How To Shape And Tone Your Calves

Practical Ideas For Training Calf Muscles

Jun 12, 2007 DE Stanelli

If achieving balance is important when conditioning your body, then it's wise to add intense calf training to your workouts.

Developed calves allow trainees to perform activities like walking, jogging or standing for longer periods with less discomfort.

Calves are skeletal muscles attached to bones and voluntarily controlled. Voluntary means individuals can generally control movement at will. Calves function in movements such as walking, running, standing and similar activities where leg muscles are used.

Without getting overly wrapped in technical lingo, there are approximately nine cross-sections of skeletal muscle fibers forming the calf. The most recognizable sections are the gastrocnemius and the soleus. Calves are categorized as high endurance muscles.

Shaping Stubborn Muscles Is Not Easy

Calves are stubborn muscles to develop considering they are used practically everyday to bear one’s bodyweight. Unfortunately, daily stimulation makes it tough to develop aesthetically pleasing calf muscles without some form of augmented resistance such as weight training. Loading a calf machine with weight is an example of augmenting resistance.

Few people have naturally shapely calves without participating in some form of resistance training. High responders who naturally have well-developed calves were fortunate enough to select parents that passed on excellent genes for calf development. Genetic influence accounts for a muscle’s shape.

That isn’t to say that low responders are out of the running. They just have to work harder and smarter when exercising calf muscles. Low responders can make great improvements with a suitable training program.

Former IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Tony Pearson is a classic example of a low responder in terms of calf development. Tony's high calves had short muscle bellies. He worked hard enough to maximize average genetic potential for building calves and he became a famous international body building celebrity. Low responders can build up calf muscles if motivation to succeed is high.

Well developed calf muscles not only add aesthetic appeal to one's physique, they also contribute to fatigue resistance. Strengthening the calves increase lower leg endurance thereby enabling greater mobility.

Calf Training At Home

Trainees can exercise their calves at home without fancy equipment. Calves will respond when exercised properly whether using a $1,500.00 calf machine or a $15.00 exercise ball

A home gym workout can be accomplished using bare necessities. A pair of adjustable dumbbells, an exercise ball for kneeling exercises, a sturdy chair for body support and a secure, non-slip step is efficient to start.

Dumbbells can be used when performing standing calf exercises on a step. For safety reasons, only one dumbbell should be used at a time so that the free hand acts to balance the body.

Generally, trainees hold the weight on the same side as the muscle exercised. For example, when working the left calf, the left hand holds the dumbbell and the right hand balances the body by holding onto a chair, banister or the wall.

When balancing the body with the right hand, work the left calf by rising on the ball of the left foot as highly as comfortable and then descend back into starting position. Use slow deliberate movements and focus on feeling the muscle work throughout its full range of motion. Be sure to use appropriate footwear to avoid slipping off the step.

Kneeling calf exercises are performed with an exercise ball. While facing the ball, kneel and place both hands atop the ball. Note the balls of the feet are automatically positioned to start the exercise. Slowly rise on the balls of the feet and imagine touching your upper thighs to your elbows. Descend back into starting position. Kneeling calf raises are a great change of pace exercise that can be done without weights.

Stimulating The Calves

To stimulate development, keep repetitions in the moderately high range. The amount of resistance used should be heavy enough to squeeze out 15 - 30 hard lifts. The resistance should make the exercise challenging, but not to the point where proper lifting technique is compromised. Rest 1 -2 minutes between sets.

Exercises like kneeling calf raises, which don’t require resistance other than bodyweight can be made more challenging by varying width of foot stance, shortening rest periods between sets and slowing repetition speed.

One-to-three sets per exercise should suffice. Fitness level, training experience and common sense should be yardsticks used to determine appropriate workloads. More advanced trainees can add an extra challenge by completing more sets or performing each set to failure (point where exercise cannot be done using strict form).

Exercise calf muscles at least 2 or 3 times per week allowing a day of rest between sessions. Reduce the probability of over-training by alternating days of heavier workloads (15 – 20 reps) with lighter workloads (25 – 30 reps). Workouts shouldn’t last more than fifteen-to-twenty minutes depending on goals.

Warm up before sessions and cool down afterwards. Warm ups could include walking in place for several minutes or taking a hot shower before training. Stretching should come after warm up.

Stretching cold muscles make them are more susceptible to injury and sluggish performance. During cool down, stretch periods might last 5 – 10 minutes. Post-workout stretches aid recovery, alleviate muscle stiffness and improve flexibility.

The Jump Off: 60 Days To A Hip-Hop Hard Body offers detailed illustrations on stretching properly and using exercise balls to train the entire body.

For information on building an athletic lower body check out the article Build Big Legs.

Looking for additional insight on the role genetics play in bodybuilding success? Please read What Role Do Genetics Play In The Success of a Bodybuilder?

The copyright of the article How To Shape And Tone Your Calves in Fitness is owned by DE Stanelli. Permission to republish How To Shape And Tone Your Calves in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Woman flexing calves