Calf Raise: the foundation of calf training

That of the calves represents an obscure point of training routines of nearly every fitness lover. In fact, we can recognize some peculiar behaviors:

• I train my calves religiously when I have the leg day
• I don't train my calves, I do squats a lot, lunges and take off
• I throw a few sets there when I remember (abs style)
• calves? What calves?
• what leg day? (I see you, chicken legs!)

The difficult waist of the calves

The thing is, calves take an absurd amount of work… right from the day you are born. Having to support and balance the weight of the bodyin fact, they are more than used to continuous efforts and solicitations. Conversely, this is precisely why training them directly is difficult, and often does not bring results.

Which leads many fit-enthusiasts to neglect them, having in their hearts given up on developing the characteristic "diamonds" - the form that the gastrocnemius takes, the calf muscle, when he is trained.

(The natural alternative is to build a lot of mountains. But a lot, and for years)

Welcome, calf raise!

Generalizing, and beyond any classification anxiety of the most fussy trainers, all that contracts the calf is "calf raise". It does not matter if

• free body
• with overloads
• with the calf machine
• upright
• sitting
• in one leg

… If you contract your calf, isolating it, you are doing a calf raise.

The simplest form of calf raise is this:

• upright
• feet close together (not together) and pointed forward
• contract your calves, lifting yourself up on your toes
• come back down

This is a rep.

How to step up the calf raise

There are four parameters that define the intensity of the movement:

• overload: Whatever increases the weight that your calves naturally carry around on a daily basis (i.e. your bodyweight), it is overloaded. From a pair of kettlebells in your hand to a barbell on your back.
• time. Try to make each phase of the movement last 2 seconds: rise, pause "squeezing" the calves, descent. So hate me now.
• rep. Yeah, it takes reps. A calf workout can easily use 5 sets of 20 reps.
• "freedom". In addition to the gastrocnemius, there are in the calves a set of stabilizing muscles that come into play when your balance is stressed. The best calf raise is the one during which you don't lean on any support. The machine, on the contrary, isolates: it is perfect for working on the form, but the functionality is lost a little.

Finally, as an extra parameter, the direction of the toes. A good routine can include:

• majority of series of calf raises with parallel toes
• some series of calf raises with the toes slightly converging
• some series of calf raises with the toes slightly apart

In this way, the aforementioned stabilizers, as well as the working angles of the gastrocnemius, are fully stressed.

Why train the calves?

Don't neglect calf training. Don't make the mistake of saying “I train them with Wednesday night soccer… like the legs”. A trained calf contributes to the solidity of the kinetic chain, stabilizes you during weight lifting movements, and allows you to make effective drill for squats and deadlifts ("grab the floor").

Don't be those chicken legs!

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