January 2002

The question-of-the-month for January comes from Sony in Bangalore, India, who wants to know how to build big calves.  His question is: 

Dear Mike:

I have always admired your calves.  Can you please give me some tips to have calves like yours?   

Dear Sony:

First, I want to wish you and everyone a Happy New Year!  

Thank you for your great question.  As I said last month, it is great to hear from fellow bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts who live so far away.

Calves are one of my favorite muscle groups to train.  My calves have always responded well to training; however, I know that calves can be a very stubborn muscle group for many.

I recommend training calves at least 2 times per week and as many as 5 times per week.  I do not believe that you have to train them extremely heavy all the time.  In my opinion, calves should be trained with a variety of exercises and need to be hit as many ways as possible.  Calves are made up of 2 main muscles - the gastroc and the soleus.  The soleus is isolated more when an exercise is performed with the knees bent at about a 90° angle (e.g. seated calf raises).  The gastroc is isolated when the exercise is performed with knees not bent (e.g. standing calf raises).

Having said all that, outlined below is a sample calf training program:

Note: Take no more than 45 seconds rest between sets.

Give this program a try and I know you will notice a definite change in your calves within one month!

Thanks again for your question, Sony.  Good luck and keep training hard. 

As always, don't forget to visit the Past Qs & As and my Training Tips section for more great tips and training info.

Until next month, train hard and stay healthy.

Mike Francois

Do you have a training question for Mike?  If so, visit our Ask Mike section and submit your question.

Note: Before embarking on any nutrition, supplementation, and/or training program, consult with your physician or other licensed health-care professional.