Gastrocnemius

EXERCISES FOR BIGGER CALVES

Do seated calf raises. This movement targets the soleus calf muscles. Sit on the machine with your toes on the lower portion of the platform and your heels extending off. Your lower thighs go under the lever pad, and your hands go on top of the lever pad to keep it in place. Lift the lever by pushing your heels up, then slower lower your heels by bending at the ankles. Now extend the ankles as high as possible, contracting the calves, and hold.

•          Repeat at least 10 - 20 times.
•        Add weight to increase the difficulty of the exercise.

Do standing calf raises. You can do this exercise with a machine or a calf block. Stand under the machine or with the balls of your feet on the calf block, starting with your heels about 3 inches (7.6 cm) below the block. Raise up on the balls of your feet as high as you can, then contract your calf muscles at the peak. Hold the position, then lower yourself back to starting position.

Do leg press calf raises. This exercise is also known as the donkey raise. Sit on a leg press machine. Hold the sled with your toes and the balls of your feet. Press it by raising your heels and breathing out. Extend your ankles as high as possible as you flex your calf. Your hips and knees should remain stationary at all times. Hold the position, then lower your heels as you bend your ankles.

•          The key is to make sure all of the weight is put on your calf; be sure you don't bend your knees or use other muscles to press.
•         You can increase the difficulty of this exercises by adding weights.

Do dumbbell jump squats. Place yourself in a position for a squat, holding dumbbells at your sides. Bend your knees to lower your body, moving to the balls of your feet and toes as you squat. Now jump upward explosively, keeping the dumbbells at your sides. Land on the balls of your feet and squat again upon impact.

•          Doing this exercise frequently is a good way to build muscle quickly. The explosive movement is what encourages the muscle to build fast.
•          Don't use a barbell with this exercise. You need to be able to jump freely and explosively, and a barbell would inhibit this movement too much.

Do box jumps. Stand in front of an exercise box that you can easily jump upon. Your toes should be pointed toward the box. Jump explosively so that you land on the box with the balls of your feet. Jump back down to the floor, then repeat.

•          Be sure the box you use is anchored to the floor so that it doesn't slide and cause you to fall.
•          Don't use dumbbells during box jumps, since you might need to use your hands to catch yourself if you fall.

Jump rope. Jumping rope is one of the easiest and fastest ways to get bigger calves.

•          For this to work, you have to push yourself to jump rope for long periods of time (about 5 minutes to 10 minutes).