Good Exercises For Calf Muscle?

Question

Hey, I'm trying to gain bulk in my calf muscles. What are some good exercises I can do? I don't have any machines and don't go to a gym. I just have a pair of free weights.

Typically, for my calf muscle I just stand on the bar part of the dumbbell and hold one of my legs in my hand, and raise my body with my free leg. I do 3 sets of 8, and I feel my calf muscles working, but I could do way more than 3 sets of 8, and I've never gotten sore from this.

I know being sore is a poor test to determine a good workout, but I still feel like I can do way more for my calf muscles after working them out.

Answer 1

From experience, this is one of the most difficult muscles to develop if you didn't inherit a set of big calves.

There are a lot of exercises that you an do, over the long run it doesn't matter all that much which you choose.  All calf exercise consist of raising the heel (actually, it is dorsflexing the foot).  To get results, it is more important to vary the direction and tempo the workout of the workout.

To vary direction, shift the angle of the heel so that you are working the inside, middle and outside.  The upper calf muscle (gastrocnemius) has two distinct heads and you want to hit both.

To vary tempo, in some workouts do a 4+ second negative with medium weight for 2 or 3 sets of 12-15 reps. In others, a 3 second isometric with heavy weight 10 reps, in others a simple 1 second of each for 3-4 sets of 8 reps.  Do jumps explosively from your toes.  Jump rope.  This variation or periodization helps get a bigger cross-section of fiber types within the calf muscles. REST between workouts at least 1 day off.

Good luck!

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opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of nysc

Answer 2

Press your back up against a wall and lift your heels in sets of 50 or 100. then push your feet out with your back still against the wall and lift your toes. This seems really easy but trust me.. it works.. and hurts after a while. :)

L8er,

~!Kitty!~

Answer 3

stand on the edge of a stair with only the front of ur foot then bring ur heels down as far as u can.

-trust me it works!=]

Answer 4

the best way to build calf muscles is to do standing calf raises. get a bench or something and hold weights and lift yourself up onto your tip toes then down to the floor do them until failure( you cant do anymore) also make sure you are getting enough protein to build muscle