Building Calf Muscle

A useful guide on "Building Calf Muscle".

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first attempt at becoming the world’s greatest body builder was in 1969. This was thwarted by Sergio Oliver and Arnold came second. The reason why he lost was because he had smaller calves. He went back and worked on building his calf muscles and he eventually won the Mr. Olympia title for the first time in 1970. He’s admitted that at a point he had to cut off all his jeans so that his calves would be exposed. This he said enabled him to see how much work needed to be done. This was due to the fact that his upper body was well developed—and out of proportion to his lower body. This occurrence is quite common in body building; oftentimes the other muscles are built without building calf muscle.

The Calf Muscles

The calf is basically made up of three muscles: the gastrocnemius, the soleus and the anterior tibialis. Although the two major ones are the gastrocnemius and the soleus, the anterior tibialis is also important when building the calf. The gastrocnemius has a lateral and a medial head that lie close to each other. It’s the largest muscle and is responsible for the shape of the rear leg. The soleus muscle lies beneath the gastrocnemius and is not visible. It’s responsible for giving width to the lower rear leg. The soleus takes over from the gastrocnemius during strenuous activities as it is majorly composed of slow twitch fibers. The tibialis anterior is found at the lower frontal region of the leg and contributes to the large appearance of the calves.

Exercises for Building Calf Muscle

Standing Calf Raise: holding on to the wall or the calf raise machine, place the ball of one foot on the calf block or on a slightly elevated object with the shoulders directly under the padded machine lever. If doing this manually, dumbbells should be held at the side. The heel and arch of the foot should be well extended. The heel should be lifted by extending the ankle and lowered by bending it until the calf muscles can be felt stretching. Repeat the same procedure for the other foot.

Seated Calf Raise: the calf machine can be used for this exercise. Sit on the machine with the pads placed over the knees. The heels should be extended and the toes placed on the lower platform of the machine. The lower thighs should be positioned beneath the padded lever while holding on to the handles. Pushing the lever, raise the heels up slowly until they are off the ground. Bring them back to the floor once the calf muscles contract. Do this repeatedly.

There are several other exercises for building calf muscle which include: donkey calf raises and single leg calf raises.

Tips for Building Calf Muscle

• Use the right technicality to ensure that the calf muscles are well stretched.
• Combine the exercises for an overall effect.
• Workout the calves more frequently than the rest of the leg as the muscles repair quicker.