A consistent thing I seem to see when people put their own routines together, is an unbalanced amount of calf work. They'll do squats, deadlifts and then 2 different exercises for their calves. For starters since I started doing squats and deads (and lunges) my calves have exploded, secondly I've never heard of someones calves being their weak point, and thirdly truly impressive calves come (paradoxically) from cardio work. The best (looking) calves I've ever seen were on an old high school teacher who did a lot of long distance running. As a group probably cyclists have the best calves I've seen. My own calves were huge through high school and I never did weights then, but rode a mountain bike 10k to school and back every day.
Sure they're damned near invulnerable so can probably take the punishment, but I wonder why it is they get so much attention?
Calves are the most visible muscles when you wear shorts. So they're kinda like arms (which are also over-worked in most amateur routines).
I think some direct calf work is effective if it's done every once in a while, again just like arms.
I think the main issues are patience and vanity. People who don't know how to design a good routine (and so therefore end up doing too much calf work) also don't know how muscle is built, and how long it takes. And of course, like I said before, calves are like arms in that they're the most visible. So of course your ego drives you to work those kind of muscles.
People like myself and other argueably brain-damaged firefighters who compete in the Firefighter Combat Challenge do a lot of leg work. We run up five flights of stairs wearing full fire gear, air-pack and carrying a 45 lb. hose roll. This is the first of five parts of the full course. Strong calves are important. Overall strength, anerobic capacity and legs are all important, but it's the legs that will fail first.
__________________
\"Be like a lion, who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. You only throw a stick at a lion once.\" Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991)
i think in teenagers(and beginners) this is one of the most worked body part....just like RockHard said..its the most visible part of your leg....although my peers may overwork it, i do a very little amount every once in a while along with my squats, deadlifts...etc....
Ive heard that many adults who lift tend to forget about their calves...this is a bad thing...
running is probably the best thing for them though...i run a lot because i am a soccer player...my calves are pretty strong..
__________________
Alpha Volunteer Fire Company
State College, PA
'Protecting State'
A lot of guys at my gym have tiny little calves. They could do with some focus on them.
The ones that do seem to do calf exercises bounce those weights around so much, it's like they're practicing for giving their child a horsie ride on their knee.
lol...yea...if you dont lern it young, youll never do it right....(or its hard to)....its much easier to learn when your younger because you dont have the pressure of lifting a lot of weight...
__________________
Alpha Volunteer Fire Company
State College, PA
'Protecting State'
Higher calf strength produces a higher vertical jump. But, I doubt thats the reason why most people do calf work. The biggest calf muscles I seen at the gym were people that have roofing as an occupation and they did little or no calf exercise in a gym. Spinnng instructors had decent calves also.
__________________
In Health,
Silas S Chen Exercise Specialist @ MorganStanely Fitness Center Mid-town NYC
Originally posted by fitone: Higher calf strength produces a higher vertical jump. But, I doubt thats the reason why most people do calf work. The biggest calf muscles I seen at the gym were people that have roofing as an occupation and they did little or no calf exercise in a gym. Spinnng instructors had decent calves also.
Fitone, where did you read about the higher vertical jump thing? Most of what I have read has said that direct strength training to the calves won't have a large effect on vertical jump. But I haven't read all that much about it so I am just curious.
I haven't worked my calves in about a year. Its boring and my calves still look sexy.
Danny
__________________
Limitations are for people who have them.
I used to have good looking calves, now they are sorta missing. I gotta be honest though, I haven't directly trained calves with focus in forever, perhaps it's something I should start doing!
__________________
DKing: I would rather lift with naked old dudes
They probably get so much attention because Arnold says they should.
I give mine a lot of attention, but not at the expense of doing the important stuff. What does it hurt to hit them hard a couple times a week after doing your main leg workout?
I had good calves even before I started lifting, I think it was a combination of genetics and the fact that I played a lot of golf (walking, no cart).
BTW, I do them strictly for vanity purposes. Shameless, I know!
Sad to say, but I have never exercised my calves. When I weighed 405 LBS, just walking was all the workout I needed.
__________________
Management has decided, that until further notice, this space shall in no way be used to express opinion, humor, sarcsm or any other communication that may be rude, crude or in any other way disruptive to the work environment. Have a nice day.
Linear Mode
