Here is all the information you need to know about training calves!
And if you dont want to read, you can just check out this video!
Exercises and movement patterns
Training calves is a lot different than training any other body part.
Which means that there are not really any types of exercises that we could divide this into, no matter what exercise you will end up doing, it will always be some kind of calf raise variation.
So there is no exercise that is quote on quote „the best“ for the calves.
Because all the exercises are basically the same, with a slightly different spin on it.
Which means, that you should pick the variation that you feel like works the best for you.
The exercises that you can choose from are for example: The standing calf raise, seated calf raise, machine calf raise, or you can even hit calves on the leg press, or on the smith machine.
Number of workouts
For most of the people 2-4 workouts per week should be more than enough.
But if you are one of the folks, who has calves that are not responding at all.
Then you can train them up to 6 times per week.
I know that it might sound like an overkill, but if your calves are extremely stubborn, then you have no other option.
Training calves is basically like playing whack-a-mole.
In other words, when you train calves on one day, and then you wake up the next day, they are most likely ready to be trained again, because thats just how the calves are.
So you just gotta hit them very frequently, because thats how you force them to grow.
But as always, work your way up slowly, and listen to your body.
Dont go from training calves 0 times per week, to instantly training them 6 times per week, that would be just dumb.
Number of sets
In each workout where you train your calves, do at least 3 sets of the chosen exercise, but you dont have to stop there, you can easily go up to 5sets per workout if you want to squeeze in some more volume.
The overall number of sets per week directly corresponds with how many times per week you train your calves.
So if you dont really care about calves that much, do at least 6 sets per week, which means 3 sets twice a week – thats the bare minimum.
From this point, that number can exponentionally increase based on how well your calves are responding to the training.
You can base it off of this very professional graph.
Rep ranges
For the calves, you should DEFINITELY use a higher rep range.
15 reps is the minimum amount of reps in each set, you should only go up from there.
The rep range that i would recommend is 15 to 30 reps in each set.
But yes, it should be closer to 30, than to 15.
When do i train calves?
I think, that one of the questions you still have in mind is „where do i put calves in my workout?“
Well, there is a lot of options that you can choose from.
The most common option, is to just do them at the end of your workout.
But we all know, that if you do calves at the end of the workout, you are twice as likely to skip them..
So this is where the ultimate trick comes into play.
If you are a notorious calf-skipper, or if you just want to enhace the gains from your calf training, put them FIRST in your workout!
I know that it sounds weird, but it works!
Putting them first, will not negatively impact any of your other lifts.
And when you train calves while you are still mentally present, then you can get more gains than if you did them last in the workout.
You might be underestimating how important it is to be mentally present.
Imagine that you did a hard leg day, and at the end of it, you still gotta do calves.
At that point, you dont even know where you are, and you are just mindlessly moving up and down without getting any results.
Because the technique is the most important thing that you need to pay attention to, if you want to actually grow your calves.
It wont matter, if you train your calves 6 times per week, if you form is terrible, then your calves will never grow, thats just how it is.
Calf raise technique
I will demonstrate the proper technique on the standing calf raise, but it can be applied to any other calf exercise that you do, because as you learned here today, they are all basically the same.
You will start by slowly lowering your heels and holding the bottom stretch for a second, and then you go up slowly.
When you hit the top position, hold the stretch again for a second or so.
And you repeat this over and over.
Pausing on the bottom and on the top of the rep is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL.
Yes, doing it like this will make the exercise a lot harder.
But thats what you gotta do, if you want to grow your calves.
And also, if you decide to do any type of standing calf raise, always do it on an elevated surface, never do it just on a flat ground, because you will completely miss the bottom stretch.
You can use stairs, a big plate, or anything else that will create an elevated surface that you can use.
Short rest times
Calves dont need a lot of time to recover between the sets.
You can just take 1 minute of rest between the sets, that will be more than enough.
Not only that you will get more growth, but you will also get it done way quicker!
Walking
Walking is a very underrated, when it comes to actually increasing the size of your calves.
My advice to you, is to start walking more!
Stop using your car to go to places that you could have walked for couple of minutes.
Because it all adds up.
Remember, you are not doing it just for your calves, but also for you heart..
Thats all you need to know about training calves!