The Quickest, Most Effective Way to Great Calves

You've probably seen this guy in the gym: biceps the size of melons, benching 300 pounds easily, yet standing on a set of chicken legs. Calves are notoriously neglected by bodybuilders, but their development is crucial to achieving muscular legs.

Calves are always on display, even when the rest of your legs are hidden underneath your bathing suit. Even people who don't want big, bodybuilder's legs can tone and shape the calves by dedicating just a little bit of time at the gym. A good calf workout should last no more than 20 minutes, but effectively hit the muscle from all angles.

The calves are predominantly made up of two large muscles: the gastrocnemius, which gives the calf its "rounded" look, and the soleus, which is the longer, flatter muscle underneath. A well-designed calf workout will work both portions of the muscle.

Standing Calf Exercises:

In general, standing calf exercises will emphasize the gastrocnemius, the round part that most people think of when they think "calf." The standing calf raise is one of the best exercises for its development:

* Position the balls of your feet on a block with a loaded barbell resting on the back of your shoulders (as you would for a squat).

* Extend your calves as you raise your heels as high as possible.

* Hold the position for a second or two and return to the start.

Add variety to the standing calf raise by pointing your toes inwards or outwards, or using a Smith machine at the gym.

Another great standing calf exercise is the single-legged raise.

* Position the ball of one foot on a block, holding a dumbbell on the same side.

* Extend your calf upwards by raising your heel.

You may need to use your other arm to balance on a wall. Performing this exercise one leg at a time will help correct any muscular imbalances you may have developed.

Seated Calf Exercises:

Seated calf raises place more emphasis on the soleus muscle, the longer muscle which lies underneath the gastrocnemius. To perform these:

* Sit on a bench with a block on the floor in front of you.

* Place the balls of your feet on the block, and a loaded barbell across your upper thighs.

* Use your calves to extend your heels up as far as possible before returning to the starting position.

To add some variety to your seated calf exercises, try working each leg independently, re-positioning your toes, or using the seated calf machine at the gym.

Another very effective exercise that works the entire calf muscle is the leg machine toe press, executed by sitting at the leg press machine and using only the balls of your feet on the foot platform (which remains in the locked position) to raise the platform as far as possible.

Those are really the only moves you will need to get great looking calves. Try to do two variations of seated calf raises and two standing calf exercises per workout to ensure no portion of the muscle is neglected. Every few weeks, you should be able to perform each exercise with about 10 percent more weight. Also vary the amount of repetitions per movement, from 6-15, every few workouts to keep shocking the muscles.

I also like to completely exhaust the calves once in a while by performing each exercise with no weight at all, completing 50+ reps. They will burn like never before, but it will be well worth it!

Sources: bodybuilding.com
criticalbench.com
personal experience

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