Seated calf raises

[qbkilla]

I asked this in another thread someone responded but I forgot the answer...with all these crazy stretch exercises and daily training protocols...why do we not see achillies tears more often when guys hit calves hard? We see bicep, pec, tricep, labrum, rotator cuff tears...but never heard of an achillies tear lifting

 

[3BILLS]

I do both, but find that like anything else, form is king and you have to pay attention to how you do them. Honestly I think that’s the issue with 99% of people who complain about not being able to grow them.

This happens to be one muscle group that I know I have developed well, given my overall age/size/weight etc. old pic for reference, they’re bigger now.
View attachment 247179View attachment 247181View attachment 247182

Didn't you use to be like 350 before ?

Either way nice Calves

 

[Ranchhand]

I find seated are just a waste of my time but i do them once in a great while for change of pace/entertainment. People lean back to get a better mechanical advantage and bounce some. Trying to use any real weight and getting a good contraction ain't easy. Toe press and standing are my bread and butter. I tend to think that calves are one of the movements that benefit more from the full contraction. As opposed to contraction from the bottom half. Most people i see work the bottom end, some work the middle. But i see very few people actually get up on the balls of their feet from the stretch with a full contraction.

100% agree, people lose out by not fully contracting hard at the top, high up on their toes. When I started training back in the day you would get ridiculed for cheating or not going through full ROM. That was when gym comradery was part of gym life, no headphones or ear buds, they didn't exist yet. Music blared through the gym speakers and everyone trained to the same music in the background. Guys in the gym were your bros, evening gym sessions were your social life. Hard to believe, right.

We just trained different back then, including calf training was a part of ever leg session. We trained our calves in different planes, standing and seated. Remember donkey calf raises, if the gym was serious enough there was a donkey calf raise machine in the gym. Just a different mentality these days.

 

[PissedPajamas]

I do equal seated and standing prior to both of my leg days, and I see my calves from the front. Just snapped a picture while I warm up for my push session. I have no complaints with seated work.

 

[Siggy]

I do both standing and seated.

Even moreseo than forearms, calves are largely genetic.

 

[madg]

I love donkey calf raises and standing without weight leaning to front from ultra stretch position

 

[ChickenRiceRepeat]

Growing up in gyms in the 80's, most gyms had both standing and seated calf raise machines. Most Guys used both back then. Comparing calf development from the 80's to the present I think it shows how important it is to train both. After not training calves specifically for years I still get comments on my calves. I do train both standing and seated now, bought a seated calf raise machine for my home gym because my go to gym doesn't have one.

Yeah that’s basically how I view it too

 

[TedDansen]

I train calves with a straight/ semi-bent leg always. Only do seated when I have time. I actually use the seated machine more for tibialis raises than actual seated calf raises.

 

[TedDansen]

I asked this in another thread someone responded but I forgot the answer...with all these crazy stretch exercises and daily training protocols...why do we not see achillies tears more often when guys hit calves hard? We see bicep, pec, tricep, labrum, rotator cuff tears...but never heard of an achillies tear lifting

I think the instantaneous force from an explosive movement like sprinting or change of direction is much, much greater than what you would get in a controlled calf raise. It would be pretty difficult to measure that, but that would be my guess.

 

[KyleSmith1985]

standing and donkey for me. 3x15-25 2x/week. Higher frequency shrinks them.

 

[ChickenRiceRepeat]

I think the instantaneous force from an explosive movement like sprinting or change of direction is much, much greater than what you would get in a controlled calf raise. It would be pretty difficult to measure that, but that would be my guess.

The thing with the explosive force is it’s a very large portion stretch reflex unless you are pausing fully in the hole and not over stretching and rebounding.

That’s the thing with calves. Ever since ive drastically reduced the weight, reduced the ROM to the active ROM (despite the stretch mediated studies), and paused in the “bottom” where the calves are actually still engaged, ive started getting amazing lumps and better results

 

[artie farkalarty]

I have been getting a better feel doing a semi-bent calf raises on the horizontal machine leg press than I ever did on any version of a seated calf raise apparatus. A few were better than others but I actually feel it in the soleus on the leg press.

 

[yellowbird1]

I never did any seated. Just standing with an SSB, hack squat calf raises, and I just started leg press calf raises. I am however a former fat guy

 

[Worldsfastestfatty]

"Fat guy calves" are a thing. Most men I know that were obese that lost a ton of fat have amazing calves. How we extrapolate this into training? I'm not sure, but it seems calves need to be a high-volume muscle for hypertrophy. 8-10 heavy reps on calves probably isn't the move.

I have pretty decent calves I think - never have trained them directly. Mostly built by tabbing (fast marching with a heavy bag on your back - 45lb) and farmers walks.

 

[OldManLogan]

Didn't you use to be like 350 before ?

Either way nice Calves

280, you sadistic bastard!!!! I’m only 5’8” or so!

Jk jk

All kidding aside, I think you’re right, that’s probably how I ended up with a solid leg base… years of walking and running around fat as fuck… plus some genetics I’m sure (my dad had nice calves even when skinny, never exercised).

 

[kscowboy]

Personally I think calves are so tough to grow because of the massively tight facia that covers them and down into the achilles. I personally feel that our calves basically do 10,000 mini calf raises a day just by walking and moving (Based on 20,000 steps a day). So if you weight 200 lbs, each calf is doing 5000-10,000 calf raises a day with 200 lbs. That is why the Lord made the facia around the calf so tough. My best results are some donkey calf raises (Belt squat machine) and toe presses on a leg press machine with painful forced stretching after each set. You have to stretch that facia and then get the muscles to grow into that stretched area. Just my thoughts.

 

[jackedsanta]

100% agree, people lose out by not fully contracting hard at the top, high up on their toes. When I started training back in the day you would get ridiculed for cheating or not going through full ROM. That was when gym comradery was part of gym life, no headphones or ear buds, they didn't exist yet. Music blared through the gym speakers and everyone trained to the same music in the background. Guys in the gym were your bros, evening gym sessions were your social life. Hard to believe, right.

We just trained different back then, including calf training was a part of ever leg session. We trained our calves in different planes, standing and seated. Remember donkey calf raises, if the gym was serious enough there was a donkey calf raise machine in the gym. Just a different mentality these days.

One of my earliest gyms had a Nautilus assisted pullup, dip and donkey calf raise machine

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Ive always preferred standing/donkey over seated. With seated, I just never truly felt the calf muscle pumped or full of blood. Like someeething was getting a workout but it wasnt my calves.

But calves are a weird thing, they get so much work during the day by walking. To me, i've noticed the MOST success with high frequency. Almost a bit like arms. Like getting a pump every other day kept them full and large. And i have good calves for a big tall guy, always have. Get compliments all the time when i wear shorts lol. But when i change a plan to basically 1x weekly, they seem to lose fullness quick. So 2-4x a week for me is a must. Ive kinda noticed the same with forearms (weirdly, which i just started training) 2-4x a week keeps them full and huge.

 

[ChickenRiceRepeat]

I really think we overstretch calves a lot and rely on momentum and stretch reflex too much.

I’m not saying to not get a stretch on calves, but not the maximum range of motion you can use for the movement, because you’ll lose tension on the calf far before that.

Focusing on active range of motion for my calves, going very slow to avoid the stretch reflex, and not always being on my very tip toes during the movement has helped lately.

 

[Real Steele]

In the way back machine I did seated... was strong as hell on them... realized that nithing beats a good donkey calf or atanding calf.

At my gym I show all the members how to use the life fitness hack squat(the one that onky hits your lower back) as a calf machine