I was at a commercial gym the other day and this thought just occurred to me: When did the lower leg become such an afterthought in the training programs of most members and trainers? Have we just forgotten that we have a whole system of muscles from the knee down?

As far as the average gym member is concerned I can understand the lack of enthusiasm in the idea of training the lower leg. It’s tedious, uncomfortable, and for those who have muscle growth goals, it’s a very hard muscle to get to grow. But there is nothing worse than a guy who has twenty inch arms and thirteen inch calves. Therefore it is probably a good idea to give the calves as much volume if not more than you give to your biceps and triceps.

As far as trainers are concerned lower leg training should always be included in a balanced and well thought out program. The whole “functional” training movement is partly to blame for the lack of calf training. This is because of the thought process that  if you isolate a single joint in an exercise it will have no carry over to life’s demands. The ironic thing is that people who only believe in “functional” training usually are having their beginner de-conditioned clients doing a lot of balance work. And in order to have optimal balance you need to have good force output in all of the muscles in the lower leg. So if you have a problem getting someone to stand on one foot with any success, it probably isn’t the “core”. It’s more than likely that they have a weakness in the lower leg or elsewhere. The lower leg muscles do not get enough work to get stronger with squats, lunges, and other lower body multi-joint movements and need to be isolated with a well thought out program containing a variety of exercises.

Here are some examples of excellent lower leg exercises:

1. The Standing Calf Raise- This one is very versatile because of all of its variations. The standing calf raise can be performed with body weight, dumbbells, single leg, and if you have one available with a standing calf raise machine. This exercise targets primarily the upper division of the calf the gastrocnemius.
2. The Seated Calf Raise-You will need a seated calf raise machine to perform this one. Almost all gyms have a seated calf raise machine. The seated calf raise will target primarily the lower half of the calf the soleus. Due to the soleus being primarily made up of slow twitch muscle fibers high repetitions should be performed for best results.
3. The Donkey Calve Raise- The donkey calf raise is controversial due to the fact that the load is placed directly over the lumbar spine. Some see the donkey raise as an outdated and dangerous exercise. I feel that if you have back or hip problem of any kind this exercise is not going to be appropriate for your training goals. But if you are a healthy adult with no pain, and if the donkey calf raise is performed WITH PROPER FORM, then it is a great addition to any lower leg program. To perform the donkey calf raise you will either need a donkey calf raise machine or a friend to sit on your back like in the picture below.



 

Some other calf training tips:

1. Keep your toes facing forward- I don’t know when this started but many people believe that you have to turn your toes in or out to target either the inner or outer calf. The truth is that just so long as you perform the exercise with strict form the entire calf will be worked.
2. Select a weight that allows you to go all the way up on your toes- have you ever looked at a ballet dancer’s calves? Ballet dancers have some of the most astounding calf development you will ever see. One of the main reasons why is because they spend so much time up on their toes with their calves fully contracted. Selecting a weight that forces you to bounce and not contract the muscle fully will give you limited results.
3. Try unilateral training- I find that most people (myself included) have one calf that is weaker than the other (this is true of many body parts and will be explored in depth later on) Working one calf at a time allows for more neural drive on a each side and that can help to maximize the load on the muscle and produce greater results. Make sure to use less weight on the weaker side if you have one.
4. Control your tempo-tempo is how long it takes to perform one repetition. It makes me mental when I see people in the gym bouncing up and down on a calf exercise. I recommend a 4/2/3 tempo. That means that it should take you four seconds to lower the weight, a two second pause at the bottom, and three seconds to raise the weight back up.
5. Train the calf muscles first in your workout- This way the calves will get some focus when you are at your most fresh. Most of the time calf training is thrown in as an after thought with only a few sets performed at the end of a workout. 

In conclusion- To get the best possible results in aesthetics and function calves need to be trained once or twice per week at least 6-8 sets per workout. For those looking for more advanced muscle growth 3 workouts per week with at least 6-12 sets should do the trick.

Brandon