Training

Massive, muscular arms. You want them. And we're talking about pure muscle mass here - not fat mass. Nobody cares how big your upper arm circumference is if your arm muscles are encased in 5 centimetres of fat. If you don't have a single visible vein protruding from your biceps, then you still have some work to do. This article will show you what you should do.

The secret to muscular arms

To make anything on your body bigger, you need to grow as a whole. While you can build up certain areas to a certain extent without a major increase in body weight, if we're talking about adding 5 centimeters to your upper arms, then your whole body needs to grow.

For every 2.5 centimeters you gain in upper arm circumference, you need to gain between 5 and 7 kilos of lean body mass. The larger your arms are, the higher this value will be. An exerciser who wants to increase their upper arm circumference from 37.5 to 42.5 cm may need to gain 15 kilos, but an exerciser who wants to go from 47.4 to 52.5 centimetres will need to gain between 12 and 15 kilos.

This is the reason why it is so difficult to achieve an impressive upper arm circumference of 50 centimetres. Unless you are genetically programmed to have huge arms, you will need to become more muscular overall to achieve such monstrous proportions. There is no one with 75 kilos who walks around with 50 centimeters of upper arms. This is also the reason why the program described below includes back and leg training.

Know your points of highest resistance

Most exercises with free weights offer maximum resistance in different areas of the range of motion. Since the biceps consist of two heads and the underlying brachialis, each of these areas will end up with slightly more tension in certain exercises depending on the wrist/elbow position and resistance curve.

Even if the term "isolate" is not quite correct, you can shift a greater proportion of the tension to certain areas. In this way you will achieve a more complete development. In the program presented, you will perform three exercises for the triceps and three exercises for the biceps - one exercise for each maximum point of the strength curve - using mainly barbells and dumbbells:

1. At the beginning of the first quarter of the range of motion.
2. At the middle point of the movement.
3. At the end point of the exercise.

A simple rule for arm training

Follow this simple rule before your next workout to prevent elbow problems: Biceps before triceps and biceps and triceps together.

Perform your bicep workout first. This will increase the blood flow around the elbow and provide a kind of "cushion" for the triceps training that follows. In addition to this, you should always train your arms completely on the same day. I've split the arms up at different times, but I've always made the best progress when I've trained biceps and triceps together.

Biceps

1 - Barbell curls with grip modification

This is all about the middle section of the strength curve. You'll perform this exercise in a way that shifts a little more tension to the short head of the biceps first and then change the grip to bring the whole family into play.

Start with a wider-than-shoulder-width grip, pulling your elbows to the side of your body. To bring the short head of the biceps more into play, press your elbows to the side of your body while rotating your hands outward hard against the bar. Try to literally bend the bar as you perform the curl movement. Perform 5 repetitions. Then switch to a shoulder-width grip and perform 5 more repetitions, keeping your elbows pulled to the side of your body. Perform 5 sets of 10 repetitions, using the same weight for all 5 sets.

Choose a weight that allows you to focus on achieving a very hard contraction at the highest point of the movement - not a weight that you have to heave upwards with momentum.

2 - From incline bench curls to standing hammer curls

This is our exercise for the beginning of the strength curve. The first quarter of the movement is usually where the resistance is at its highest. This exercise emphasizes the long head of the biceps and the brachialis.

Exercises like this load the muscle in a stretched position and offer tremendous growth potential. Performing dumbbell curls with the palms facing forward instead of towards each other will place the biceps in a more extended position, stretching the long head of the biceps in particular. There will be an enormous amount of tension at the starting point of the movement.

Use a weight that allows you to perform 10 repetitions with good form. Sit on an incline bench with a steep backrest and perform 10 reps, then immediately stand up and perform hammer curls. Perform as many hammer curls as possible while standing. Perform a total of 4 sets of 10 repetitions with the same weight, although you should find it difficult to complete the fourth set.

3 - Concentration curls prone on an incline bench

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqnll8hqqHA

This exercise targets the long head of the biceps - the end of the resistance curve. Lie prone on an incline bench with the working arm hanging straight down. Curl and consciously tense the biceps hard at the highest point of the movement, where the resistance curve reaches its maximum. When you reach the highest point of the movement, lift the elbow slightly to further shorten the biceps and achieve a harder contraction (one function of the biceps is shoulder flexion). Control the dumbbell during the lowering movement.

