Author Topic: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...  (Read 4694 times)

Peaking at 45 !!!

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I would think most of those guys ride their bicycles almost every day-------and is it the every day training that gives them huge calves ?
C'mon, we've all seen it. Many of them are good athletes with tremendous endurance, but do you see how big their calves are and how skinny the rest of their body is ???
Since we here at getbig are interested in building muscle, maybe we have some food for thought here ?
What if we trained our bodyparts practically every day (5 or 6 or sometimes 7 days a week-----------low sets--------------moderate weight--------10 to 20 reps per set------maybe one or two or three sets per bodypart per day---------------------or maybe just trying it out on a bodypart of two to see how it works.
NO, Im not suggesting b-lls to the wall training 20 sets per bodypart extremely heavy weights 7 days a week ------no !!!!! 
But it is what it is----------there is so much confusing information about correct way to train, sets, reps, weight , frequency, rest, nutrition, blah blah blah-----------so how do you account for diamond shaped calves on skinny bicyclists who train very frequently ?
Doesnt it at least get you thinking ?   ???
I see a lot of these guys ---my arms are practicaly twice the size of their arms, but their calves are twice the size of mine !!!  So how do you account for that ?
When its time to change my current routine (which is currently high frequency 4 times a week), perhaps I will try something off the wall like I am suggesting --------------it sure has me curious !!!

MeatMop

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2006, 09:29:16 PM »
I don't have any formal physiological education...I don't even think that's a word but you probably get the point...but it's my understanding that only certain types of muscle fibers respond well to that type of training.  Calves, for one, because they go up and down and up and down thousands of times a day. 

gibberj2

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2006, 10:33:13 PM »
i have 15.5 inch arms and 18 inch calves!

Bluto

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2006, 04:04:09 AM »
I was looking for photos of Tour de france cyclists to see if they actually have big calves when I stumbled onto this


Z

Bluto

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2006, 04:06:49 AM »
Back to the subject, I don't think cyclists have that big calves, some might, but not a general rule... they might look bigger because they're big in proportion to other musclegroups that are small so they appear bigger, they're also very defined since they have so low bodyfat... I think they mostly build endurance, not size...

That being said, I'm a believer in alternative methods of working the calves, we've discussed this before about skipping rope, running sprints etc.

Z

Bluto

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2006, 04:09:14 AM »
Here's some photos of Tour de france cyclists








Z

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2006, 07:17:23 AM »
I was looking for photos of Tour de france cyclists to see if they actually have big calves when I stumbled onto this



Wow !!!  That picture made this thread worthwhile !!!  Thanks !!! :)

JPM

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2006, 08:45:30 AM »
I see a lot of Tri athletes (swim-bike-run) around San Diego county and some have outstanding calves and some somewhat skinny. Also seen scores of cyclist (wearing those  pretty uniforms and hogging the roads) and the same holds true for them. Pretty much if you potentional is larger calves you will get larger calves no matter what you do. Some of the bike riders are ex-jocks, like football players, who had big calves before they took up bike riding to stay in shape. Being a military area, San Diego has quite a few  current and retired service people doing those long rides (S.E.A.L.'s & Re-con guy's come to mind) and they tend to be lean with larger calves than most. Can most always spot an ex military man.
An old friend of mine has one of the best set of large, muscluar legs I've ever seen. He use to do squats at least three (sometimes more) time a day for 3 or 4 days in a row, take a couple of days off and start the cycle again. He only did one set of squats for 10- 12 reps with a weight that did not demand he go with a all out effort (just getting the blood supply to the muscle area was the main object) but 3 times a day. Also did dips that way but only 3 times a week,  which really packed on the muscle. His pec/delts tie in was outstanding. The theory bring that if he worked a muscle just  enought to not overtax the recovery abilities then the muscle would respond and grow from another one set session. This could very well work for calves as there are programs out there that do follow the pattern so many brief workots during the period of a day.
Would this style program work for every one? It may or may not, just have to experimate and find out I guess. Good Luck.

sli

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2006, 01:36:53 PM »
I have another observation: Have you ever noticed how many fat people have really huge muscular calves?
Seriously, check it out.

I raced road bikes for years and the guys that had big calves, would have had them anyway, they just got more defined. Only sprinters or track bike racers ever really developed extra size in their calves, and of course that's pretty predictable.
'move..and I'll snatch the life right out of you'

Bluto

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2006, 03:40:28 PM »
I have another observation: Have you ever noticed how many fat people have really huge muscular calves?
Seriously, check it out.
I raced road bikes for years and the guys that had big calves, would have had them anyway, they just got more defined. Only sprinters or track bike racers ever really developed extra size in their calves, and of course that's pretty predictable.

yeah ive noticed. a theory would be that they develop strong calves from walking around holding that extra body weight, but then, so does ronnie and a lot of other bodybuilders off-season and i dont think that makes a difference for their calves so i dont know  ;)
Z

gibberj2

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2006, 05:04:13 PM »
all bodybuilders have huge calves... ronnie's are bigger than those fat guys but the rest of him is so big his calves don't look as big deal. i have 18 inch calves and i'm ronnie's height minus 100 pounds so my calves look freakier for my 25 inch quad.

Hypertrophy

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Re: Ever see those skinny bicyclists with the huge calves ??? WHAT IF...
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2006, 06:09:16 PM »
Interesting topic. I also have raced bicycles, for over 30 years.
The best calf development I have witnessed is on riders in the shorter, high speed events. Those are in events that have many repeats of 10-15 second efforts. Very similar to doing multiple sets with weights.
The Tour de France isn't the best place to find examples of riders with great calf development. That's because the riders there are specialized in long distance, mountainous events. Just to be there, you have to be a rail! When I went to the Tour Dupont some years back, I met many of these riders. In person, they are  miniscule. The biggest rider at the time was an East German named Olaf Ludwig, in the picture below. I always thought he was a powerlifter because of his leg size, based on pictures. In person, he was no larger than your average athletic person, although extremely lean.
I also personally know several riders who have done the Tour -Steve Bauer of Canada being one. Steve has relatively large calves, but he also was a lifter and a hockey player prior to becoming a bike racer. Some of his team-mates from that time had calves that were sticks.
I think for the most part, the calf development in cyclists follows that of the general public. Remember too, that training as a bicycle racer isn't intense everyday. At my best, I trained intensely two days a week in racing season. The rest of the days were low intensity recovery, or distance days.