Did Arnold REALLY have bad genetics for calves?

[Bluto]

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.

so what did arnold do that was so exceptional

[pumpster]

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.

Total BS in general but in regards to everything around BB in general-training, contests, posing he's a total fan the same way Pete Rose is a baseball aficionado.

[pumpster]

so what did arnold do that was so exceptional

He was willing to ask/try something else in order to bring up weak points. Other guys like Coleman obviously didn't do everything they could to balance out, leaving the thighs too big later on, and IMO neglecting the calves. Obviously Coleman could've brought the thighs down at least, but never bothered it wasn't that he couldn't have done it it was a choice.

[donrhummy]

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 

Give me a break. So, back in the late 1960's Arnold got imlants that look like REAL calves, but in the 1990's and 2000's everyone's calf implants are completely FAKE looking?  This is the DUMBEST idea. Why does no one see how unlikely it is that in the last 40 years only Arnold (40 years ago) got real looking implants.

[monstercalves]

arnold's calves 

[pumpster]

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 

Assinine, but pretty much what you expect from this twit.

[cswol]

an old-timer at gold's venice who is friends with arnold, said that he would go to germany for weeks at a time and take a ton of injections of the best roids in all bodyparts, and come back to venice huge, he was the first master or site injections.

[Earl1972]

I think he said the calves need atleast 500 hours of training for them to be decent

E

[pumpster]

an old-timer at gold's venice who is friends with arnold, said that he would go to germany for weeks at a time and take a ton of injections of the best roids in all bodyparts, and come back to venice huge, he was the first master or site injections.

And you believed this? 

[suckmymuscle]

  Let's cut this crap about Arnold having shitty calves because it's simply not true. His calves were incredible both in size as well as in having that crazy diamond shape. It just so happens that Arnold's calves, as well as his quads, were overpowered by his massive pecs and arms. His calves might have been a weak point for him, but they were still bigger than that of 99% of current juice using bodybuilders, and that incredible.

SUCKMYMUSCLE

[cswol]

hey pumpster, why do you not want to believe arnold was a master of site injections, look at the last photo of his calves, the 3 pics side by side, dont you see the knot in the middle of his calf from an inject on the middle picture.........you guys are pathetic.

[Bodies]

his gastrocs are fucking INSANE in those pics above - I think he just had insane genetics so that when he decided to really bomb a bodypart - any bodypart - it would just blow up out of control...

[bigkubby]

HE HAD REASONABLE CALVES THAT INSERT LOW BUT IM SURE HE WORKED HIS ASS OFF? EVER SEEN HOW WELL THEY LOOK IN PUMPING IRON?

[Bluto]

 "The calves are like no other muscle, and every day they seem to have a different mood," he said. "Sometimes I can do calf raises with shoes on and it feels better, then other times the shoes get in the way and I have to do this exercise with bare feet.... It's strange; kind of supernatural.

"A secret I learned is to test the calves' personality or attitude with two or three sets, then I know which way they want to go that particular day. The calves will let you know--just give them a chance to 'talk' to you." He went on to say it's "almost like they have a mind of their own--a brain that the other muscles don't have."

OAK TIPS

* Arnold couldn't use enough variety in his calf training. Anything that would shock the stubborn calves was fair game--high reps, low reps, super-short rest periods (15-30 seconds), supersets, you name it.

* For the most part, he took his calf exercises through a full range of motion--down for a full stretch and up until they nearly cramped. However, he also occasionally did full sets of partial reps, which allowed him to go much heavier, or finished off regular sets with a few partials.

EXERCISE              SETS  REPS

Donkey Calf Raise     5     15-30
Standing Calf Raise   5     15-30
Leg-Press Calf Raise  5     20-30
Standing One-         3     15-30
  Legged Calf Raise
  (with a dumbbell)

* STANDING ONE-LEGGED CALF RAISE

Holding a dumbbell in one hand, Arnold would stand on one leg on a wooden block, concentrating on each calf muscle separately. He made sure the block was high enough so his heel wouldn't touch the floor at the bottom of the movement, even though he stretched the calf fully on each rep.

[Bluto]

article says he did low reps, high reps

but in the routine he never went lower than 15 reps!

[Get Rowdy]

"The calves are like no other muscle, and every day they seem to have a different mood," he said. "Sometimes I can do calf raises with shoes on and it feels better, then other times the shoes get in the way and I have to do this exercise with bare feet.... It's strange; kind of supernatural.