Train one arm at a time. You will find it easier to concentrate on the contraction. Three sets of descending sets of 8 repetitions are the completion of the bicep workout. Use a pair of dumbbells with which you can only perform 8 repetitions. Perform a set of 8 repetitions until muscle failure and then immediately grab a lighter weight with which you can perform another 8 repetitions until muscle failure and repeat the whole thing one more time. Rest for 2 or 3 minutes and repeat for two more rounds.

Triceps

Triceps have three heads, which is where the name triceps comes from. Have you ever seen a guy from behind whose triceps looked like two hams hanging off the back of his arms? That's excellent development of the long and middle muscle head. Have you ever seen a guy whose triceps stuck out to the side, giving his arms an amazing 3D look? That's excellent development of the lateral muscle head.

And just like with the biceps, depending on the exercise and how it is performed, certain muscle heads will get more tension than others. Of course, all three muscle heads will be involved in each exercise, but at this point we are talking about shifting most of the tension to a specific area.

1 - Cable tricep press with a rope grip or a grip with the ends pointing down at an angle

This exercise targets the lateral and middle head of the muscle - and the end of the resistance curve. You can perform this exercise with a grip with the ends pointing diagonally downwards or a rope grip, with the latter you can specifically turn your hands outwards at the lowest point of the movement, but you will achieve a much harder contraction with a simple trick.

At the lowest point of the movement, turn your hands down as hard as you can, trying to turn your hands so that your knuckles are pointing towards the floor. They may not actually point down in the end, but trying to achieve this will create an intense contraction. Perform 5 sets of 12 reps, using the same weight for all 5 sets.

2 - Bench press with reverse grip on the multi press

This exercise targets the lateral and middle muscle head - and the middle section of the strength curve. When bench pressing with a reverse grip, you may find it difficult to hold the bar. This can get to the point where you focus too much on simply moving the weight and trying to stabilize the triceps instead of loading them. Try this exercise on the multi press and you won't have to worry about stabilization. Instead, you'll be able to pull your elbows in tightly and put all the weight on your triceps - especially during the eccentric phase of the movement.

Do not move the bar all the way down to your chest. End the downward movement a few centimeters higher to ensure that your triceps are under enormous tension the entire time. After 3 to 4 warm-up sets, perform 3 to 4 heavy sets of 6 to 8 repetitions, working your way up to a heavy set and then reducing the weight on each subsequent set.

3 - PJR Pullovers (PJR Pullovers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIvrpTYIUUU

This exercise targets the long muscle head - the start of the resistance curve. An adduction of the arms is performed by the long muscle head of the triceps, which works together with the latissimus.

No other exercise trains the long head of the triceps as effectively as this one. The key here is to drop the dumbbell down as soon as it passes your forehead and then push it back up using the triceps to the extended arm position.

Perform 1 to 2 sets. Keep the weight slightly lighter and perform more repetitions rather than trying to use ultra-heavy weights. Due to the degree of stretch involved, too heavy a weight could lead to injury. Stick to 1 to 2 sets of 15 to 30 repetitions to give your triceps the rest.

The foundation for body-wide muscle mass: training for your back and legs

Simply going to the gym and only training your arms will not be enough. As you may remember, the size of your arms is limited by the total muscle mass of your body. So do back and leg workouts too, but keep it simple. This will look easy on paper, but the execution will be anything but.

Legs & back: training session 1

Squats

Perform 2 sets of 20 repetitions. Take as much time as you need between these two sets - up to 10 minutes between sets 1 and 2.

Choose a weight with which you can perform 20 repetitions. If you can only do 18 reps, stick with that weight until you can do 20 reps. If you can do more than 20 repetitions, increase the weight. Increase the weight as often as possible while maintaining good form.

Deadlift deficit with straight legs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgsEuQIVaZ8

Perform one set of 15 repetitions, giving it your all. Perform the exercise through the entire range of motion, starting from the floor with a slight bend in the knees. Your latissimus, trapezius, gluteus, hamstrings and everything else on the back of your legs will be completely wiped out after this set. It's only one set, but you have to do it to make it count.

