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Fitness |OT6| Defying gravity, Quest madness, and Muscle Shaming

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S

SeanR1221

Member
Toe walking will definitely do it.

Both my brother and sister toe walked so badly they needed physical therapy to correct it. Both have monster calves.
 
V

velociraptor

Junior Member
MjFrancis said:
This thread goes on for years, and we still want bigger calves.

The calves are soaked with slow-twitch muscle fibers. We use them constantly. Being the fitness thread, most of us at least walk about on our feet for a bit every day, and so we carry 115lbs - 300lbs+ on our calves all day long. For thousands or tens of thousands of reps. Are you really going to grow them much more with three to six sets of calf raises every week?

I recall we came up with a few possible solutions.

  • Daily bodyweight calf raises. Emphasis on peak contraction at the top. Do 100 reps/leg for a month.
  • Heavy volume. Arnold supposedly did twenty sets a few times a week.
  • Dance. Ballet has you on your tip-toes all day long. Ballerinas have awesome calves. Makes sense, right?
  • Sprint, or sprint up stairs. These task the calves noticeably, and you probably need more cardio anyways.
  • And my favorite solution, be a fat guy for five or more years. Fat guys have huge calves. They are repping 300+ pounds for thousands of reps just walking.
For the love of god, don't get fat to grow your calves. Just... don't

For what it's worth, my calves are most sore following stair sprints.
Click to expand...
Sweet.

I'm always sprinting up and down stairs. Been doing that for years though I still have skinny calves, haha.

I'll try doing the BW routine and see how that works out.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
Now that we've solved calves, anyone have a solution to tiny ankles and wrists. Stupid genetics giving me wrists that a girl would probably think were overly slim. :(
 
M

MjFrancis

Member
Psychotext said:
Now that we've solved calves, anyone have a solution to tiny ankles and wrists. Stupid genetics giving me wrists that a girl would probably think were overly slim. :(
Click to expand...
Skinny wrists and ankles are awesome if you want to build muscles that look bigger than they really are. There's a lot of bodybuilding potential with a skinny frame like that. Powerlifting potential? Not so much. Not to say you couldn't do one over the other anyways.

Just do the best with the hand you're dealt. Don't think of your genetics as a burden, just kick ass with what you have.
 
S

sphinx

the piano man
how are temperatures every in the world, dear Fitgaf? here in Germany we had our first day over 30 C°/ 86 F and damn, I was just getting started, just some warm-up deadlift sets and felt like I usually feel when I am 70% done with my workout, covered in sweat and a bit exhausted, I had to get my shit together and drink a lot of water.

summer is going to take its toll, I can tell.
 
S

Sadetar

Member
Bleepey said:
I'll see if I can take a picture without my face.
Click to expand...
Attaboy. You can also blurr it, if you are unable to otherwise solve this huge first world problem.

Pakoe said:
ibiA8Bp0el84Sp.jpg


Finally lost most of my bulk bloat and my abs are coming back again, still the lack of energy compared to my bulk takes some getting used to.
Click to expand...
DarthWufei said:
Pakoe.... you're fucking gorgeous. Goddamn. I need a moment.
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Darth, I am heartily agreeing with you - Pakoe is absolutely stunning.

RoeBear said:
Everyone posting up pictures and looking good is making me feel left out. Did chest and tris early today.
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Looking good sweetie!

Cooter said:
I'm getting close to where I want to be guys. Also firmly believe I put on some size with this last bulk. Nice to know that it wasn't a waste of time. Give me a couple weeks to put some color on and I'll post a final post bulk pic.
Click to expand...
Yay! I put that to my calendar and I will be asking for them, if it seems you are forgetting.

CherryWoodFuton said:
Best way to train them is to do squats.

Thinness and thickness of calves comes down to genetics more than anything. The only reason I have big calves is because apparently filipinos have naturally full calves
Click to expand...
My calves have always been huge no matter what. It is honestly fairly annoying since I can't find boots from any regular store.

My ankle is 24 cm / 9,4 inches and my calves are around 48 cm / 18,9 inches. These may not sound much to you, but it is basicly douple what my ankle is and trust me, those fancy girly boots just don't fit me.

