One of the most undertrained muscles in your body, which is usually neglected from strength exercise programs, is the calves. This is because most people are clueless about the benefits of strong calves and why we need to keep working on them.
Your calves allow you to move forward with every single step. They play a key role in supporting the rest of your lower limb and body.
Therefore, it is imperative that they have stamina, stability, and durability. That being said, you may have calf muscles that are super resistant to growth, this is due to genetics, but you should still work on them regardless.
HOW TO GET STRONGER MUSCLES FASTER
The calves that are the gastrocnemius and the soleus are some of the toughest muscles to build. This, According to Rocky Rogers (a certified personal trainer in cypress Texas), is because you repetitively use them every time you run, walk, jump or even dance.
Therefore, this means that if you want to grow stronger calves, you have to break them down completely and make them grow.
The best way you can train your calves is by using slower reps, more volume, and long duration. This means approaching calf training differently from the way you would other body parts.
There are various calve exercises that will ensure you get stronger muscles faster to enjoy the benefits of strong calves.
They include the in to out calf raise, cliffhanger stairs, and seated calf raise, just to mention a few.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU TRAIN CALVES?
Calf training is approached differently than you should approach the training of other body parts. This is because, unlike the rest of the body, you will always be on your feet, be it when running errands or participating in sports, or even dancing. All these require strong calves.
Now how often should you really train your calves to reap the benefits of strong calves? Calve muscles should be trained more frequently than any other body part (including the chest).
Calves can be worked on two to three times a week as long as you give yourself two days for your muscles to recover.
Should you maintain this routine for a couple of months, you will begin enjoying the stunning benefits of strong calves.
BENEFITS OF STRONG CALVES
1. ARE BODY DECELERANTS
Your calves are responsible for when you need to come to a stop from running or walking first. They absorb up to 12 times your body weight when you are running, and you need to stop or when you need to change directions quickly.
Therefore, you need to exercise them to allow them to tolerate that load and always maintain slow deceleration to avoid injury caused by the eccentric phase of the universe.
2. THEY STABILIZE YOUR KNEES
Strong calves are particularly important for jumping exercises and high-intensity interval exercises like burpees.
Most people struggle with this exercise because they have weak calves. Jumping, therefore, becomes strenuous for them, especially when you do not land properly.
3. REDUCE YOUR RISK FOR INJURY
You can prevent several injuries from occurring if you have strong calf strength.
Some of these include calf tears and strains, sprained ankles, patellofemoral pain, stress fractures, tendinopathies of the knee, tendinopathies of the ankle and foot, plantar fasciitis, and finally, medial-tibia stress syndrome.
When you have strong calf muscles as a base could decrease the severity of your injury and even speed up recovery or prevent it altogether.
4. INCREASE RUNNING PERFORMANCE
The calf muscle plays a key role in running.
A study done measured the general muscle effort of a runner’s legs when running and found out that the calf muscles’ overall effort was twenty-five percent higher than that of the quad muscles.
The calf muscles act as shock absorbers absorbing the impact while bringing about the spring tide.
The calves are also responsible for the extension and flexion of each foot. Therefore stronger calf muscles make running easier.
5. INCREASE VERTICAL JUMPING POWER
If you participate in sports like high jumps, squat jumps, and sprints, you will require strong calf muscles.
These muscles contain fast twitching muscle fibers that allow you to execute very quick and explosive movements required in the sporting activities mentioned above.
Although genetics play a key role in determining the amount of the fast twitching muscle fibers you will have, strengthening the calf muscles will help you perform better at these sports.
6. THEY HELP WITH DANCING
Dancing encompasses a lot of jumping and running with quick and explosive movements.
Like jumping, strong calf muscles will allow for fast twitching muscle fibers and extension and flexion of each foot.
7. ANKLE STRENGTH AND STABILITY
The strength of the calf muscles affects the stability of the ankle. Calf muscles are responsible for the flexion and extension of the joint of the ankle.
Increasing the ability to perform that is with high strength and faster muscle contractions Ankle Plantarflexion can help stabilize the ankle under loads running and other exposure movements.
8. IMPROVED LOWER BODY PERFORMANCE
The calves’ strength can affect your ability to squat more heavily, pull more weight, and even create more output and power in movements that require triple expansion.
They interfere with our ability to do jerks, push presses, snatches, and cleans.
When your calf muscles are weak, you lose some degree of stability in your ankle and decrease your ability to stretch your knees and hips forcefully.
9. THEY HELP YOU BECOME BETTER AT SPORTS
Since calves play a huge role in body deceleration, they improve sports performance in football and basketball.
Footballers and basketballers generally have very developed and strong calf muscles.
10. STRONG CALVES ARE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING
When you have strong toned muscle calves, they really compliment a pair of heels. They also come in handy in figure bodybuilding competitions.
CONCLUSION
Calves play a vital role in most activities we do unless they include sitting. They support our body weight when we stand and allow us to run-walk, jump squat, among other things.
For this reason, you should work on these muscles to make them stronger and increase their performance and stability while reaping all the benefits of strong calves.
This is because leg days are important too!
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