Avoiding skinny legs?

[Guest Snake McClain]

Here's my position...I have small calves...as in...if you look from the front they seem wide enough but from a side view they aren't defined at all. So i'm doing calf raises like a mother trying to get my calves to bulk up. but i do squats and dead lifts a lot too. Gotta build dem leg muscles dawg. *rap hands*

[cianalas]

I think the pistol to pistol jump gap is quite large, I'm not sure that you can bridge it by just doing pistols.

You can work toward it by going into a one-legged jump afterwards and trying to engage that lower and lower down.

However, it's probably faster to add weight to your pistols. You don't need much, at least starting off. Holding onto a full backpack (or making a sandbag) is more than good enough to start if you don't have any weights.

[chairohkey]

I actually have small calves but beastly thighs (squats and deadlifts!). Sometimes I think it's funny looking, and I know I could do some extra isolation exercises for the aesthetics.. but I probably won't

You know you're a powerlifter when you have the biggest legs in the gym but the smallest calves.

Op if you want to improve you leg musculature replace the lsd running with sprints, preferably up a hill, and start squating, high bar or front squat if you want teh quadz.

[vwmarvin]

Leg work. Running. Squats. Lunges. I've had chicken legs all my life and since I've been doing more of those they've filled out a little more. Still not great, but that just means I'm not done.

[Elastigirl]

I've been doing jump rope, and I think my calves look bigger. Also running stairs. We have a split level house, everytime I go upstairs I try and run or skip a stair as I walk.

[KillerGriller]

Do any of you add calf extensions (i.e.- stand up on your tip-toes) at the top of squat reps? Calf extensions alone are fairly isolated, but this combination seems (to me) add benefit to squats. Maybe not at your max weight, but perhaps during your warmup sets?

[ETFnerd]

i found that i can do calf raises 2x+ as heavy as my squat... over 1,000lbs... and it's really difficult to get them to failure safely...

[KillerGriller]

i found that i can do calf raises 2x+ as heavy as my squat... over 1,000lbs... and it's really difficult to get them to failure safely...

Same here, but she's going to be doing squats anyway it might be an effective use of her time? I imagine every little bit would help.

[161803398874989]

If you work on exploding out of the hole and partials, probably. You might also try assisted.

[aj_rock]

i found that i can do calf raises 2x+ as heavy as my squat... over 1,000lbs... and it's really difficult to get them to failure safely...

A lot of people tend to do calf raises with their achilles heel rather than calf actually... a LOT of elastic energy can be stored in the heel and then released to move insane amount of weight. In order to target the calves effectively, you need to slow right down, and concentrate on maximum extension. I think you'll find your numbers decrease quite a bit after doing that.

Too lazy to find it now, but to those talking about it, skinny wrists suck. They will ALWAYS be a limiter on how much strength you can gain, and will probably not get bigger, as most wrist movement is controlled by forearm muscles, not the wrists themselves. If you looked online at genetic muscle potentials, a lot of them show a very strong correlation between wrist size and maximum muscle potential.

[ETFnerd]

not sure what you're saying here aj... is it that the elastic energy (?) in the heel is moving the 1Klbs... not the calf muscle? how does elastic energy move weight?

[The Tin Man]

not sure what you're saying here aj... is it that the elastic energy (?) in the heel is moving the 1Klbs... not the calf muscle? how does elastic energy move weight?

I think what he's saying has to do with reps 2+. When you come back down the achilles stretches and stores a great deal of energy, releasing it on the way back up to help your calves lift the weight. I was going to say "like a rubber band" but it's different. I don't believe it's like a rubber band where no matter how slowly you stretch it stores the same force. There's a dynamic component in there too. In physics/math/engineering nerdy terms, the elastic effect of the achilles tendon likely has more do with dv/dt than dx/dt.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable comes in to supplement/correct me.

[aj_rock]

Rubber band is actually the best way to describe the phenomenon... you're confused about the transfer of energy to work and vice versa.

Here's an example: a slingshot.

You stretch it back, load a rock, and then let the band go. The rock goes flying and your arch-nemesis now has a lump on his/her head.

Now, imagine that again, but instead of just letting the band go, you slooooooowly return it to the original position. Rock flies no where, and your arch nemesis laughs.

Then you just throw the rock in his/her stupid face.

Point is, the elastic response has a lot to do with applying force in one direction and allowing momentum to build. The same way people 'bounce' their bench press, people bounce their calf, putting more elastic strain in the heel and allowing more force to be directed upwards.

So there's the layman's explanation, without delving too deep into the physics. For homework, I want someone to work out the integral where f(x) is the total weight lifted and x is the amount of stretch loaded into the heel.

