a step back if your ankles
start to bother you.
If you are currently
doing only 3-4 sets of calves twice per week you should slowly
add a set or two at every workout until you get to about 10
or so. Ten hard, heavy sets plus the farmers walks and jumping
rope should be more than enough for most people to add an
inch or so in a month.
Good luck.
Jason Ferruggia
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CLICK HERE to learn more about Jason's
powerful muscle-building book "Muscle Gaining Secrets"
About
The Author
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Jason Ferruggia is a highly
sought after, world renowned strength and conditioning specialist.
Over the last 15 years he has trained more than 700 high
school, college and professional athletes from nearly 20
different sports. He is known for his ability to rapidly
increase muscular size, strength, speed and endurance in
all of his clients.
Jason is currently the chief
training advisor for Men’s Fitness magazine where he
also has his own monthly column called The Hard-Gainer.
He has authored over 200 training articles for various other
fitness related websites and magazines such as Men’s
Health, Maximum Fitness, MMA SportsMag, Today’s Man,
Muscle and Fitness Hers and Shape.
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