I assume that they are a result from biking everywhere basicly my whole life and oh yeah, also that already mentioned fat solution has worked wonderfully well as well.
 
R

RumblingRosco

Member
MjFrancis said:
This thread goes on for years, and we still want bigger calves.

The calves are soaked with slow-twitch muscle fibers. We use them constantly. Being the fitness thread, most of us at least walk about on our feet for a bit every day, and so we carry 115lbs - 300lbs+ on our calves all day long. For thousands or tens of thousands of reps. Are you really going to grow them much more with three to six sets of calf raises every week?

I recall we came up with a few possible solutions.


  • [*]Daily bodyweight calf raises. Emphasis on peak contraction at the top. Do 100 reps/leg for a month.
  • Heavy volume. Arnold supposedly did twenty sets a few times a week.
  • Dance. Ballet has you on your tip-toes all day long. Ballerinas have awesome calves. Makes sense, right?
  • Sprint, or sprint up stairs. These task the calves noticeably, and you probably need more cardio anyways.
  • And my favorite solution, be a fat guy for five or more years. Fat guys have huge calves. They are repping 300+ pounds for thousands of reps just walking.
For the love of god, don't get fat to grow your calves. Just... don't

For what it's worth, my calves are most sore following stair sprints.
Click to expand...

I recall someone in here suggesting the one in bold, but to do each rep very slowly. Two seconds going up, hold for two seconds at the top, then two seconds to lower yourself. Do this for 100 reps in a row and you'd spend about 10 minutes on it (6 seconds per rep basically). No idea if it works, but there ya go.
 
G

grumble

Member
Soka said:
I recall someone in here suggesting the one in bold, but to do each rep very slowly. Two seconds going up, hold for two seconds at the top, then two seconds to lower yourself. Do this for 100 reps in a row and you'd spend about 10 minutes on it (6 seconds per rep basically). No idea if it works, but there ya go.
Click to expand...

If you want to build your calves, pausing at the bottom is the number one thing. Otherwise you just bounce off the tendon and waste your time. Two second pause at the bottom, fairly far but not all the way down and all the way up with a squeeze. Do it twice a week with the same effort and increases and bulking you'd do to build your chest and they'll grow. Just pause!

And get a prowler and push it twice a week, heavy. Calves and conditioning? Yes please.
 
A

agrajag

Banned
MjFrancis said:
This thread goes on for years, and we still want bigger calves.

The calves are soaked with slow-twitch muscle fibers. We use them constantly. Being the fitness thread, most of us at least walk about on our feet for a bit every day, and so we carry 115lbs - 300lbs+ on our calves all day long. For thousands or tens of thousands of reps. Are you really going to grow them much more with three to six sets of calf raises every week?

I recall we came up with a few possible solutions.

  • Daily bodyweight calf raises. Emphasis on peak contraction at the top. Do 100 reps/leg for a month.
  • Heavy volume. Arnold supposedly did twenty sets a few times a week.
  • Dance. Ballet has you on your tip-toes all day long. Ballerinas have awesome calves. Makes sense, right?
  • Sprint, or sprint up stairs. These task the calves noticeably, and you probably need more cardio anyways.
  • And my favorite solution, be a fat guy for five or more years. Fat guys have huge calves. They are repping 300+ pounds for thousands of reps just walking.
For the love of god, don't get fat to grow your calves. Just... don't

For what it's worth, my calves are most sore following stair sprints.
Click to expand...

I used to work with a really short girl that had huge calves and her explanation was that she's constantly had to get on her tippy toes to be able to see stuff.
 
C

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
agrajag said:
I used to work with a really short girl that had huge calves and her explanation was that she's constantly had to get on her tippy toes to be able to see stuff.
Click to expand...
Now I will be constantly looking at short people's calves. Thanks a lot.
 
S

Spiritreaver

Member
grumble said:
If you want to build your calves, pausing at the bottom is the number one thing. Otherwise you just bounce off the tendon and waste your time. Two second pause at the bottom, fairly far but not all the way down and all the way up with a squeeze. Do it twice a week with the same effort and increases and bulking you'd do to build your chest and they'll grow. Just pause!

