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Guys. Calves are 1 of the most damn stubborn body parts known to man! There's a huge genetic
factor with calves that can't really be ignored. Despite being born with lower legs the size
of a 5th grader, don't you dare use that as an excuse and give up. If your genetically
unblessed here and really want to grow those bird legs for good, you have to have be smart
because, this isn't going to be an easy task. I'm Brian Kramer. You're watching musclelibrarytv.
The place where you learn how to train smart and hard, to get that lean, mean athletic
looking-type physique. And today I'll share 3 rare tactics, to tack on some meat to those
lower legs.
Alright guys, here's what we're really upagainst... The Average American male takes 7000 steps
per day. So think about it, if you're already doing 7000 short mini-reps with all those
strides you take, imagine what you have to do actually SHOCK them and get them to wake
the hell up and say... "holy *** man... what the hell just happened there, that was workout
hard... I better get growing so I can withstand that stress again better next time"
Like we always talk about here..."it's not WHAT you do, it's HOW YOU DO IT" that matters.
So what we need do with calves is to work them hard OUTSIDE the range of motion (ROM)
that they are already doing 7000 times per day and focus on the "how we do it part".
You need to hit the extreme TOP of the rep and BOTTOM of the rep. Period.
Don't be that guy in the gym pumping away short choppy reps with a ton of weight. Nothing
screams "I really don't know what I'm doing" more than a pair of small calves and lots
of weight. Now here's the exact 3 steps that you're going
to use so you can stop being embarrassed every time you have to wear shorts
Step #1 -- Must go to full extension (aka all the way down) only proven way to ensure
you are going to 100% extension is to contract the antagonist (opposite) muscle, which in
this case is the muscle covering your shins (the tibialis). So go ahead and try it now,
flex your ankle and try to bring your shin and toes as close together as possible. [[ pretend
this is your shin, and this is your foot. In order for your foot to raise, that muscle covering your shin contracts
or shortens to bring your toes and foot higher. On the opposite side of you leg, your calf
muscle has to lengthen for your tibialis to shorten right. So try it now...]]
Bring your toe to your shin and You should see that little muscle flex that is covering
your shins. Got it, see it flexing? Once you see that little muscle flex you are in business
because then you are at the point when your calf is fully relaxed and extended. I make
my clients VISUALLY OBSERVED this happening AT THE BOTTOM OF EVERY REP. I don't care if
you're embarrassed to wear shorts to the gym because you have stick legs, where shorts,
so you can validate this is happening because "almost achieving full extension at the bottom"
is not good enough. Start to cheat here and you'll be stuck with those flamingo looking
legs. Step #2 -- You must achieve a fully contracted
state or fully shortened calf muscle. So How do you to determine this is happening. Let
me ask you, how high can you raise up on your toes with no weight added? Observe that first,
and then make sure you are going up that high on, on every-single-rep with the weight that
you decide to use! Now If you can't... the weight is too damn heavy... back it off and
forget your ego for a minute. Step #3 -- instead of raising up on your toes
you must INSTEAD raise up on your big toe. Your intention with every rep is to raise
up on your big toe. Visualize you have your ankles shackled together so tightly so they
CANNOT move further away from each other a single centimeter! I find it helps to visualize
actually trying to bring them closer together as I raise up. What I want you to do is to
Stand up and practice this now. It you do it right you will feel your calves "knot up"
at the top of every rep and feel a super strong contraction! Your bodyweight might even be
too heavy and preventing you from doing it properly so if you're not feeling that "knotting
up feeling" grab onto something then or even sit down in a chair and then raise on your
big toe as high as you possibly can. Think about it.... If you can't get the intended
working muscle to contract hard and optimally with no weight... how can you expect to do
it with weight - you can't! [ALWAYS KEEP THAT IN MIND WITH EVERY EXERCISE GENTLEMEN!]
Let me go for the extra credit here and add in a Step #4 for you -- and that is to start
off with 2111 tempo or 3111 tempo. (2 or 3 seconds on way down, hold that fully extending
position0 for 1 sec until you see shin flex, explode up in 1 second, then roll up onto
the big toe until you "knot up" and repeat. HOW MANY OF THOSE CAN YOU TAKE? It's mind
over matter here! If you pick the weight right and do the movement optimally, it's very similar
to what I teach with ABS in that after 6 to 10 reps you should be toast. Like ABS if you
want to focus on it... do 2-4 exercises, 2-4 times per week. Rest 30-60 sec's between sets
and even do a drop set on last set. Do a month of that and you will start to see a difference!
That is my # 1 go-to method for calf growth. I have 2 other techniques that we'll save
for another day though. I recommend doing a seated variation one session
and straight-legged version the next session. Each will work the calf differently because
it's made up of 2 main separate muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus ([[pause --- see
picture). One muscle helps you with the depth and one with the width or so that you look
like you calves from the side profile angle as well as when someone is walking behind
you and looking at your new awesome set of calves.
So if you found this information valuable, then be sure to subscribe to my youtube channel
(musclelibrarytv) to be sure you receive more trainings like this to shorten your learning
curve. And if you're looking to take your nutrition
& supplementation to the next level... I have a Free Training Series I made for you that
you can instantly get access to. Just go to my site musclelibrarytv.com and get your instant
access to the free training. Do it now and I'll talk to you soon.
CLOSING