Should i just overtrain my calves?

brdnw
brdnw Posts: 565 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
so i lift 7 days a week: day 1 chest/tris, day 2: legs/shoulders day 3: backbicep (abs every other day).

Anyhow, i've always noticed that my calves never really feel tired the next day or after two days. This isn't from a lack of calf work either, genetically i just naturally have really really strong calves, so i've always done calves bc it just made it more appealing.

So i tested something. Tuesday i did my normal leg workout, except i spent 30 minutes on calves, i did tons of sets of extremely heavy weight, then i did tons of sets of high reps (10-15) then i did the same, but only do 1 leg with each mentality. I did some calf raises on the leg press, but it got to the point where i could calf raise more than i could push up, so i had to switch to the machine you sit down and the bar goes over your quads and you calf raise up while sitting down.

The next day my calves felt completely fresh, and i figured they'd be sore thursday since i did such an increase focus on y calves. Well on thursday my calves still felt super fresh, so i did the same type workout for 30 minutes on my calves again. I woke up today and my calves feel super fresh and i was able to do the same workout again but with heavier weight as if my calves were fresh.

I don't get it, all my other body parts feel the normal fatigue or soreness the next day or two, but do i just have good luck for calves and maybe i should just train them every day if they're not sore or showing signs of fatigue. I read in arnolds book he suggested doing calves every day.

Replies

  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    Soreness isn't a good indicator of a good workout. You gave them a good workout - leave it at that. Working calves hard daily is a good way to get injured. Yes, your muscles may recover overnight, but the tendons & ligaments take longer, as do the small, fragile bones of the feet. Arnold was a freak of nature - his results were not typical.
  • trojan_bb
    trojan_bb Posts: 699 Member
    I've been doing them at least every other day the past 6 months. Size is finally increasing. And dozens of visible veins on them whereas before there was one. Lots of guys with poor calf genetics on other bodybuilding forums have had good results with very high frequency training.

    Look up Ben Pakulski calf training on youtube. It's killer but gives a great pump and really works.
    Soreness isn't a good indicator of a good workout. You gave them a good workout - leave it at that. Working calves hard daily is a good way to get injured. Yes, your muscles may recover overnight, but the tendons & ligaments take longer, as do the small, fragile bones of the feet. Arnold was a freak of nature - his results were not typical.

    lol...

    We walk thousands of reps on our calves every day. The connective tissue is more than capable of handling every day training. Work up to the desired workload over a few weeks and you'll be fine.

    Injuring the connective tissue, tendons, etc in the lower legs while using calf raise machines is probably the least common bodybuilding injury imagineable
  • cmsmj1
    cmsmj1 Posts: 66 Member
    Go running in barefeet on the beach somewhere....that will sort your calves out!

    Lifting weights is not really, IMO, what you want for calf definition - either lose the extra fat or get cycling/running/dancing etc.

    My baby cows are awesome from 20yrs of riding MTB....but my thighs are getting bigger from squatting.

    To each their own of course!
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    Lifting weights is not really, IMO, what you want for calf definition - either lose the extra fat or get cycling/running/dancing etc.

    Depends on what you consider calf definition

    A runner's calves:

    runners-calf-muscle-891487.jpg

    A weightlifter's calves:

    calf-muscle-exercises.jpg

    I personally wouldn't train them everyday...Hammering them every OTHER day is fine. Yes you use you calves everyday to walk but your body adapts to that - if not, we'd all have huge calves. There's a difference between using your calves for walking and using them to lift a load well beyond what your body weight is, which the calf muscles/tendons/ligaments are not accustomed to.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    I've been doing them at least every other day the past 6 months. Size is finally increasing. And dozens of visible veins on them whereas before there was one. Lots of guys with poor calf genetics on other bodybuilding forums have had good results with very high frequency training.

    Look up Ben Pakulski calf training on youtube. It's killer but gives a great pump and really works.
    Soreness isn't a good indicator of a good workout. You gave them a good workout - leave it at that. Working calves hard daily is a good way to get injured. Yes, your muscles may recover overnight, but the tendons & ligaments take longer, as do the small, fragile bones of the feet. Arnold was a freak of nature - his results were not typical.

    We walk thousands of reps on our calves every day. The connective tissue is more than capable of handling every day training.

    At the risk of stating the obvious, walking doesn't create the same damage as lifting "extremely heavy weight" for 30 minutes. Personally i had a grade 2 calf tear last year from working calves on consecutive days, so i know it happens. If i were the OP i'd focus on strengthening my weak areas to get them up to speed with the strong ones.

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