Weak Calf Genetics

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Krat1712

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Oct 24, 2015
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Alright so I've been blessed with with chicken calf situation lol. My thighs are a lean 27 in. at the top and my calves are 15 (which look really skinny on a 6'3 guy like myself) friends/acquaintances have commented that I need to work on legs more when I'm wearing baggy shorts until I lift them up and they're eyes pop out lol. I am a natural skinny ecto. Before I started lifting I was 6'3 150 and probably 18% bf. Yes you heard that correctly. I got to roughly 200 and 18-20% or so naturally over the course of four years then hopped on gear.

When I first started lifting, calves were probably around 13.5 inches. Over the 4 year course I got them to 14-14.25. Now after two years of gear I still only have them at 15. The last three months I've been hitting calves hard 3 times a week. Alternating high rep drop sets with low rep heavy sets the next calf workout. I use the standing calf press, I use the leg press for calves, other various machines..seated for soleous growth and I work my tibialis muscles by putting a dumbbell in between my feet on a bench, then lifting up and pausing/squeezing. I think I've put on another 1/8th inch doing this routine for the last 3 months.

Does anybody have anymore advice for me? Thanks in advance!
 
No advice, but that's always rough man. Putting all that work in and seeing little gain.
 
What rep ranges are you hitting them at? Also may try reducing frequency a bit but keep the volume the same. Try maybe twice a week? If you've done less frequency before then maybe add more days of calf work.
 
Try working them daily for a while? You need to keep changing/periodising things to see some kind of growth when they're resistant imo. I always like long eccentrics followed by some quick partial reps.
 
bptubbs said:
No advice, but that's always rough man. Putting all that work in and seeing little gain.
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Ya sure does man. They're strong as shit though lol. Legs in general, minus calves of course, are actually my most gifted muscle group as far as growth and strength
 
Serotonin101 said:
What rep ranges are you hitting them at? Also may try reducing frequency a bit but keep the volume the same. Try maybe twice a week? If you've done less frequency before then maybe add more days of calf work.
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Ya I've actually started seeing a very small amount of growth since I upped training them to 3 times a week.

On high rep/dropset days I probably do around 8-10 sets of maybe 20 for gastros. Then do maybe 2 or 3 intense drop sets of maybe 50-60 reps total (I don't really count reps I just keep going until my calves feel like they're going to explode and there's practically tears running down my face ??) Then 4 sets or so of high rep seated raises for the soleus with the last one being a drop set. Then 4 sets of "dumbbell foot raises" I guess I'd call them for the tibialis.

On heavy days I warm up with high reps then do maybe 10 sets of 5-8. Then 4 seated for 5-8, then the dumbbell foot raises for same sets/reps.

CFC said:
Try working them daily for a while? You need to keep changing/periodising things to see some kind of growth when they're resistant imo. I always like long eccentrics followed by some quick partial reps.
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Ya maybe I should try 5-7 days a week. Ya I play around with different tempos and everything as well. I actually do fairly long eccentrics for every exercise.
 
That's some serious volume Jesus fucking christ. Might be over training them with those numbers lol. I've always been taught roughly 100-120 reps total for calves in a session. So I'll do 3x20 seated and 3x20 standing. I don't have monster calves by any means but they're definitely in proportion to my leg development.
 
What substances/dosages have you run and for how long? Since you have cycled gear already I would suggest using a GH secretagogue.
I have experience with MK 677 and while it's powerful alone, coupled with Huperzine A during the day and Melatonin at night it will definitely be much stronger.
GH and IGF-1 will promote hyperplasia (increased number of cells) as opposed to AAS that work promoting hypertrophy (increased cellular size).
You need long cycles to.fully realize the potential of supra physiologic levels of GH and IGF-1, as in 6 months minimum up to a year.
In my experience and in theory as well, MK 677 will get stronger the longer you use it, there is no tolerance build up, while at least some of the peptides will need to be cycled way more frequently as tolerance/desensitisation will happen after 1 or 2 months.
Good luck, and can we get a shot where we see legs and calves?
 
Serotonin101 said:
That's some serious volume Jesus fucking christ. Might be over training them with those numbers lol. I've always been taught roughly 100-120 reps total for calves in a session. So I'll do 3x20 seated and 3x20 standing. I don't have monster calves by any means but they're definitely in proportion to my leg development.
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Ya my calves only seem to respond to crazy high volume ha.
 
This may sound crazy, but have you ever considered spending time just working to improve mobility of the calves themselves? A lot of people heavily work their calves into oblivion to hopefully overcome the general resistance it shows in growth. We are on our legs majority of the day so the muscle is used to being worked at a high volume continuously.

It may not be genetics or poor workout methodology rather it could be overwhelmingly restrictive tension in the fascia that is restricting the muscles within to adequately grow.
 
^ Hey! Welcome back mate! :) How you doing?
 
GrymReefer said:
This may sound crazy, but have you ever considered spending time just working to improve mobility of the calves themselves? A lot of people heavily work their calves into oblivion to hopefully overcome the general resistance it shows in growth. We are on our legs majority of the day so the muscle is used to being worked at a high volume continuously.

It may not be genetics or poor workout methodology rather it could be overwhelmingly restrictive tension in the fascia that is restricting the muscles within to adequately grow.
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Hmm..ya I never thought of that
 
I know with my chest/shoulders I was always under-developed until I took some time to just improve the range of motion. Overtime it allowed a much greater contraction and I really felt the difference between workouts and the soreness after a workout no longer being isolated to specific parts, but the major/minor muscle groups as a whole.

Range of motion plays a big factor in how effective the contraction is. Also time under tension can really make a difference for stubborn muscle groups.
 
GrymReefer said:
I know with my chest/shoulders I was always under-developed until I took some time to just improve the range of motion. Overtime it allowed a much greater contraction and I really felt the difference between workouts and the soreness after a workout no longer being isolated to specific parts, but the major/minor muscle groups as a whole.
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Yeah similar for me with chest. Once I fixed my bad posture and tightened up the traps, things really kicked off.
 
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