5 Workouts for Big Calves

Looking for big calves?  I was in that situation a while back, I had chicken legs.  I never had an issue getting a big upper body but it seemed like my leg workouts did nothing to help me with my calves.  I was embarrassed to wear shorts in public because of my twig legs.  I looked so disproportionate and it didn't help when others poked fun at my legs.  I decided there has to be something more I can do about this.

When any part of my body is lagging behind I go to war with my body and attack that muscle group aggressively.  I like to call this priority training, targeting an area of the body with several workouts.  I will work that area out 3 times a week specifically to get the results I want to see.  I did that with my calves for a couple months and finally saw much better results.  I now have legs that don't look like twigs and I feel great in shorts!  To see results in these exercises we need to keep increasing the weight each week to see real results.

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1. Calf Press

We can perform the calf press on the leg press machine.  We want to keep our legs stationary without locking the knees, then using only our toes and the balls of our feet to extend the platform out.  You can see a demonstration in the video below. 3 Sets, 8-10 Reps

Calf Press On The Leg Press Machine Bodybuilding.com

2. Standing Calf Press

Depending on what equipment you have available at your gym you can use either the calf raise machine or the smith machine.  If using the smith machine put a 35 lb plate on the ground to stand on the edge with your toes so you can get further range of motion.  On each set place your feet at a different angle so you can target different muscles, different positions are straight forward, toes pointed inward, toes pointed outward. 3 Sets, 8-10 reps.

3. Barbell Seated Calf Raises

Seated calf raises range of motion helps target other muscles that regular calf raises miss.  Again we will be using a 35 lb plate and use that to in front of a weight bench. 3 Sets, 8-10 reps.

Barbell Seated Calf Raise Bodybuilding.com

4. Running Stairs

Running up stairs can make calves explode!  The best place to run is at a football stadium, check out your local college or high school for stadium stairs you can use.  If that isn't applicable you can use any other flight of stairs you can find.

5. Walking Uphill

If you have knee problems or other issues running then walking up steep inclines are great for building calves.  Find a very steep hill or residential area with big hills to walk in.

Don't Forget Nutrition

If you are not increasing your calorie and protein intake none of this will matter.  Sure you will see some gains in muscle and strength but you will not get the results you desire without proper nutrition to feed your muscles.  The biggest key is increasing your protein intake and keeping it above your current lean body mass.

Top 3 Ways to Build Muscle Fast

A Cutting Diet That Gets Results!

Thinking of going on cut?  Don't have a clue what cutting is?  Well you came to the right place.  Cutting is dropping your calorie intake to lose weight.  Typically most individuals like to cut to burn fat off their bellies or you can use this same diet to lose excessive weight.  It works for those already fit to those that just need to shed some pounds.  In this article you will find example foods to eat, how to calculate your calories, and how to create macro-nutrient needs.

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Daily Calorie Needs

First, we need to find out what our daily calorie needs are.  We can do this by using this calorie calculator and plugging in the required information.  Once you calculate your numbers it will show you what calories you should shoot for to lose weight.  Typically a healthy weight loss target is a 500 calorie deficit per day.  You are probably wondering, how many calories is one pound of fat?  One pound of fat is around 3500 calories, so you could expect to lose a pound per week just off of dieting.  Add in cardio and strength training and you can easily lose 2-3 pounds a week.  Losing weight too quickly can be unhealthy and lead to muscle loss and loose skin.  On a cut you want to keep your weight loss around 10 pounds a month but those with a lot of weight to lose can lose a bit more and still be considered healthy.

Macro-Nutrient Needs

Protein - Protein is essential for maintaining the muscle you have while on a cutting diet.  You will want to keep your protein intake at 1g per body weight and possibly more if you are doing high intensity training.  For example, a individual that weighs 150lbs will want to take in between 150g to 160g of protein to maintain  muscle during a cut.

Fats - We are talking about healthy fats here.  Fats help keep your body healthy and maintain your sanity.  You will want to keep this at 1g to 2g per body weight or 1g is you are leaner.

Carbs - This is the one that is the hardest to calculate because it really relates to your level of activity.  If you are moderately active you should maintain 2 to 3g per pound of body weight.  If you are very active then you will need to increase this to 4g per pound.

How do I track these?

The best tool to track your calories and macros is MyFitnessPal.  You can also download it as an app for iPhone, iPad, and Android markets!  If you have a smartphone you can use the barcode scanner feature to scan everything that you eat.

This method of cutting flat out works.  It's really cut and dry; you eat at a deficit and lose weight because of it.  Throw in some cardio or strength training and boost that deficit even further to lose even more weight.  If you do this for 30 days and do no lose weight then there is something majorly wrong.  You need to make sure your calculations are correct and that you are correctly tracking everything that you eat to make sure that you are at a deficit.

Meal Planning
Breakfast:
Protein Shake or 2 Eggs
Granola Bar or Oatmeal

Lunch:
Chicken Breast
Brown Rice
Low Fat Yogurt
String Cheese
Apple or Bannana

Post Workout:
Protein Shake

Dinner:
Pasta or Rice
Lean Meat (Chicken, Fish, Turkey)
Vegetables (Broccoli, Peas, Asparagus, etc - I recommend steamer bags for quick meals)

Evening Snack:
Protein Shake or Protein Bar

Supplements:
Multi-Vitamin
Fish Oil

7 "fatty" foods for a flat stomach