How to pump up your lower leg?

The calf muscles are rightfully one of the most “stubborn” and difficult to pump. During normal walking, they are subjected to a load twice the weight of your body! Therefore, in order to “explode” these tough endurance muscle fibers, high-intensity training is required that can make them work in unusual, unrealistic, super-hard conditions. Without a proper theoretical basis and without a clear answer to the question: how to pump up your lower leg, it will be difficult for you to achieve truly good results... After reading this article to the end, you will close this dilemma once and for all...

Bodybuilding practice has confirmed the effectiveness of only a small number of exercises aimed specifically at developing the calf muscles.

1. “Donkey” - cyclic calf raises from a bent over position with a sparring partner on your back. Do them at the beginning of the complex; a soft load will allow you to warm up and stretch your calves well.
2. Standing calf raises in the machine. Standing with your toes on the platform (special step), try to lower your heels as low as possible, then, during the next rise, linger for a second in the middle of the trajectory, and only then completely finish the movement. At the top point you can also fix your position for a short time. Perform all movements slowly, focusing on technique. Only an unusual mode of operation will make your lower leg grow. The weight of the burden should be significant, but not so much as to interfere with quality performance.
3. Seated calf raises with weights. Orient your feet straight forward for the greatest load on your calves. Also use the technique of intermittent movements: up to the middle, stop, up to the end and fixation at the top point. Watch the descending phase of the exercise; at the lowest point the muscles should be extremely stretched.
4. The same is true in a standing position with a barbell or dumbbells. We won’t even go into detail here, because this is a classic exercise to pump up calves, which everyone knows, and which we have repeatedly discussed in other articles on our site...

Some athletes practice toe extensions in a leg press machine, but this exercise has a huge disadvantage - significant overload on the knee joints due to the straight state of the legs and large weights. It is much safer to perform these movements in the opposite position of the machine, configured for hack squats. To do this, rest your chest, not your back, against the back of the hook machine; doing this for the first time may seem strange, unusual, illogical, or even impossible to do in the starting position. However, it is not. Try it, you will feel comfortable. Place the horizontal cushions of the exercise machine against your shoulders. The slightly inclined platform for the legs of the hook machine will give you even more accessible amplitude. Working in this mode, you do not need to worry about cheating, balance and problems with holding the projectile.

For high-quality pumping of the calf muscles during training, it is enough to perform a total of 8 sets of 12-15 repetitions of the exercises described above. If your shin is noticeably lagging behind in development, be sure to pump it at the beginning of your workout. At the end of the routine, stretch your calves. Standing on an elevation, lower your heels as far as possible to the floor or lower if you are standing on a step, and remain in this position for a minute, even if you have to endure hellish pain. Stretching muscle fibers gives an additional impetus to their growth.

In fact, the shins (and also the forearms) are a kind of stumbling block for many athletes, including professionals. It is their shortcomings that will “come back to haunt” most of them by depriving them of the prize level of the pedestal. Not everyone can pump up their calves efficiently and harmoniously... Only hard work, time, liters of sweat and constant overcoming oneself will give excellent results...