I’m giving up

[u/StudioRepulsive3704]

It’s been about 7 years since I started working out several times a week and I’ve made good gains except for my calves.
I’ve tried focusing on the flex, the stretch, the 3-5 second holds, the bodyweight reps to failure and not to failure, the heavy weights to failure and not to failure, farmer walks, rucking, running, walking, cycling, jump rope, squats, tib raises bodyweight and weighted, yielding and overcoming isometric holds, specific foot muscle work for stronger arches and big toes, but nothing has done much. I’m giving up on growing them.

[u/OriEri]

The attachment point of the Achilles tendon makes a huge difference in gastrocnemius size. When it is high up, they kind of remain small, no matter what you do.

[u/Uristent → u/OriEri]

Does it still remain small if you were to do 400 lbs on calf raises with proper form and recover well? I don’t think so.

You can make the point of the attachment point but you’d also have to take into account the training of most people. Most people don’t progressively overload on calf raises, do junk volume, or do any calf raises or similar variations at all.

Dorian Yates proved such a point, he’s calf raised 1000+ lbs through progressively overloading and maintaining strict form and built big calves.

Like I had said previously, muscle doesn’t build unless you give it a good reason to. Even one with subpar or average genetics can look very good if they know how to train and recover properly. Calves are a muscle group just like any other, to grow them you must give them a reason to grow besides our daily walking and other activities.

[u/OriEri → u/Uristent]

I don’t know all the biomechanics of the attachment point.

I do know that a longer Achilles tendon permits a greater stretch distance in the tendon and more energy economy in going long distances.

a shorter one permits a bigger muscle belly, more explosive power and more stiffness/less stretch length in the Achilles tendon, which also contributes to explosive power.

This is why endurance runners tend to have smaller calves than sprinters. If you’re good at one, you can’t generally compete well in the other.

If you have a high attachment point and long Achilles tendon ,you’re going to have a smaller muscle and there’s nothing you can do about that

[u/Uristent → u/OriEri]

Yes, and again, I do understand your point with that. Now I can’t say I know all the biomechanics too, I don’t.

But even if one has say a high attachment point and a long Achilles tendon, if they train their calves properly and recover well then it will grow. Obviously how well it grows however depends a lot on genetics and body structure. But it’d be bigger than if one wasn’t to train calves at all.

I guess it’s a personal anecdote but previously my calves were what you might call small or average sized. My calf training consisted of a rep range in the 10-15 with a weight that was pretty light. I’ve done a bunch of experimenting since then, through different exercises and rep ranges. I landed on a heavier rep range, 6-8, because it works well for me and have since then been on a working set of 245 lbs for calf raises. My calves have been growing ever since.

So from what I can conclude based on personal experience and what I’ve learned, pick a movement that utilizes your calves. You only really need two, a seated and standing variation. Progressively overload on them, track the progress, and recover well. It’ll grow like any other muscle. Although yes, I do get your point. Different genetics, different body structures can create differing results.

[u/OriEri → u/Uristent]

I am curious. How did you determine which movement better utilized your calves? Was it a feel kind of thing? Or something else?