"A secret I learned is to test the calves' personality or attitude with two or three sets, then I know which way they want to go that particular day. The calves will let you know--just give them a chance to 'talk' to you." He went on to say it's "almost like they have a mind of their own--a brain that the other muscles don't have."

From Muscle Builder/Power May 1974

[gh15]

arnold didnt have bad genetics for nothing,,arnold today if competed and was in his 30s would still be mr o and would do it as many times as ron if not more,,

arnold didnt use any of the newer products such as igf1lr3,,mgf and pegmgf,,191aa Hgh,,
arnold didnt have masteron ENANTAT,,arnold didnt have letrozole or aromasin,, arnold didnt have high dose test available in 1ml injections,,,arnold didnt have humalog...,,and arnold surely didnt have a mix of prop tren and masteron in one single 1ml injection ,,if he did it would solve lots of his problems..

[MikeThaMachine]

"The calves are like no other muscle, and every day they seem to have a different mood," he said. "Sometimes I can do calf raises with shoes on and it feels better, then other times the shoes get in the way and I have to do this exercise with bare feet.... It's strange; kind of supernatural.

"A secret I learned is to test the calves' personality or attitude with two or three sets, then I know which way they want to go that particular day. The calves will let you know--just give them a chance to 'talk' to you." He went on to say it's "almost like they have a mind of their own--a brain that the other muscles don't have."

I completely agree with what he said, I also can't just be like "I am goin to train outer calves today" and when I used to train at home I always switched back and forth from bare feet to wearing shoes. I just do what feels good for that day and go to town on them.

[Pollux]

Let's just say that for this particular shot he purposely posed in the water to hide his calves - or lackthereof.

[haider]

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.

You've been the best poster on this thread, I appreciatte your replies and your patience. Thank you!

[haider]

arnold's calves 

Look at the first pic and notice how fuggin out of proportion his calves look. Not to mention they look bit lumpy on the inner gastroc's. This kind of a transformation for calves (very genetic bodypart) is absolutely ridiculous, bordering on the impossible even- if u consider the fact that it took him 2-3 years to do it. Your calf insertions pretty much determine whether you have good calves or not, which further adds to the mystery of arnold's calves seen here in 77 i believe. Unless he SERIOUSLY neglected his calves earlier in his carrier, I don't believe that he brought them up merely by training them extra hard... if not implants, it COULD be something else, I'm not sure.

 People who bash me are foolish because I'm simply inquiring into the issue, and not really making any definitive assertions. What ultimately follows from this is that pumpster can go fuck himself 

[ramazon]

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 

They were observed to grow dramatically following a trip to Sweden.  The Swedes were one of the first nations to use some very effective body sculpting
techniques.  In every sport, there's more than one game.  Stay keen, Haider.
I appreciate it.

[haider]

They were observed to grow dramatically following a trip to Sweden.  The Swedes were one of the first nations to use some very effective body sculpting
techniques.  In every sport, there's more than one game.  Stay keen, Haider.
I appreciate it.

hahahah, thanks for the response ramazon! It'd be awesome if you could expound on this further, and enlighten fellow getbiggers about the "effective body sculpting
techniques" of arnold's time 

[BEAST 8692]

his calves weren't short by any stretch of the imagination.

think about this.

when arnold started training it was all about chest and arms. everything else was like an afterthought. being massive and strong was everything and being massive meant the big showy bodyparts. no one talked about calves much at all.

when arnold focused on a bodypart, it fucking grew, every time. "oh, i need some legs. i think i'll do some squats." boom, legs.

now, i know it wasn't quite that simple (he was a hard worker in the gym), but the fact is, when a guy's got genetics like his, the midas touch applies. come on, how often do you see a guy with great genetics that just can't one body part to decent proportions?

ironically, the only exception i see here is with calves, but that's usually black guys with high calves. they just don't have enough cells there and that's fine, but it was NOT the case with arnold. take a look at them, they're actually very full to the insertion points.

awesome genetics + hard, consistant priority work + anabolic drugs + site injections = muscular calves.

[natural al]

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

if you had implants back in the 70's and 80's you had calves that looked like tony pearsons or big Lou Ferrigno when he made his comeback, no way did arnold have implants.