This Is Why You Have Small Calves According to Science (And what to do about it)

Here is a brief summary of the key points made in the transcript: The transcript discusses reasons why some people have small calves and provides tips for growing bigger calves. The main points are: - Genetics play a major role in calf size. Some people are predisposed to have small calves regardless of training. - Train calves through a partial range of motion, focusing on the bottom half of the movement with heavier loads. This builds more size than full range of motion. - Avoid seated calf raises. Standing calf raises stimulate more overall growth. - Stretching the calves, especially with loaded stretches at the end of a set, can stimulate additional growth. - Prioritize calves, training them first in your workout when you're fresh. Dedicate calf training days for best results. - The recommended routine is 2-4 sets of standing calf raises focusing on the bottom half of the movement, including loaded stretches on some sets. Do this 2-4 times per week at the start of workouts.

The first reason why your calves are small is the most important genetics. Mike is around double my body weight and as a new pro, he's only going to get bigger. But sadly, his calves will never look like mine because we have very different proportions, muscle and tendon lengths. But even if he had the same proportions as me and trained with maximum effort, there's still a huge genetic factor at play with respect to the response you'll get from training. In this study, 585 subjects trained their biceps in twelve weeks and measured differences in their size and strength. And while most people saw some improvement, some people saw exceptional gains, whilst one poor guy actually lost muscle despite training under very controlled conditions, following the exact same plan. And that might be you and your calves. But taking genetics aside, there are still four things that anyone can do that should help you grow even the most stubborn of calves. This is based on both new research and my experience as a coach and athlete, working with some of the best bodybuilders in the world, and highlights four key mistakes that everybody makes with their calf training. And I'm sure there's at least one of these that you're doing. First is training through a full range of motion, which really surprised me. Calves are pretty simple. There's only one action they perform, pointing the toe. When it comes to training them, you could do this through a full range of motion or a partial range of motion. You'd expect team full range of motion would see the most gains. But when comparing them, team full range and team partial range saw very similar gains, which weren't really impressive. But if you did the partial range in the bottom half versus the top half, the research showed you'll see roughly twice the amount of growth nowadays. If I was training calves, I'd only stay in the bottom half, which is a lot stronger as well. So feel free to load up as long as you can maintain control over the lowering portion. Mistake number two is doing the seated calf raise. The two most popular calf exercises you'll see are straight leg and bent leg calf raises. You might already know that by bending the knee, we're targeting more of the soleus, which sits deeper to the bulkier gastrocnemius. However, this study compared to two exercises where subjects would train one leg standing and one leg seated, and found significantly more growth across the calves as a whole on the standing variation, while the seated variation showed equal amount of gains in the soleus. So what does this mean? If you're doing a seeded calf raise, you might see a slightly higher amount of growth in the soleus but if you just did straight leg calf raises, you'd see more growth across the board without neglecting that soleus. For this reason, I make sure to not always just include a straight leg calf raise, but make sure it's given most priority in my workouts. Mistake number three is not stretching. Stretching isn't just about getting more flexible, it's something that can specifically increase your gains. In this study, participants would perform a typical bodybuilding set on calf raises to failure. Then they'd hold a loaded stretch for an additional 20 seconds on one side only, with results showing a significant increase in muscle size on the stretched side versus the non stretched sides. This technique isn't necessarily a new one, as people like John Meadows and Dante Trudel have been big proponents of this for decades. But I think this really highlights the importance of stretching as a whole, with some research even showing that static stretching without load can be enough to stimulate more growth in the calves. Although keep in mind, in this study, participants were forced into specially made boots that held them in a stretch position at an eight out of ten rating on a pain scale for 1 hour every day for six weeks. To be honest, if that's what it takes to grow your calves, I'd personally just accept having small calves because that sounds like a really bad time. Mistake number four is not doing them first. You probably have a chest day and maybe an arm day, or even a leg day. But how many of you have a dedicated calf day? Or do you ever train calves first during your workouts? Exercise order and prioritization makes you a huge difference in the results you'll get. This has been studied in the past, but it is common sense. Your nervous system is fresh, you have less waste material accumulated at the start of your workout, and you'll get more out of whatever it is that comes first. John Meadows and I would always start our workouts with calves. And yes, even though genetics is at play with our results, I can tell you it's something that absolutely makes a difference. The question now is, what should you do? Here is the perfect science and experience based calf workout template that you can steal. It's incredibly simple, but a workout is only as good as effort and tracking of that effort, which is why I made Gambaru. You'll not only find this workout and hundreds of other workouts and programs inside from myself and all the other coaches, but you'll also be able to track your progress and create your own custom plans. Hit the link in the description to try one month for just $1. I recommend doing this two to four times per week at the start of your workout, regardless if it's upper body or lower body. And I personally find doing it before your main leg exercises is a great way to warm up, similarly to how John Meadows would enjoy doing leg curls before heavy squat movements to warm up his knees. Good luck and thanks. Sticking around to the end and I'll see you next time.