Legs & Back: Workout 2

Walking lunges

Perform walking lunges for the first 15 minutes. Only with your own body weight. Count how many lunges you can do in 15 minutes and try to beat the previous week's total each week.

Pull-ups with an underhand grip

Do these for 15 minutes. Again, you only use your own body weight and count the number of total repetitions. And then try to exceed this value every week. If you are one of those 70 kilo guys who can do 4000 pull-ups in one set, then use so much extra weight that you can only do 15 reps per set.

The program

Day 1 - Legs and back

Day 2 - Arms

* AMAP = as many repetitions as possible

Day 3 - No training

Day 4 - Legs and back

* 15 minutes, counting the total repetitions.

Day 5 - Repeat the arm day

Day 6 & 7 - Training free days

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/no-bs-arm-building-program

By Paul Carter

This is an excellent exercise if your shoulder muscles tend to take on too much work during chest training.

Flying movements with manual resistance

1. Lie on an incline bench with a slight incline and perform a set of strict flying movements with a pair of moderately heavy dumbbells, gradually going deeper and deeper into the stretch at the bottom of the movement with each repetition. Don't force this stretch, let your movements increase the range of motion on their own.
2. When you reach the point of muscle failure, drop the dumbbells and pick up a lighter pair of dumbbells. Perform more strict reps, with your training partner now gently pushing your elbows down as you lower the weight, forcing you to fight the resistance. Make sure that your training partner stops pushing at the lowest point of the movement. At this very fragile point of the movement, additional pressure is dangerous.
3. Move the dumbbells back up and repeat the process. Your training partner should adjust the amount of pressure they apply to your level of fatigue. Therefore, make sure to choose your training partner wisely.

Expect to be exhausted quite quickly. If this is not the case, then your training partner has not applied enough pressure. What makes this exercise better than flying movements with bands, chains or on the cable pulley is the fact that your training partner can also adjust the pressure during the repetition. There is therefore no need to stop, change the equipment, etc. He simply pushes with more or less resistance.

When should you perform this exercise?

Flying movements with manual resistance are best performed after chest press training.

Tip: How strength athletes should interpret blood values

Have you had your blood values checked? Good, but as an athlete there are a few things you need to know - things your doctor might not know.

By Ryan Bergren

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/living/tip-how-lifters-should-read-lab-results

Athletes are different

It's not that an athlete's body works differently than a non-athlete's body. It's much more about the stress the body is put under when someone is exercising intensely. Heavy training doesn't affect all blood values, but it does change some key values that can serve as markers for overall health.

Heavy training causes trauma and stress to the body. Resistance training damages muscle fibers, which leads to the release of different enzymes. Intense running can cause enough muscle damage to change the color of urine due to hemolyzed red blood cells. Hydration levels can fluctuate depending on the training environment. Nutrition is another area that can affect blood levels of various enzymes and markers.

Basics of laboratory values

Blood values are usually grouped together and each of these groups measures different biomarkers that are indicators of the health of different organs and functions of the body.

Each lab value has a normal range, called the accepted range or reference range. Any value that is outside the reference range is considered abnormal. As you can imagine, a larger deviation from the reference range requires more attention.

You can think of the different blood values as pieces of a puzzle. They don't tell you the whole story, they are just one chapter.

Common abnormal blood values

1 - Creatine kinase (CK) levels

Creatine kinase is found in the mitochondria and cytoplasm of skeletal and cardiac muscle, in the brain and in various visceral tissue types. Their primary function is to generate and promote the transport of energy-rich phosphates.

Skeletal muscle, myocardium and nervous tissue are the primary sources of CK-MM, CK-MB and CK-BB. This enzyme catalyzes the reaction of forming energy-rich ATP molecules from ADP. ATP is the energy source of cells for the execution of various reactions and in skeletal muscle ATP is used for the contraction of muscle fibers.

