So, you’re a typical guy who lacks ‘development’ (to put it mildly) in the calves department. No one wants chicken legs, especially with shorts weather fast approaching.

You need to approach calves in a different way than most other muscle groups. Think of it this way… you’re on your feet a big chunk of your life and are essentially doing calf raises with every step – so, why then, do you train calves with 100 reps of bodyweight dorsiflexions? Calves are used to a lot of stimulus, but not the stimulus you get from heavy weights for reps of 10-15.

I recommend training calves two times a week to start, and progressing up to as much as 3. If you do 16 sets for chest each week, aim for 16 sets of calf work per week. I alternate between standing calf raises (usually in a smith machine, since I don’t have the specific calf lift machine at my gym) and leg press calves (there’s two versions of the leg press, and I use them both). I progress up in weight with each set until I can no longer get a solid 8.

Here’s the key: Emphasize the eccentric (negative) portion of the movement. That’s where the growth originates. When muscle fatigue kicks in late in the set, I like to do 5-10 partials to get that extra burn, as you’ll see in the sample video below.

And here’s a superset using standing calf raises combined with standing body weight dorisflexions.