Science behind DC Calf training

[VA Maddog]

It seems that DC style training for calves is different than any other body part. For other body parts it is either a heavy R/P set or 1/2 heavy straight sets followed by active stretching. For calves the suggested training style is different because the main emphasis seems to be on the extended stretch at the bottom of every rep in your working set.

I'm not suggesting that this does not work or that it is not the best approach - I'm just wondering what the thinking is behind it. I find the science/theory that is behind both the training and nutrition to be very interesting.

[Egill]

I would say that this is a more agressive approach to the extreme stretch because of how hard it is to get calves to grow (at least for many), i.e. with 15 sec in the stretch each rep you'll get more than 2 minutes in full stretch,..... if you hold for true 15 sec each rep and get 12 reps that means 3 minutes.

[SweatMachine]

gotta stretch that myofacia

[Lifter]

Definitely. As I have posted before I spoke with a doctor back in '99 who put 1/2" on his calves in ONE DAY with fascia stretching! Of course he knew exactly how to apply it for maximum effect, but that changed my mindset forever about its possibilities.

[Doggcrapp]

This all came about from alot of deep thinking I put into this some years ago....

a)Why did calves unlike other bodyparts seem so genetically pre-determined?
b)When rest pausing for calves, although it gave better gains than doing straight sets and different set/rep combos, it still seemed to me to be agonizingly slow gains for most
c)I and some of my trainees got up to using scary weights rest paused on standing calf presses, calf leg presses and calf hack presses and although the gains were coming (albeit slow) there still seemed to be something missing here.

Some years back for about 6 months I read every hyperplasia theory i could get my hands on and read thru the bird wing stretch parameters repeatedly until something clicked with me (extreme stretching under loading protocols).....and I applied it to training calves in different ways (trust me many different ways until this one came to produce the best results for trainees).....I was training 2 black guys at the time who had very troublesome calves (as alot of blacks do) and my calves have also been the hardest bodypart to develop also......of course this didnt turn their calves (or mine) into Nasser's calves but it did pretty incredible things in the shortest time possible which is what Im always after. After training calves for a decade with every type of methodology with crap results, with over 2 years of using this method I finally got them up to respectability and Ive been using it ever since

[VA Maddog]

Thanks for the insight Dante. I thought that it might have something to do with Raul's line of thinking and the value of extreme stretching under load.

You have a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding how to apply training and nutritional theory into practical applications. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

[Pr0nDog]

This is the one department those of us who have always been fat-asses are gifted: We have great calfs. Naturally skinny guys like dante and most black guys have a much harder time...

Actually I had to stop training calfs a few months ago due to injury, but from that time and up my calfs have actually grown, and are still my best bodypart

Big thanks to MickyD for making my calfs and belly grow huge!

[Trulyhuge]

It hurts like a 2 cent whore and my calves have grown 1 1/2"!

TH

[Doggcrapp]

Just to cut the questions off at the pass, calves ROM is about only about 5-8 inches while every other bodypart is far far greater than that, that and the heavy weights that can be used on calves are the reasons why I dont use that method for other bodyparts. You would have to take the (so important) heavy load out of the equation if you tried this for chest, back etc and it just isnt going to work well

[nemo]

i have read about the bird wing stretching thing too and it completely changed how i viewed stretching as a part of my training.

what i am currently considering is if the same principles used in Dante's calf training could be applicable for forearm training.

any thoughts Dante?

[Doggcrapp]

Actually i do something similiar to that--i think i wrote about it in one of the above stickies--i hold a barbell in a flexed position in the wrist curl as long as i can and i count "one one thousand" all the way till the point my wrists sag and then onward until i cant even hold onto the bar---i dont do any reps--i just curl it with my palms even with my forearms and hold onto it until the wrists sag and i hold it until the point where i can feel it slipping from my grasp and its about to crash into the floor (unbearable at that point)--every time i get to 90 seconds I up the weight next go round

[jediclampet]

Actually i do something similiar to that--i think i wrote about it in one of the above stickies--i hold a barbell in a flexed position in the wrist curl as long as i can and i count "one one thousand" all the way till the point my wrists sag and then onward until i cant even hold onto the bar---i dont do any reps--i just curl it with my palms even with my forearms and hold onto it until the wrists sag and i hold it until the point where i can feel it slipping from my grasp and its about to crash into the floor (unbearable at that point)--every time i get to 90 seconds I up the weight next go round

I remember you telling us a few weeks back about the extreme forearm stretch to be used after the usual bicep and forearm exercises (e.g. hammer curls or reverse curls).

So would the above forearm torture be used as the forearm exercise for that day or should it be done after the forearm exercise in place of the stretch?

[Doggcrapp]

Just use it as a stretch after youve done biceps and forearms

[lxorl]

anyone have a link to the calf training ?

[USMuscle9403]

You don't need one. 5 second negative, 15 second stretch at the bottom. Going for 12 reps.