An increase in CK levels is primarily used to diagnose neuromuscular diseases and acute myocardial infarction. Neuromuscular diseases include myopathies, muscular dystrophies, drug-induced myopathies, neuroleptic malignant syndrome and seizures. Since CK levels can be elevated in response to muscle tissue breakdown, intensive training, trauma, severe tremors and even EMG studies can lead to misdiagnosis.

So if your CK levels are elevated, then there is a possibility that this is due to disease, but the levels could also be elevated due to muscle damage that occurred during exercise. These elevations can persist for up to 7 days after training. The more muscle damage that has occurred during exercise, the more the CK levels will rise and the longer they will remain elevated.

2 - BUN (blood urea nitrogen)

BUN is a measure of urea levels in the blood. Urea is made from ammonia, which is toxic to the body in high amounts. At normal pH levels, ammonia is converted to urea, which is filtered and excreted by the kidneys. Ammonia is produced during the breakdown of nitrogen.

One place we find nitrogen is in amino acids - the building blocks of protein. As more protein is broken down, more nitrogen is released and more ammonia is generated. This ammonia is converted into urea and excreted (the ammonia cycle).

A high-protein diet in combination with hard training leads to a higher protein turnover, which results in an increase in urea production, which is perfectly fine. This increased protein turnover can increase BUN levels, which can be a sign of kidney dysfunction and dehydration for your doctor. Make sure your doctor knows the possible reasons for elevated BUN levels to avoid drawing the wrong conclusions.

3 - Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST)

The liver plays many roles in the body. Among other things, it plays a role in the conversion of amino acids. Two enzymes involved in the conversion of amino acids are ALT and AST. These enzymes are commonly used as markers of liver damage.

ALT is mainly found in the liver, which is why it is more specific for hepatocellular damage (liver damage). AST is found in the cytosol of many cells such as muscle, liver, brain, lung and pancreatic cells, making it less specific for the liver. AST and ALT can both be elevated after acute exercise. One study found that levels can be elevated for up to 7 days after exercise in men who are not used to training with weights.

The muscle damage induced by intense endurance training or intense training with weights releases these enzymes into the bloodstream, which can lead to an abnormal blood test.

It has been shown that high-protein diets can also increase the concentrations of these enzymes. This increase has nothing to do with liver damage. The body regulates the production of these enzymes upwards when you consume more protein.

It is easy to see that a combination of hard training and a high protein diet can cause increases in AST and ALT levels. Of course, a disease process could also be involved, which is why you should not simply ignore such elevations in general, especially if they occur in combination with other symptoms such as abdominal pain, jaundice, changes in the color of the stool and a darkening of the urine.

In addition, alcohol and certain medications can also cause an increase in liver enzyme levels.

Summary

• Heavy and hard training can cause abnormalities in certain blood values, which should be taken into account by the doctor.
• Muscle damage increases the release of CK, ALT and AST, which can also be elevated in various diseases.
• Talk to your doctor about these factors to make sure they are aware that you are training hard.

I would like to emphasize again that this is not a guide to ignoring deviations in blood values from the normal range. Use this information to inform your doctor about possible causes of abnormal blood values.

TIP: Try these cheesecake cookies

Easy-to-make protein-rich cookies that are simply stunning

By Dani Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-make-these-cheesecake-cookies

Preparing cheesecake can be time-consuming. Eating more than one slice is frowned upon by the figure-conscious. And you only get it on special occasions. Why not simplify the recipe, cut out a ton of calories, keep the flavor and bake cookies that you can have ready in minutes?

Ingredients

• 250 grams quark (your choice: low fat, 20% fat or 40% fat)
• 3 scoops of vanilla or chocolate flavored protein powder
• One heaped cup of frozen raspberries or blueberries

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
2. Mix the protein powder with the quark. Add the berries and mix well until you have a creamy mixture. The berries should soften and color the batter pink.
3. Spread baking paper on a baking tray and use a spoon to form 9 cookies from the dough.
4. Bake the cookies for 18 to 20 minutes. Break one open and see if it is done baking or insert a toothpick into one of the cookies. If no dough sticks to the toothpick, the cookies are done.

Nutritional value: if you use low-fat quark, each cookie contains about 59 kcal, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of protein and less than 1 gram of fat.

