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Page 2
Seriously though, it's all about common sense. If you know that you can bench press more if that's the first thing you do, than compared to if it'd been the LAST thing you did, simply because you had more stored energy in the beginning, why be surprised that it goes for calves as well? The body has only so much stored glycogen in the muscles and liver, and when it's gone, it's pretty much gone.
What we call "calves" is basically 3 muscles - The outer and inner Gastrocnemius, which is the two lumps that you can see, and the Soleus, which lies underneath the two others and spreading out to the sides. To make it simple: Standing presses mainly hit Gastrocnemius, while seated presses hit the Soleus. Donkey-raises hit both. Like the biceps and it's underlying muscle Brachialis, we get the best effect - sizewise - when we train both the visible muscle and the underlying one, pushing the visible muscle out. Soleus also adds to the width of the calf, to a certain degree. Angling your toes in or out doesn't make the least difference, so go with a natural stance and avoid nasty knee-injuries. Don't forget to train the FRONT side for maximum effect; stand with your heel on the edge of a pile of plates, toes hovering over the floor, the other foot lifted of just balancing on the plates. Let your toes as far down as the wrist goes, then flex your foot upwards and contract it for a second before repeating. Sounds silly? Try it - I'm sure you won't be laughing after 2 sets of 20 reps on each foot! And last but not least, don't forget to stretch properly. The calves are strong as hell, so allow at least 90 seconds per stretch in order to get them stretched fully. I know this article might be a bit unorthodox to many people, but it's a fact that calf-training has been haunted by wild myths ever since the great Arnold started training his calves once a day back in the '70s. Observe two things: He was a pro bodybuilder who not only was accustomed to extreme training, he also took considerable amounts of anabolic steroids. If you fail to meet both these criterias, which I hope you do, you have nothing to benefit from daily training of your calves. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article From Calves to Cows - Page 2 in Weight Training is owned by . Permission to republish From Calves to Cows - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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