And get a prowler and push it twice a week, heavy. Calves and conditioning? Yes please.
Click to expand...
I'll make a serious post.

This is all I do for calves. I threw out weighed calf raises years ago. I just do a high volume of exactly this and it completely destroys my calves.

I have incredibly large calves, but I was also very fat. So take it for what you will.
 
C

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
Today was the first day in maybe 6 months I wore a sleeveless shirt to the gym. Pleased to report my vein that runs up my arm to my shoulder is back! Things are happening I tell you...
 
C

Chocobro

Member
Well Irobot82, my friend helped me record yesterday's deadlifts. I lifted my chest up more. Last week. Yesterday. They are different angles, but they seem to look better than last week...maybe?
Unfortunately I couldn't bang out another two reps because I felt my form was going to break after the 3rd rep. I was drained when I got to DLs lol; didn't have much for lunch at 12:30 and we were DLing at 5:30.
 
Irobot82

Irobot82

Member
Chocobro said:
Well Irobot82, my friend helped me record yesterday's deadlifts. I lifted my chest up more. Last week. Yesterday. They are different angles, but they seem to look better than last week...maybe?
Unfortunately I couldn't bang out another two reps because I felt my form was going to break after the 3rd rep. I was drained when I got to DLs lol; didn't have much for lunch at 12:30 and we were DLing at 5:30.
Click to expand...

MUCH BETTER! Especially your second rep, that one looked the best. Chest up looks good. Sorry I haven't recorded yet. Been a crazy week, yard work, cutting trees and getting ready for a huge memorial BBQ.
 
S

sphinx

the piano man
regarding calves... the curious thing I have noticed on me is that my legs as a whole are thicker, not just the "diamond", pretty sure the bones are thicker. When I take video to check squat form I always think "mmmhh, I really don't think those were my legs when I started" when I watch it. don't know if it's an illusion though.

Psychotext said:
So who is up for wearing a weighted vest around for a year and seeing if that improves their calves significantly? :D
Click to expand...

they sell a 5 kg/12 lbs weighted vest in the fitness store near me, and not very expensive, I am sooo tempted to buy and try it, 5 kgs extra weight on every bodyweight move sounds like a reaaally good idea.

Dips, pull-ups, pushups and pistol squats, I've been doing those forever, I should be able to do several reps with a weighted chest and without worrying about holding stupid dumbbells with the feet or any other equally lame shit.
 
A

APF

Member
On the conditioning == calves front, a while back Lyle Mcdonald mentioned that he was getting good calf development when he started speed skating.
 
C

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
I don't have overly vascular calves. Not particularly large either. I believe I measured my forearms larger than my calves a while back. These things are built for speed baby!
 
R

RumblingRosco

Member
DarthWufei said:
Man does anyon else have crazy vascular calves? I can't tell if this is gross or awesome. Even on a bulk they are all over my shins/calves.

dlNuMgl.jpg
Click to expand...

On my phone and as I was scrolling down I kept seeing more and more leg without any clothes. I wasn't sure what I'd see at the end of that pic.

But no, no crazy vascularity here. I have one nice vein that sticks out when I walk or do calf raises, but that's it. Maybe after my cut I'll see some more veins.
 
P

Pete Rock

Member
This reminds me that I recently discovered banana hammock thongs to be the greatest undergarment of all time.

I don't have protruding veins running up and down my calves but I do have these weird little venous bulges on the front of my shins running laterally, I'm assuming the vessel is just wider/weaker at that point or something... I'm not really that fond of them and thankfully they aren't hyper visible unless I am super pumped after an entire lifting session.

Calves being jacked (as a priority) is only relevant if that's one of the only things visible on your body at any given moment. Which would mean you'd have to be wearing board shorts and a shirt... zzz...

I have no problem with mine, do no extra work for them. They get covered up with leg warmers or other more interesting accessories nine times out of ten if I'm really trying to show off so it will probably stay that way.
 
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