why do calves need high reps ?

[abett07]

how come most workouts have higher rep ranges for the calves than other body parts ?

is there some type of myth going around that calves need high reps to grow ?

[BendtheBar]

Some trainers like John Christy disagree with high rep work, and have found that many clients receive benefits from lower rep, heavy weight work.

My advice is that if you have naturally skinny calves that won't grow, don't rule out the use of 5 to 10 rep sets with heavy work. I do standing barbell calf raises without the use of a block and they allow for a substantial amount of weight to be moved fairly safely.

[MC]

I don't know if it is a myth or not, but I know that my own calves responded best when I did an extended stint of hammering them twice a week with two different exercises in the 12-20 rep range.

I look at it like this, your calves work when you walk, stand, run. So it makes sense to me that they may need more time under tension to grow.

That said, everyone's genetics are different. I wasn't blessed with big calves and even now, at 17" they look small on my long legs. Some guys have big calves and never have to train them above and beyond squats and what not.

[Rich Knapp]

Think about how much your calves lift every day?
They are mostly fast twitch fibers and each calf lifts your body weight every time you take a step or go up steps.

So just as any body part, you need to go above and beyond what they are used to and trash them hard, either by high reps or super heavy weight.
The goal is to either way, kill them past there normal daily abuse.

[Off Road]

Why do calves need high reps? They don't. They just need overload like every other muscle.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Off Road

Why do calves need high reps? They don't. They just need overload like every other muscle.

Originally Posted by Rich Knapp

The goal is to either way, kill them past there normal daily abuse.

That about sums it up.

Most people just do the same high rep sets with the same weight week in and week out.

I did step ups for 5 years. I think it worked wonders on my calves. I also did years of heavy weight, focusing on progression. So I have tried both paths. In concert they seemed to work well.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

That about sums it up.

Most people just do the same high rep sets with the same weight week in and week out.

I did step ups for 5 years. I think it worked wonders on my calves. I also did years of heavy weight, focusing on progression. So I have tried both paths. In concert they seemed to work well.

Step-ups play a big role, I reckon...whether you're talking aerobic step-ups where a huge number of repetitions are done or whether it's step-ups onto a high step with a weightload...both have that final push off from the toes which makes the calf muscles really work hard.

[BendtheBar]

Mine were stair steps. I also think step ups were instrumental in my apparent "natural quad size", but that's a topic for another thread.

[piatraelfa]

My older brother has a word: "whatever works for you".
Obviously, nobody has the 100% accurate recipe for the calves development. Otherwise, we would have seen all the guys competing at Olympia with big calves.
From my personal experience, the calves developed extremely well when i trained them in a circuit.
The workout is like this: choose any 3-4 exercises for calves and then go for dropsets (after a rigurous warm up, obviously) without making any pause when switching the exercise. Do this 2-3 times every second workout, and you'll see the miracle happenening.