Tip: Perform approach-jump supersets for the biceps

These supersets are brutal. And smart. But mostly brutal. And they'll produce biceps growth beyond anything else.

By Charles Poliquin

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-fixation-insertion-super-sets-for-biceps

In the field of kinesiology, the origin of a muscle is the point where the muscle is attached to the bone and the insertion is at the more mobile of the two structures connected by the muscle. If you can perform superset exercises that combine these two opposing functions, then you stimulate muscle fibers at both ends and you achieve supercompensation.

Here's a nasty superset for the biceps:

1. Perform 4 to 6 pull-ups with a tight underhand grip.
2. Pause for 8 to 10 seconds.
3. Then perform 8 to 10 repetitions of dumbbell incline bench curls.
4. Perform a total of 5 of these supersets, resting about 2 minutes between supersets.

Here's what happens

When you perform pull-ups with an underhand grip, the elbow is the origin and the attachment is at the shoulder. If you then perform incline bench curls, it's the other way around: the origin is at the shoulder and the attachment is at the elbow. From a mechanical point of view, you are performing two extremes and inducing muscle damage to an extent that goes beyond anything else.

Tip: Perform planks the smart way.

If you can hold planks for several minutes, you're doing something wrong. Here's a better, safer and more effective way.

By Dr. John Rusin

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-plank-the-smart-way

Planks started out as a noble idea. They quickly became an exercise that anyone could do without much practice. Simply place your elbows on the floor, stretch your body and hold this position for 5 minutes at a time. And soon after, you'll have a solid core that will protect you from back pain and injury.... Wait, not so fast.

The primary problem with traditional planks is a lack of activation of the deeper core muscles over an extended period of time. Progression in traditional planks is achieved by extending the time of the hold in conjunction with increasing the external load on the body. Extended sets can cause postural problems and chronic trauma to the anterior ligaments of the pelvis.

The core is not designed to be activated in isolation over a prolonged period of time. Instead, the deep and superficial muscles must have the ability to be repeatedly activated with maximum force over time.

A better version of planks

RKC Planks can be effectively integrated into any type of training session. Depending on the exercises and the focus of the training session, RKC Planks can be used as a dynamic warm-up or a metabolic finishing exercise.

RKC Planks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xPnXjshSXg

1. Place your arms slightly further forward than you would with traditional, ineffective planks.
2. Contract your glutes and quadriceps as hard as you can until your body starts to shake.
3. A good RKC Plank is a full body contraction that lasts 8 to 10 seconds. A pre-workout option could be three repetitions with about 5 seconds rest between repetitions.

It's time to ditch traditional planks and give them an update with a version that actually involves effort.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-partner-flyes-for-bigger-pecs

By John Meadows

When it comes to training the calves, most exercisers don't maximize the potential of their training in terms of hypertrophy.

I'll be the first to admit that the lower legs are the muscle group most influenced by generic predispositions in the sense that some people barely train their calves and still have excellent calf development, while others can't seem to achieve useful calf development no matter what they do.

The guy with the really long Achilles tendon, high-set calves, short muscle bellies and a higher percentage of slow-contracting muscle fibers will have a much harder time when it comes to building his calf muscles than the guy with a shorter Achilles tendon, low-set calves, long muscle bellies and a higher percentage of fast-contracting muscle fibers.

However, with hard, consistent work, most exercisers can overcome their genetic curse and achieve at least balanced lower leg muscle development. If you're the type of person who doesn't care about all the science stuff, then you can skip the following section, but it's important to understand a little of the functional anatomy and biomechanics of the lower legs in order to put together the best possible program for calf growth.

