Training for decades,are you still re-inventing the wheel in the gym?

[The True Adonis]

The goal of training/bodybuilding should be to do as little as possible yet yielding the optimum result.

Taking a Conservative approach to training is best in my opinion.

[ratherbebig]

some people enjoy training.

[Vince B]

The goal of training/bodybuilding should be to do as little as possible yet yielding the optimum result.

Taking a Conservative approach to training is best in my opinion.

I agree. The problem is the requirements for maximum hypertrophy are staggering. The larger you are the harder it is to stimulate more growth. Doing the extraordinary is hardly taking a conservative path.

[SF1900]

I agree. The problem is the requirements for maximum hypertrophy are staggering. The larger you are the harder it is to stimulate more growth. Doing the extraordinary is hardly taking a conservative path.

Ms. Basile, how do I build a beautiful belly like yours?

[dj181]

Jesus!

talk about an extended set

10 non stop min on one calf

I'm curious, did your bw go up after adding 4 inches to each calf?

btw, respect for making real proof of progress with pics to back it up

A J'S lat cycle back in the day was basically a long ass extended set

my lats will grow very well but I won't do any extended set work

[a_pupil]

Ms. Basile, how do I build a beautiful belly like yours?

dat der safety fat

[ratherbebig]

so on one hand we have basile who once was in great shape.

on the other hand we have people making fun of him now, who never was in as great shape. ever.

[cephissus]

by the way, pellius, i used to do your calf routine.  i was seriously impressed by your posts... i could only stick with it for a few sessions at a time before something gave out, much like any intense calf routine i ever tried.

i wonder how closely my interpretation of your routine matched the real thing.

[The True Adonis]

by the way, pellius, i used to do your calf routine.  i was seriously impressed by your posts... i could only stick with it for a few sessions at a time before something gave out, much like any intense calf routine i ever tried.

i wonder how closely my interpretation of your routine matched the real thing.

Results?

[pellius]

Jesus!

talk about an extended set

10 non stop min on one calf

I'm curious, did your bw go up after adding 4 inches to each calf?

btw, respect for making real proof of progress with pics to back it up

A J'S lat cycle back in the day was basically a long ass extended set

my lats will grow very well but I won't do any extended set work

Well, a ten minute set might be a bit misleading. It's not like I was doing rep after rep for ten minutes. But if a set is defined by TUT then, yes, my calves were under tension for 10 minutes. For example, one of the things I would do is after the "set" where I did negatives and rest pause/burns, I would then just stand on the floor leaning all my weight on the working calf. I would have to use a wall for balance because I'm practically standing on one foot. My heel would be slightly off the ground and I would try to grip the floor with my toes and just sort of play with the position. Sort of like a static hold but just doing slight movements though sometimes I would go for full contraction. I was just keeping the muscle under tension and it made a big difference that everything was done with bare feet and on a flat floor. I tried it using the dictionary I recruited for the stretch but it wasn't the same. Doing it on a flat floor was better.

Try it. Just lean on one foot and sightly raise your heel and then try to spread your toes and grip the floor and play with different positions. Sometimes I would hold the static hold but slightly bounce up and down using my knees trying to stimulate running.

Also, reading the post that Vince put up I see that as time went on I did overstate my progress. I said here that I started out at 13 inches and got as high as 17 inches. Actually it was more like 13 and 7/8 inches so we're talking just a tad under 14 inches and settled in to a permanent 16 inches. So when all is said and done I put on a legit two inches on my calves.

And I had mentioned before here that there was no change in body weight. Calves are a small muscle so I don't think that would be the case in muscle groups like quads.

[The True Adonis]

Well, a ten minute set might be a bit misleading. It's not like I was doing rep after rep for ten minutes. But if a set is defined by TUT then, yes, my calves were under tension for 10 minutes. For example, one of the things I would do is after the "set" where I did negatives and rest pause/burns, I would then just stand on the floor leaning all my weight on the working calf. I would have to use a wall for balance because I'm practically standing on one foot. My heel would be slightly off the ground and I would try to grip the floor with my toes and just sort of play with the position. Sort of like a static hold but just doing slight movements though sometimes I would go for full contraction. I was just keeping the muscle under tension and it made a big difference that everything was done with bare feet and on a flat floor. I tried it using the dictionary I recruited for the stretch but it wasn't the same. Doing it on a flat floor was better.

Try it. Just lean on one foot and sightly raise your heel and then try to spread your toes and grip the floor and play with different positions. Sometimes I would hold the static hold but slightly bounce up and down using my knees trying to stimulate running.

Also, reading the post that Vince put up I see that as time went on I did overstate my progress. I said here that I started out at 13 inches and got as high as 17 inches. Actually it was more like 13 and 7/8 inches so we're talking just a tad under 14 inches and settled in to a permanent 16 inches. So when all is said and done I put on a legit two inches on my calves.

And I had mentioned before here that there was no change in body weight. Calves are a small muscle so I don't think that would be the case in muscle groups like quads.

What if it was just the steroids that did it?

[Vince B]

Also, reading the post that Vince put up I see that as time went on I did overstate my progress. I said here that I started out at 13 inches and got as high as 17 inches. Actually it was more like 13 and 7/8 inches so we're talking just a tad under 14 inches and settled in to a permanent 16 inches. So when all is said and done I put on a legit two inches on my calves.

And I had mentioned before here that there was no change in body weight. Calves are a small muscle so I don't think that would be the case in muscle groups like quads.

