Stubborn Calves…. Try This!!!!
An awesome set of thick, diamond-shaped calves is one of those “little” things that really sets a great physique apart from a mediocre one.
Small, under-developed calves, on the other hand, become a glaring weak point as your upper body develops and greatly diminishes the look of your overall physique. You could be squatting 500 pounds but if your calves aren’t up to snuff, it’ll look like you’ve got chicken legs. (And trust me, I know–I neglected my calves for years; and it took me years to catch up). So basically what I am trying to say is..
NEVER NEGLECT YOUR DAMN CALVES!!!!!!!!
The calf routine that i am sharing was published in Iron Man Magazine in 1971 by Jim Mclellan. Now Mclellan was a known golf instructor, but back in the day was an Old School bodybuilder that was also known for specifically for the calf training routine he developed.
Legend has it he added 1.5 inches to his calves in just 8 weeks.
Legend or not, if there is the possibility of that type of growth; I don’t know about you, but I am going to try it!!!
His program is designed to grow stubborn calves, as well as punk those individuals who have great calves and neglect to work them. I must warn you!! It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or a veteran gym junkie; you WILL feel the effects of this routine immediately. So please take the proper precautions to survive the gauntlet. Hydrate, stretch, massage your calves, and pray that you can stand up the next morning.
The Jim Mclellan Crippling Calf Program
Find a place where you can do standing calf raises with additional resistance. If you’ve got a standing calf machine at the gym, perfect. No calf machines in sight? Two options: Get inside the smith machine , put the bar on your back and stand on a 4-inch block. Or, you get a hip belt, chain up some plates or a dumbbell and stand on a step.
Start with 15 full ROM reps. Full ROM means at the bottom of each rep, dip your heels as low as you can so that your calves really get a great stretch. And at the top of each rep, raise your heels as high as you can so your calves are forced to contract fully.
Keep these reps slow and smooth.
After the 1st set of 15 – Rest 10 seconds
Now, do 10 more calf raises. Again, slow and smooth. Then, rest 10 seconds. Then, 10 more calf raises. Repeat this two more times for a combined total of 55 reps. By this point, your calves will be on fire… but the fun is just beginning.
After the final rep, you’re going to stay on the block and immediately start doing “burns.” These are short, fast, bouncy calf raises. Don’t worry about dropping your heel as low as you can or rising up as high as you can on your toes. Just focus on speed – knocking out as many mid-range calf raises as you can. You should be trying to actually explode off the block — in reality your toes won’t leave the block but you should be trying to do these fast enough so that it feels like you’re about to lift off the block. Then you come crashing down and your calves are forced to stop the momentum.
This will LOOK like you’re cheating — but what you’re really trying to do is torture the calves and do the burns for as long as you can. Don’t bother trying to count reps — you will be moving too fast for that. Just fight through the pain for as long as possible.
When you can’t take another second, now it’s time for negatives.
Stay on the block, and do a full calf raise with both feet, but then remove one foot from the block and lower yourself slowly using only leg. Lower yourself all the way to the bottom, then lift yourself up again with both calves. And at the top, remove the opposite leg and again lower the weight slowly using only one leg.
Do 10-12 negatives for each leg. When you’re finished with these, take a 3-5 minute rest. Massage your calves, walk around a bit and give each calf a good stretch. It will be painful, but do it anyway. After the 3-5 minute rest period is over, do the entire routine again.
Complete this same routine 3 times throughout the week.
After two weeks on the above routine, you’ll make the following change: After the negatives, add another round of “burns” and then another round of negatives. Making this change will help increase time under tension and keep the progress going.
Ok, so that’s the basic routine. Here are a few additional notes to focus your calf training…
- Train calves 2-3 times per week. The calves are brutally tough and they need to be punished over and over, many times in the same week to make them grow.
- Train calves first in your workout.
- Use the same amount of weight for the entire calf training session.
- You don’t need to use heavy weights for this routine to work.
- The key is to punish your calves. It’s all about how long you can deal with the pain. Do NOT be nice to your calves.
- Don’t stop when you can’t get a full rep. That’s not failure. Keep going until you can’t raise up your heel even a single inch. When your calves are so fried that you can’t make your heel raise up even a single inch, that’s failure.
- Most people with great calves go them from their parents – not from hard work.
- If you were born with terrible calves, you’ll probably never have great calves. But you can improve on what you’ve got by working hard to train them.
Again, this is NOT for the faint of heart. You may not enjoy the pain and soreness, but you’ll love the results. The saying goes:
If you want something you have never had… you have to be willing to do something you have never done!
Let me know how this routine works out for you… leave me a comment. Train hard!!!!!!!