What the science tells us

• If you're an American male, you walk about 7,000 steps a day. If you think of each step as a repetition with limited range of motion and body weight as resistance, you'll quickly realize how accustomed your calves are to low-intensity work. To make a long story short: If you want to make your calves grow, you have to make them do something they're not used to.
• The triceps surae is made up of the gastrocnemius, soleus and plantaris, which share a common tendon known as the Achilles tendon.
• The plantaris is only about 5 to 10 centimeters long and is completely absent in 7 to 10 % of all people, which is why it is not important to talk about hypertrophy of this muscle.
• The difference in the function of the gastrocnemius and soleus is related to differences in muscle fiber length, muscle fiber type and anatomical insertion points
• The gastrocnemius begins behind the knee on the femur. It crosses two joints and comprises a lateral and a medial muscle head. The primary function of the gastrocnemius is to lift the heel (also known as plantar flexion). The gastrocnemius is also a knee flexor or knee flexor. The gastrocnemius shortens during knee flexion, but has an improved lever arm for ankle joint function when the knee is extended. The gastrocnemius produces a weak knee flexion torque when the knee is extended, but the lever arm is improved when the knee is flexed to 90 degrees
• The soleus is a muscle that crosses only one joint. Its primary function is also plantar flexion (downward movement of the forefoot). The soleus only crosses the ankle joint and is not mechanically affected by the knee angle.
• Regarding muscle fiber distribution, one study showed that the soleus consists of 70% slowly contracting muscle fibers and both heads of the gastrocnemius consist of 50% rapidly contracting muscle fibers (Edgerton et al., 1975). Another study showed that the gastrocnemius consists of 56% slowly contracting muscle fibers (Khan et al., 1978). Yet another study concluded that the gastrocnemius consists of 51% slow-contracting muscle fibers (Green et al., 1981), while a final study showed that the gastrocnemius consists of about 80% slow-contracting muscle fibers (Gollnick et al., 1974).
• Depending on the knee angle, it is possible to recruit the soleus or the gastrocnemius more strongly (Signorille et al, 2002; Price et al, 2003; Tamaki et al, 1997; Arampatzis et al, 2006; Cresswell et al, 1995; Kennedy et al, 2001; Miaki et al, 1999). In addition, soleus and gastrocnemius appear to adapt differently to exercise depending on genetic predisposition (Goldfarb et al., 2007).
• There appears to be a large genetic variance in muscle fiber distribution. For example, a study of world-class shot-putters showed that the athletes had between 13 and 67% slow-contracting muscle fibers in the lateral gastrocnemius, with the average being around 38% slow-contracting fibers (Coyle et al., 1978). So it is not wise to assume that you fit the norm and not one of the extremes in terms of muscle fiber distribution
• The medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscle heads function differently from each other - the medial muscle head works much harder than the lateral muscle head to eccentrically counteract knee extension (Andriacchi et al., 1984). One would assume that the involvement of the lateral and medial gastrocnemius muscle heads would be altered by medial or lateral rotation of the hip, but MRI studies by Dr. Per Tesch suggest that an inward position of the toes activates both muscle heads, while an outward position of the toes activates the medial head to a greater extent.

There is also research to support this view, as it has been shown that turning the feet outward increases activity in the middle gastrocnemius and soleus (Campbell et al., 1973).

• There are several muscles that produce plantar flexion. These are the gastrocnemius, soleus, plantaris, peroneus longus and brevis, flexor hallucis longus, flexor digitorum longus and tibialis posterior.
• There are several muscles that produce knee flexion (bending of the knee). These are the leg flexors, the gastrocnemius, the plantaris, the gracilis, the sartorius and the popliteus.
• If you try to bend the knee and perform a plantar flexion of the ankle at the same time, this significantly increases the activity of the gastrocnemius, while the activity of the soleus decreases (Gravel et al., 1987).
• The soleus initiates slow contractions, while the gastrocnemius initiates fast contractions (Cordo et al., 1982). The lateral gastrocnemius has the fastest contracting muscle fibers, the middle gastrocnemius has the second fastest contracting muscle fibers and the soleus has the slowest contracting muscle fibers (Vandervoort et al., 1983).
• EMS studies by Bret Contreras show that heavy standing calf raises activate the gastrocnemius on average more than standing single-leg calf raises, explosive calf raises with a lighter weight and standing calf raises with a 10-second isometric pause at the lowest point of the movement.

Barbell squats, on the other hand, cause greater maximal activation of the gastrocnemius than any variation of the calf raise. It appears that the gastrocnemius must work very hard to stabilize the knee joint and maintain balance during squats. In other words, squats with heavy weights will work the calves quite hard.