Looking at your photos they look 18 inches. If you started at under 14 inches and ended up over 17 that is an amazing result. Your knees and ankles are small which makes the calves look bigger. Not using any machines or dumbbells makes this an extraordinary achievement.

[Vince B]

What if it was just the steroids that did it?

I rather doubt that steroids will cause growth in small calves without the brutal and sustained training protocols.

[dj181]

did you only use bw as resistance for your calf training or did you add rresistance with a db in hand?

[ratherbebig]

sounds too painfull to try out myself. hard to know how much of it was excessive. maybe half that would be enough.
anyways, myself i still have plenty of options as i never trained my calves that much...

im curious about things like steep walks with a backpack for example.

from observation nearly everyone at the gym trains calves the wrong way. everyone at the end of their routine. nearly everyone wearing shoes. they hardly ever go all the way up all the way down, and most of the time there's just a lot of bouncing.

people just treat calves training as something to get over with as quick as possible. no wonder they never get any result.

[pellius]

did you only use bw as resistance for your calf training or did you add rresistance with a db in hand?

Just body weight. People think that's odd but I weighed 195 lbs at the time. That's a lot of weight to do on one calf. It cracks me up when I see people use the stack and then pile plates all over the machine and do these lame calf raises with knees bent and pushing off with the quads. The fact that they have stick calfs should tell them it's not working. Try doing them bare feet and with your knees locked straight. Reminds me of those tools that also pile plates all over the leg press and just do quarter inch reps.

I did push on the door frame for negatives.

[pellius]

Looking at your photos they look 18 inches. If you started at under 14 inches and ended up over 17 that is an amazing result. Your knees and ankles are small which makes the calves look bigger. Not using any machines or dumbbells makes this an extraordinary achievement.

Their at 16 inches now. People have commented on how skinny my ankles are even before I had calves. I measure them this morning and they were a bit under 8 1/2 inches.

[The True Adonis]

Their at 16 inches now. People have commented on how skinny my ankles are even before I had calves. I measure them this morning and they were a bit under 8 1/2 inches.

Can you summarize the training routine without the lengthy bullshit?  Just sets, reps, time etc... I don`t want to plow through all of that above.

[Vince B]

Can you summarize the training routine without the lengthy bullshit?  Just sets, reps, time etc... I don`t want to plow through all of that above.

True story. Ken Waller was at Robert Nailon's gym in Sydney in 1980. Robert always trained hard whenever champs were around. Anyway, one day Waller was doing legs. Robert loved training his upper body but not so much his legs. So Robert declined training legs with Ken. Ken said, "People want to know the secrets but they won't do the exercises!"

TA if you are keen on learning how Pellius transformed his chicken legs you should reread his posts several times.

[Vince B]

Just body weight. People think that's odd but I weighed 195 lbs at the time. That's a lot of weight to do on one calf. It cracks me up when I see people use the stack and then pile plates all over the machine and do these lame calf raises with knees bent and pushing off with the quads. The fact that they have stick calfs should tell them it's not working. Try doing them bare feet and with your knees locked straight. Reminds me of those tools that also pile plates all over the leg press and just do quarter inch reps.

I did push on the door frame for negatives.

When I was training at Golds Gym in October 1968 Dave Draper used to come in early in the morning. I made sure I got there before him and worked my calves a bit. He would load up the calf machine and do those cheating movements and got very little stimulation for his calves. I used to smile when I saw him blasting away.
Nice guy, that Dave.

[The True Adonis]

True story. Ken Waller was at Robert Nailon's gym in Sydney in 1980. Robert always trained hard whenever champs were around. Anyway, one day Waller was doing legs. Robert loved training his upper body but not so much his legs. So Robert declined training legs with Ken. Ken said, "People want to know the secrets but they won't do the exercises!"

TA if you are keen on learning how Pellius transformed his chicken legs you should reread his posts several times.

I skimmed it and here is what I got.

Do one set for 10-30 minutes, reps until burn and repeat until you can no longer even move.

That it?

[Vince B]

I skimmed it and here is what I got.

Do one set for 10-30 minutes, reps until burn and repeat until you can no longer even move.

That it?

He was following the principles of Arthur Jones. Did whatever it took to make his calves sore after each workout.

Did negatives, full range reps, statics, stretching, etc. Over a period of a year his workouts would be agonizing. He would have had

to do something more intense, etc., each and every workout to get growth like that.

Very impressive results period. Very intense, totally focused and motivated guy.

[The True Adonis]

He was following the principles of Arthur Jones. Did whatever it took to make his calves sore after each workout.

Did negatives, full range reps, statics, stretching, etc. Over a period of a year his workouts would be agonizing. He would have had

to do something more intense, etc., each and every workout to get growth like that.

Very impressive results period. Very intense, totally focused and motivated guy.

I am not so sure the same can be applied to someone who does not take steroids.

[Vince B]

I am not so sure the same can be applied to someone who does not take steroids.

I didn't take any steroids or even any supplements for the month when I gained an inch on both arms and calves.

I haven't taken any steroids or anything else since 1975. Two Dianabol was all I took in those days. Very conservative.

Can be done naturally. Of course, if you truly believe it can't be done naturally I doubt you will exert enough effort to make it happen.

Pellius was motivated beyond what is normal. He made that a goal for a whole year. Nothing else mattered as much.

I can tell you once he saw his puny calves growing he became obsessed and the gains spurred him on to more effort.

Got to hand it to Pellius...during that year he was no ordinary mortal!

[The True Adonis]

Big calves look like shit though, at least from an aesthetic/artistic perspective.  Should aim for mid-size balanced with a larger focus on arms.