[morethanjustamom]

To add to what Miss Laura said: squat AND dead lift. Lots. Your legs will bulk out. ( I ripped a pair of dress pants once because my legs are beastly. True story )

Ok, so...say a person (me) tends to hold fat in the hip/butt/thigh area, and I do deadlifts and squats to try and tone that area so when I do finish losing the fat, they'll be nice-looking as well as strong...am I making a mistake here? Am I going to add bulk in an area that's already bulky for me?

[ETFnerd]

thx aj, so when i do calf raises, i pause it at the top and bottom of each rep... i don't just bounce the weight up and down like a bob... am i still using elastic energy to move the weight?

[Corbab]

Like everyone said, squats and deadlifts are your two best friends. My quads have been freakishly large for the past few years thanks to rowing, so I'm not much help there (unless you want to hop on an erg!).

My calves exploded (kinda) when I started running minimalist, more so than I'd seen with just lifting alone. It takes a while to get used to it, but landing on your midfoot/toe is a great way to bulk up the calves. Even at that, most of my running is sprints/hill sprints. The longest I've gone is 5k, and that was only once.

[Corbab]

Like everyone said, squats and deadlifts are your two best friends. My quads have been freakishly large for the past few years thanks to rowing, so I'm not much help there (unless you want to hop on an erg!).

My calves exploded (kinda) when I started running minimalist, more so than I'd seen with just lifting alone. It takes a while to get used to it, but landing on your midfoot/toe is a great way to bulk up the calves. Even at that, most of my running is sprints/hill sprints. The longest I've gone is 5k, and that was only once.

[161803398874989]

Like everyone said, squats and deadlifts are your two best friends. My quads have been freakishly large for the past few years thanks to rowing, so I'm not much help there (unless you want to hop on an erg!).

My calves exploded (kinda) when I started running minimalist, more so than I'd seen with just lifting alone. It takes a while to get used to it, but landing on your midfoot/toe is a great way to bulk up the calves. Even at that, most of my running is sprints/hill sprints. The longest I've gone is 5k, and that was only once.

Vouching for calves exploding after switching to forefoot strike.

'twas only during sprints, though. I still run mid-foot on distances over 200m.

[Rosie]

Awesome advice everyone cheers! So my plan is to add more hill training to my runs and set the incline higher when I'm using the treadmill, squat more and learn to dead lift (something I've not yet attempted seeing as I've been doing body weight exercises) Also Corbab I use the rowing machine a fair bit at the gym and its one of my favourite pieces of equipment so that's a bonus!

[Hermione Gainser]

Ok, so...say a person (me) tends to hold fat in the hip/butt/thigh area, and I do deadlifts and squats to try and tone that area so when I do finish losing the fat, they'll be nice-looking as well as strong...am I making a mistake here? Am I going to add bulk in an area that's already bulky for me?

I'm the same way. That's exactly where all my fat hangs out. What I've noticed since squatting and deadlifting: less fat on my thighs (that's where it's first to go (or add) for me), a perkier more muscular bum (I should mention I've always had junk in the trunk. i am little in the middle and got much back so I don't anticipate ever having a small bum). My hips are the last stand in this fat burning stronghold (but they will lose the war!).

Basically: go for it. The muscle you gain by squatting and deadlifting will aide in your ability to burn fat.

[morethanjustamom]

I'm the same way. That's exactly where all my fat hangs out. What I've noticed since squatting and deadlifting: less fat on my thighs (that's where it's first to go (or add) for me), a perkier more muscular bum (I should mention I've always had junk in the trunk. i am little in the middle and got much back so I don't anticipate ever having a small bum). My hips are the last stand in this fat burning stronghold (but they will lose the war!).

Basically: go for it. The muscle you gain by squatting and deadlifting will aide in your ability to burn fat.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for!

I really didn't want to stop squatting or deadlifting anyway, but at least I know it will tone and shape first.

Mine seems to be coming off the saddlebag and inner thighs first, then the bum, then the hips/tummy.

[Hermione Gainser]

Excellent! Glad I could reassure you of the awesomeness that is the squat and the deadlift.

[aj_rock]

thx aj, so when i do calf raises, i pause it at the top and bottom of each rep... i don't just bounce the weight up and down like a bob... am i still using elastic energy to move the weight?

Focus on slow movement and extending as much as you can at the top for maximal contraction force. Letting your rubber band go slowly will prevent elastic energy from being converted into work.

Mind you that this is all in favor of trying to create bigger calves. For power production (running, jumping, etc), calves and heel aren't usually your limiting factor, so it's no worry.

Technically, the best way to build your calves is to be obese... they respond much better to chronic stress than acute.

It actually makes previously obese people easy to spot... just check out the size of their calves... for a good example of this, look at before/after pictures of Biggest Loser competitors and check out dem legs.

[161803398874989]

Or you could do high-rep calf raises throughout the day.