Pros and calf size.

[SquatAss]

serious question, why do people almost always have a bigger left calf?

You almost never put an equal amount of weight on the calves when you're standing still. One leg is always the 'lean' leg and that gives you uneven development. Some more than others.

[NarcissisticDeity]

Paul Dillett is half white and the rest are exceptions.

Black bodybuilders generally have smaller waists though.  Jay and Ronnie are perfect examples of both of these generalizations.  However, Ronnie's calves are enormous - they just lack shape.

Ronnie's calves lack more than just shape my friend .

[NarcissisticDeity]

They are two massive blobs - emphasis on massive.  Probably in the way of 20" or more.  What other flaws do you think they have?

Development , detail , separation , balance , other than that nothing lol

[NarcissisticDeity]

??

Development and balance?

Development in the gastrocnemius inner & outter heads and the soleus and balance in relation to his quads .

[LuciusFox]

??

Development and balance?

 ND is blind as a bat. Here we go again...

[NarcissisticDeity]

 ND is blind as a bat. Here we go again...

Come on you know development

[NarcissisticDeity]

ND - so not being comparable to Dorian Yates defines having poor calves?

No the lack of devlopment , separation and detail , plus balance define them as poor .

[NarcissisticDeity]

Define "balance" 

They do NOT lack development.  Ronnie has some of the largest calves among current pros.  A few beat him though: Cutler and Atwood for example.

Balance in relation to his quads !! and while they may tape the same size as Cutler they're not as big as they should be for a 300lb bodybuilder .

[figgs]

serious question, why do people almost always have a bigger left calf?

I figured my left calf was bigger because of when i used to skateboard I'd kick foward with my left foot.

[Undisputed]

I think it is the relation to the rest of their body.  I remember when I first started seeing Ron Love in the gym everyday I thought his calves were small beacuse of the way they looked in relation to his monsterous shoulders and upper-body.  Eventually we started training together a couple days a week, and while doing legs one day I looked at his calf in comparison to mine and it was huge.  Mine tape out at 17" and I never train them thanks to my dad.  Makes me wonder how big his were, yet they still seemed small from a distance.....

[Vince B]

Bodybuilding used to be about getting all your muscles large and in proportion. If you look at the photos above where they are doing heel raises it is clear that Ronnie doesn't have much muscle in the gastrocnemius compared to the other guy (Dorian?). I have no idea how judges can award a contest to these guys without any separation and depth down and under the calves. As far as I am concerned Ronnie lacks calves and should never win over those who have complete development. Now, somehow saying this is supposed to be controversial. What a joke bodybuilding has turned out to be. Who are these judges, what is the criteria and how come it is not being enforced? Ronnie is a huge man. No doubt about that. The videos don't lie and he looks impressive. However he does not have a complete physique. I don't know what he has done to those calves but they don't look impressive to me. Some size is there but so what, where are the cuts under the gastrocnemius? In my opinion he has "no calves" as we all say in bodybuilding when a guy lacks a bodypart. Therefore he should never win a major title.

Steve Reeves had neck, arms and calves the same size. About 18 1/4 for each measurement. That standard still impresses today. However, we would expect a top bodybuilder to have calves approaching his arm size. Lee Priest is an example of someone with huge arms and huge calves.

[Wombat]

So much for the neck, arms and calves all having close to the same measurements

[NarcissisticDeity]

Bodybuilding used to be about getting all your muscles large and in proportion. If you look at the photos above where they are doing heel raises it is clear that Ronnie doesn't have much muscle in the gastrocnemius compared to the other guy (Dorian?). I have no idea how judges can award a contest to these guys without any separation and depth down and under the calves. As far as I am concerned Ronnie lacks calves and should never win over those who have complete development. Now, somehow saying this is supposed to be controversial. What a joke bodybuilding has turned out to be. Who are these judges, what is the criteria and how come it is not being enforced? Ronnie is a huge man. No doubt about that. The videos don't lie and he looks impressive. However he does not have a complete physique. I don't know what he has done to those calves but they don't look impressive to me. Some size is there but so what, where are the cuts under the gastrocnemius? In my opinion he has "no calves" as we all say in bodybuilding when a guy lacks a bodypart. Therefore he should never win a major title.

Steve Reeves had neck, arms and calves the same size. About 18 1/4 for each measurement. That standard still impresses today. However, we would expect a top bodybuilder to have calves approaching his arm size. Lee Priest is an example of someone with huge arms and huge calves.

Great post !! calves are really an aesthetic bodypart when the Greeks made all those amazing statues three things stood out great calves , abdominals and delts these are all aesthetic muscle and the Greek Ideal which Reeves accomplished is long gone .Weak calves cannot be hidden , they are plainly evident in all poses .

[Wombat]

I have high calves  Seems the ecto meso types carry the high calves. I myself am an ecto meso. I have a small waist and broad shoulders. But my calves suck ass. All genetics. I bust my ass and they suck.

Oh ya and im not a midget. Most short dudes are the ones with the giant calves.

My routine


Standing raise   15 - 25 reps / 5

Seated 6 - 10 reps / 5

leg press isolation raise 20 - 30 reps / 8

2 times per week for the last year. Hasent done shit. My genetics are decent also

Go to bodybuilding.com and take a look at the video of Flex Lewis training calves...(very light weight) opposite of what most do...I have been doing his routine for about a month now and my calves are extremely responding....

[Vince B]

This is not the place to discuss calf training programs but I think if we reverse engineer the programs of everyone who ever developed large calves we might find some protocols and strategies that are better than others. In the old days many guys with weak calves blasted them daily before contests with mixed success. So we have an issue with frequency that pops up in all program discussions.

What I know is that the calves can be made to grow on each workout and you should be able to measure the improvement. If when you measure first thing in the morning and they are not larger then maybe your last workout wasn't effective. It takes a brave person to measure in the mornings. Your calves might be up to 1/2 inch larger later in the day after walking around and so on. Anyway, pick a time that you like to measure them and always measure them at that time. If they are bigger then your program was effective. Now keep doing things that induce growth EACH workout. It might require rethinking this whole hypertrophy thing. Theories are notoriously half baked or outright mistaken. If you stick to programs and cannot measure the improvement at least on a weekly basis you are not growing and your workouts are almost a waste of time. You will agree that keeping big muscles large requires a lot of hard training. From what I have seen posted here re programs I would say they will not lead to larger and larger calves. Not nearly enough, I am afraid. Occasionally brief or unusual programs work for a while and that surely stuffs up any feedback you need to assess program effectiveness. If you go flat out on calves for a month and start with 16 inch calves you should be able to put an inch on them in a month. By the way, a 16 inch standing cold measurement is not bad. 16 1/2 can look very impressive on an average guy.

[Scimowser]

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[sculpture]

Two of the greats

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