Abs/Calves

[deadanywayzzz]

Hey all, had a question about abs/calves training and what you guys are currently doing to implement them into your weekly plan. I recently started hitting the weights about 6-7 months ago and have hit almost no core work outs other than indirect training from squat/dead. Thanks for any info!

 

[Mac11wildcat]

Both are just muscle, train em like anything else if you want stronger/thicker abs and calves. Couple times a week to failure at recoverable volume.

 

[buck]

Many people even pros don't train abs much. Just depends on what you are trying to achieve. a set of heavy tricep pushdowns can stimulate the abs well. Most every movement works the abs to some degree. One year after many years of training i decide to focus more on abs and did 1/2 hour of ab work on my rest day and it worked, the next summer my waistline at the same % of FB was 1 inch bigger so i quit training my core much as i did not want it to grow more.
Calves are a different thing. In my early years i did either 4 sets of toe presses or standing calf raises plus 4 sets seated calf raises ever leg workout. These years it is more like 4-6 sets of something. But gave up seated calf raises as i really never saw much if any mass really come form them. I have thrown in some tibula work on occasion. But my years of bike riding has developed them very well.

 

[allBlack]

10 sets of 10 reps standing calf raises with only 10 second breaks in between.

i work calves 6 times a week as my first workout

 

[Gigantic]

Squeeze your calf muscles the entire time, every time you masturbate. I’m not even fucking kidding. I have some of the biggest calves in the world.

That plus anything that puts weight and load on it and includes movements. So, squats (I hate these because of injuries), or better yet, half squats and half reps on a leg press, yokes, taking walks with weighted vests, and eating enough.

 

[Canknucklehead]

Do calves when you train legs.

Do abs a few times a week.

 

[Scruf]

As a bodybuilder most of us would only train abs during contest prep, say for 12 weeks. Calves you can hit every day if they are lacking or once a week if they are in balance with the rest of your body.

 

[allBlack]

10 sets of 10 reps standing calf raises with only 10 second breaks in between.

i work calves 6 times a week as my first workout

Also use full range of motion and contract as hard as possible

 

[cdubw44]

Go walk on roofs for a hour, calves will be huge.. vacuum and abs couple times a week

 

[allBlack]

Also use full range of motion and contract as hard as possible

I recently started using the stairmaster for 35 minutes and walking on my toes

I believe the calf muscle is the most resilient muscle ever. This is my routine

1. 10 sets of 10-15 reps calf press using leg press, rest 10-15 seconds
2. 10 sets of 10 reps calf raises, no rest I move on to body weight and back to the calf raise
3. Train calves everyday as the first workout including leg day.
4. Cardio on stair master 4 times a week for 35 minutes walking on toes

Using this routine my calves are definitely bigger

Pardon the potato quality

 

[4Drago]

I don't want my abs any bigger then they are. And they are deep as well. When I cut down they come in nicely.
I was lucky with calves. Never really had to train them. They just grew with my legs. I do train them lightly a couple times a week when I do arms.

I think people train calves incorrectly...just a theory. Calves need to go through full range of motion when trained. The down stretch is important. When I'm on the down stretch and my heal touches the ground, for example, I spread/flare my calves as wide as I can. The calves also spread/flex like a diamond shape. So I flare them as wide as I can and visualize them filling will blood. The up stroke you pinch as hard as you can. Slow on the down stroke, flare out, pinch at top. Then I stretch between each set, again visualizing them filling with blood.
All I do are unweighted calve raises. Usually against a wall where I can get as deep a stretch as I can for the down stroke. Flare them bitches until it hurts. Intensity is more important then weight!

If I was only so lucky with my biceps. My calves are 19 1/2" and 20". My arms have about a 1 1/2" to go to get caught up. One of my major goals. 20" arms someday lol.

 

[Gigantic]

I don't want my abs any bigger then they are. And they are deep as well. When I cut down they come in nicely.
I was lucky with calves. Never really had to train them. They just grew with my legs. I do train them lightly a couple times a week when I do arms.

I think people train calves incorrectly...just a theory. Calves need to go through full range of motion when trained. The down stretch is important. When I'm on the down stretch and my heal touches the ground, for example, I spread/flare my calves as wide as I can. The calves also spread/flex like a diamond shape. So I flare them as wide as I can and visualize them filling will blood. The up stroke you pinch as hard as you can. Slow on the down stroke, flare out, pinch at top. Then I stretch between each set, again visualizing them filling with blood.
All I do are unweighted calve raises. Usually against a wall where I can get as deep a stretch as I can for the down stroke. Flare them bitches until it hurts. Intensity is more important then weight!

If I was only so lucky with my biceps. My calves are 19 1/2" and 20". My arms have about a 1 1/2" to go to get caught up. One of my major goals. 20" arms someday lol.
View attachment 268382

Nice calves. Mine are 3x as big because I squeeze them when furiously wanksterbating my peckerflesh.

 

[Avarice911]

I used to train and in my earlier years with heavy weights. Gave up on working them for the better part of a decade or so now and they still are deep cut. I’ll maybe once or twice a month do 2-3 sets of planks for them now just to say I still work them lol. As for calves, I gave up on working them also over a decade ago because they never grew the slightest bit. However, I’ve now taken up the Sam Sulek advice of working them whenever they aren’t sore. So I end up hitting them 3-4x per week. Only time I avoid them now is on leg day because other volume is already enough to keep me in the gym for too long