Of all the muscles, the calves are some of the most underdeveloped in those who train assiduously in the gym. They are a muscle that is also essential for good physical maintenance, not to mention its aesthetic potential. If you want to know how to gain muscle mass in calves, you must first know something about their anatomy. Read on and get yourself some strong cufflinks in no time!
The twin has two main parts. The soleus and gastrocnemii muscles. The soleus is a wide, flat muscle located on the tibia and fibula. The gastrocnemius are the large muscles located near the middle and go to the upper part of the fibula and the tibia. The gastrocnemius muscle is broken down into two smaller groups, known as the middle head (inner calf) and the lateral head (outer calf).
How to Train Your Calves to Strengthen Them
Think about the following: every day you walk, and when you walk, you exercise your calves. You are pushing at least your body weight every time you take a step. So when you go to the gym and exercise your calves lightly, are you really stressing your muscles? It is true that, although we all walk, very few have developed the calf muscle. Therefore, for this muscle to grow it must be subjected to immense stress.
Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of fun, different, twin-defining exercises one can do to expressly exercise their twins. It is also important to note that these muscles can be effectively trained in a high rep range, because they are used to the extra work. Because we constantly use them in actions such as walking and climbing stairs. Before starting your calf strength training, it is important that you learn how to relax your calves before and after exercising every time.
More tips for exercising your calves
Calves can be worked with or without weights. Just squat down and stand on a bench, put some weight on your back, and lift your heels pausing at the top of the muscle contraction. Then lower your heels back down, almost touching the ground, and repeat.
If you need to level up your calf workout, you can hold dumbbells or a barbell to add even more weight. This exercise places the emphasis on the gastrocnemius muscle group.
Standing calf raises can be done in two ways. Either on a machine or with a barbell on your shoulders as if you were going to perform a squat. The use of a machine is more common to work the calves in the gym, because the lifter does not need to stabilize the bar on his back while performing the exercise. You can also create variations of this exercise by using just one leg or by pausing at the top of the crunch for a period of time.
How to work your calves sitting down
Seated calf raises are most commonly performed using a machine where you sit, and a padded section rests on your knees. This allows the legs to be at a 90 ° angle, and helps to put most of the emphasis on the soleus muscle group. If your gym doesn’t have a seated calf machine, you can still perform the exercise.
Sit on a bench and put a barbell on your knees. Then, with your feet shoulder-width apart, simply lift your heels off the ground and pause at the top of the muscle contraction, then lower your heels down, almost touching the ground, and repeat. If the bar hurts your knees, you can take your shirt off and wrap it around the bar for padding.
Use these helpful tips to gain muscle mass in your calves and get some killer legs for this summer.
