Calves are the bodybuilder’s biggest nightmare.
Why?
Because it’s hard to see any growth no matter how hard you train them – some people would say it’s impossible.
However, thankfully, that’s not true.
You can build bigger calves. But you’ll need to train both smarter AND harder if you want them to really pop and make everyone jealous.
Let’s take a look at their anatomy to understand why calves are notorious for being hard to grow.
First, calves are BIG compared to many other muscles.
This means it’s quite hard to activate them completely and cause enough damage to trigger muscle synthesis.
On the flip side, since calves are resistant to damage and soreness, you can train them a couple of times per week.
For example, you can add calf raises to every workout, including upper body days.
Second, calves are made of slow-twitch muscle fibers.
Slow-twitch muscle fibers are highly resistant to fatigue which means the usual 5-15 rep range doesn’t work for them very well.
In other words, it’s impossible to cause enough damage that would trigger muscle synthesis if you stay in the 5-15 rep range.
That’s why you should aim for a higher rep range, ideally 20 or more.
Third, the ankle joint, which plays a crucial role in calf raises, doesn’t go through a large range of motion.
That’s another reason why it’s hard to cause enough damage to your calves.
The solution to that is to hold a stretch when doing calf raises.
You see, building bigger calves is possible, but you should be following these three rules:
- Train them as often as you can (ideally at the end of every workout)
- Aim for a higher rep range (20 or more)
- Hold a stretch for a couple of seconds with each rep to increase time under tension which is a major factor in muscle growth
Don’t listen to anyone who says that the size of your calves is genetically determined.
Even though genes have a huge influence on muscle size, your calves can look impressively if you train them often, with high rep ranges, and a few seconds of stretching in each rep.
Besides that, muscle growth is also hugely influenced by your diet.
That’s why you should take Oh!mino Muscle Synthesis Activator before and after every workout.
The amino acids in this high-quality supplement will help you achieve the full growth potential of every muscle in your body, including the notorious calves!
Stay fit my friend,
Michael
Founder & CEO