What these studies don't tell us

Basically, these studies don't tell us much in terms of identifying the best methodology for calf growth. They give us some clues, but at the end of the day we have to go by anecdotal evidence to put together the best possible program for lower leg development.

Combined methods

On internet forums, we always see the "heavy vs. light reps discussions" when it comes to calf growth. I've always wondered why exercisers who want to maximize the growth of their calves should limit themselves to just one type of stimulus. Why do one or the other when you can do both?

In fact, there are plenty of exercisers who have built excellent calves using only heavy squats and heavy deadlifts, although this method has failed many others. There are also exercisers who have built great calves with high repetition calf training, while others have had no success with the exact same methodology.

As has already been mentioned, there is a huge genetic component to calf development. So if you are genetically cursed below the knees, your only option is to combine different methods and use a wide variance of exercises. For our program, we will use many different strategies, which are described below.

The legendary dictionary

• Bodybuilding/HVT (High Volume Training) - lots of sets and reps, descending sets, paused sets, variety, tons of isolation exercises with medium and high reps.
• HFT (High Frequency Training) - Three training sessions per week.
• EDT (Escalated Density Training) - More sets within a set period of time.
• Powerlifting - Heavy multi-joint exercises for the lower body.
• Squats and deadlifts - trains the calves through their role as stabilizers
• Glute-Ham Raises - trains the calves through their role as knee flexors - a very effective and underutilized calf exercise.
• Heavy Calf Isolation Training - maximizes myofibrillar hypertrophy and recruits high threshold motor units.
• High volume isolation training - maximizes sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and causes greater occlusion.

The program

The muscles of the lower legs are trained three days a week. The interval between training sessions is 48 to 72 hours.

Week one

Day 1

A. Squats 8 x 1 (increase the weight)
B. Glute-Ham Raises 5 x 10 (use the machine version and use the toe plate)
C. Standing calf raises (heavy) 4 x 6
D. Calf raises on the leg press (light) 2 x 30

Day 2

A. Single leg calf raise - 10 minutes EDT
B. Jump rope - 10 minutes

Day 3

A. Deadlift 8 x 1 (increase the weight)
B. Glute-Ham Raises 5 x 10 (use the machine version and use the toe plate)
C. Donkey calf raises 3 x 20 (perform one set with hips in neutral position, one set with hips rotated out and one set with hips rotated in)
D. Seated calf raises with pauses 3 x 10 (pause at the highest and lowest point of the movement for 3 seconds)

Week 2

Day 1

A. Squats 8 x 1 (increase the weight)
B. Glute-Ham Raises 5 x 10 (use the machine version and use the toe plate)
C. Standing calf raises (heavy) 5 x 5
D. Leg press calf raises (light) 3 x 20 (perform one set with hips in neutral position, one set with hips rotated out and one set with hips rotated in)

Day 2

A. Standing calf raises on the machine - 1 descending set from hell. Start with a weight you can perform about 8 reps with, reduce the weight by 50% and perform as many reps as possible and then perform as many reps as possible using only your own body weight.
B. Jump rope - 10 minutes

Day 3

A. Deadlift 8 x 1 (increase the weight)
B. Glute-Ham Raises 5 x 10 (use the machine version and use the toe plate)
C. Paused Donkey Calf Raises 3 x 10 (pause at the highest and lowest point of the movement for 3 seconds)
D. Seated Calf Raises 2 x 50

Repeat this cycle three times for a total of 2 months of calf abuse.

After this two-month calf-intensive program is over, go back to a less insane calf training rotation of one or two calf training sessions per week, continuing to use a wide range of exercises and repetition ranges, but keeping the total volume per training session low to allow for supercompensation.

You will likely see your calves continue to grow during this unloading phase, hopefully reaching a level of development that will allow you to go to the beach next summer without jeans.

Summary

Stubborn calves can be a tough nut to crack, as there is a huge genetic factor here that cannot be avoided. But even if you've pulled the ungrateful "calves like a flamingo" card, there's no reason to stop training your calves in frustration. A little science combined with smart program design - and a ton of effort - and you'll be proud to wear shorts without feeling that crippling insecurity. Calf training may not be fun but at least it's cheaper than therapy.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/cure-for-cowardly-calves

By Bret Contreras