Did Arnold REALLY have bad genetics for calves?

[Bluto]

well the story goes that arnold had it all but bad calves (lets keep in mind legs wasnt as important back then as today)

so the story goes he cut his shorts to remind him of them bla bla and he ended up with good calves development

my question is - is this a myth? maybe he just didnt train them much back in the fatherland?

or did he really, succeed where so many before and after him fail, to bring up a weak bodypart like calves who more than any other (maybe with the exception of forearms) is based on genetics?

and if he did, what was his program!

[Hedgehog]

well the story goes that arnold had it all but bad calves (lets keep in mind legs wasnt as important back then as today)

so the story goes he cut his shorts to remind him of them bla bla and he ended up with good calves development

my question is - is this a myth? maybe he just didnt train them much back in the fatherland?

or did he really, succeed where so many before and after him fail, to bring up a weak bodypart like calves who more than any other (maybe with the exception of forearms) is based on genetics?

and if he did, what was his program!

He did the Reg Park calf routine.

-Hedge

[Bluto]

He did the Reg Park calf routine.

-Hedge

dont know it! but i guess it can be found by some digging.

im surprised not everybody with bad calves development doesnt search for it, that is if it truely made a difference and he had bad genetics for calves to begin with whcih i question

[pumpster]

Moral of the story: try many different routines coupled with some balls before lazily concluding that genetics are a problem.

[jwb]

I always thought it was BS.

His insertion points were never that high he just barely trained them for the first few years that is all.

Reg Park DID have fucking beautiful calves though...

[Bluto]

Moral of the story: try many different routines coupled with some balls before lazily concluding that genetics are a problem.

but how many examples are there with people with weak calves that succeed to really bring em up?

[Palpatine Q]

People like to shit on Arnold because he had the IFBB in his pocket, and the baboon Sergio didn't

But he was a fucking maniac in the gym

[Hedgehog]

dont know it! but i guess it can be found by some digging.

im surprised not everybody with bad calves development doesnt search for it, that is if it truely made a difference and he had bad genetics for calves to begin with whcih i question

Arnold basically did 100 reps every day with a very heavy weight if I recall it.

Czech ( ) this article, IMO a pretty good read for the natural trainer who wants to incorporate that kind of training.

Ie, go just as heavy, but don't train every day.

-Hedge

[Bluto]

I'm thinking of putting  a seated calf machine in front of my computer and do high reps while posting!

hedge: i didnt see no link to article

[phyxsius]

Arnold is a very smart and hard worker in the gym.. He knows how to impact weak bodyparts.

[Bluto]

so EXACTLY what did he do

personally im leaning towards that he had pretty good genetics for calves too, maybe not as good as chest but still

he just made it a priority to work them

[Palpatine Q]

so EXACTLY what did he do

personally im leaning towards that he had pretty good genetics for calves too, maybe not as good as chest but still

he just made it a priority to work them

I would agree, you don't turn high calves into low calves no matter how hard you try.  same with bi's, pecs....whatever.

For example Arnold's chest covered more than half his torso, mike Mentzer's didn't and there ain't a fucking thing he could do about it.

[jwb]

I would agree, you don't turn high calves into low calves no matter how hard you try.  same with bi's, pecs....whatever.

For example Arnold's chest covered more than half his torso, mike Mentzer's didn't and there ain't a fucking thing he could do about it.

cell distribution is the key.

arnold had pretty reasonable cell distribution. ie. his calves were not terribly high

[haider]

Arnold probably got calf implants. Not highly unlikely is it, considering that calves are generally a very "genetic" bodypart? He may have had us fooled for decades now 

[jwb]

Arnold probably got calf implants. Not highly unlikely is it, considering that calves are generally a very "genetic" bodypart? He may have had us fooled for decades now 

total BS.

just watch the prison scene in twins to see arnolds calves flex... implants can't do that

[haider]

total BS.

just watch the prison scene in twins to see arnolds calves flex... implants can't do that

how the hell could he neglect his calves for so long then bring them up overnight like that after deciding he needed to work them out "extra hard"? LOL! makes you go hmmmmmmmmm 

[jwb]

how the hell could he neglect his calves for so long then bring them up overnight like that after deciding he needed to work them out "extra hard"? LOL! makes you go hmmmmmmmmm 

look closely at the 1967 pics of arnold's calves... they weren't THAT bad by that stage.

between 1966 when he placed second to chet yorton and 1970 when he won the olympia he brought them up very well but that is still 3 years not three months.

[haider]

look closely at the 1967 pics of arnold's calves... they weren't THAT bad by that stage.

between 1966 when he placed second to chet yorton and 1970 when he won the olympia he brought them up very well that that is still 3 years not three months.

how bad were his calves in 1966? Calves are generally very "genetic", i.e. if you don't have decent calves within 2-3 yrs of lifting you will never have good calves. I believe by 1966 he'd been training calves + juicing already for many many years, so how could he bring them up THAT drastically, even if it took him a couple of years?

[Hedgehog]

Arnold probably got calf implants. Not highly unlikely is it, considering that calves are generally a very "genetic" bodypart? He may have had us fooled for decades now 

I didn't rule that out before.

But the calf thread by Max Rep made me positive that it was possible for Arnold to make them big through training.

And with his drive? I think it's very likely actually.

JMO.

[Camel Jockey]

Arnold has low inserting calves, noobs. They can be brought up with some work in no time. People with high calves will have trouble though.

[Palpatine Q]

Arnold probably got calf implants. Not highly unlikely is it, considering that calves are generally a very "genetic" bodypart? He may have had us fooled for decades now 

Arnold din't get calf implants in the early 70's

I don't think there was such a thing, and if there was it would have been for the rich, not some nobody bodybuilder.

He wasn't ARNOLD IN THE 70'S

[jwb]

how bad were his calves in 1966? Calves are generally very "genetic", i.e. if you don't have decent calves within 2-3 yrs of lifting you will never have good calves. I believe by 1966 he'd been training calves + juicing already for many many years, so how could he bring them up THAT drastically, even if it took him a couple of years?

calves are genetic but people still aren't popping out with 20 inch gams when they are born (unless they are samoan!)

arnolds calves were not great in 1966... one of the reasons yorton beat him.

but even by the following year they had come up a lot... by 1970 they were good... by 1974 they were very good

[haider]

I don't care what u fvcker's say, I'd have to look at the pics myself 

[jwb]

I don't care what u fvcker's say, I'd have to look at the pics myself 

don't forget arnold is one of the world's greatest bullshit artists.

it sounded all romantic in education of a bodybuilder that he started doing 1000lb calf raises and brought his calves up in no time once he came to america but I don't buy it.

he lost to yorton in 1966 and started getting mentored by wag bennett at the same time. no way a guy like wag wouldn't urge him to start training calves harder at that stage instead of waiting another 2 years to do it.

[pumpster]

but how many examples are there with people with weak calves that succeed to really bring em up?

I don't know of too many other stories like Arnold's where we know they really went out of their way. They say they did but we don't know.

personally im leaning towards that he had pretty good genetics for calves too, maybe not as good as chest but still

Hard to say; obviously they weren't bad if he could bring them up but might've needed something out of the ordinary to get them there-willing to try a different more effective routine plus hard work. I don't know that the guys who've never had good calves had done either one let alone both.