The Complete Story of Calf Training - Robert Kennedy (1975)

Hermann Goerner 

"The Stranger" (2025)

it's a link. 

No, not the missing link.

Hella nice job with this film!

Steve Reeves

Arnold Schwarzenegger 

   

Chris Dickerson 

     

 Matt Mendenhall   

Mike Matarazzo 

Dorian Yates

Ben Pakulski, Eric Fankhouser

No Hills On My Paper Route

The question of who has the best looking calves in the world cannot be answered here. Undoubtedly Steve Reeves comes to mind when one thinks of impressive calves. He had a lot of natural size but still performed a terrific amount of specific calf exercise in order to improve the sharpness and shape of his lower legs. 

It has been publicized, initially I believe by the late Earle Liederman, that Steve Reeves built up his calves by pedaling up and down the Oakland hills during his paper route. Recently Steve was asked about this, and I have his answer on tape in this very room in which I am writing this: 

"Actually," says Steve, "There were no hills on my paper route."

The fact of course is that Reeves had "natural" calves. Even his pre-bodybuilding photographs show a tendency towards massive lower legs. But of course, this takes nothing away from the Reeves physique. In spite of his endowment of natural lower "pins" Steve did train hard and regularly on calf work to keep them defined.

Oh, yeah. Almost forgot . . . this. 

From a 1964-published Earle Liederman article titled, "Different Muscular Formations"

 

Once, during a cross-country train journey, a young Reeves took advantage of the rather boring traveling conditions and leaving his compartment seat proceeded to perform 1,000 calf raises. "Just to keep my calves in shape." 

Other fellows who come to mind as possessing well-built calves include Ron Lacy, Chris Dickerson, Bill Pearl, Doug Stroll, Len Sell, Frank Stroll, Len Sell, Frank Colombera and Reg Park; the latter man, Park, was by no means a "natural" where calf development was concerned. When Reg first came to North America after winning the Mr. Britain title he was advised by numerous people he trained with to build up his calves. 

During those early days Reg concentrated more on his shoulders and his calves were definitely somewhat neglected. Six months later Park had the most outstanding calf development of any bodybuilder in the world. 

The question has been raised as to whether calves can be overdeveloped. There was a time when I felt that the forearms, shoulders and calves were three areas of the human body which could not be overdeveloped. I know that although it takes some doing, all three can be overdeveloped. 

In some of the other muscle magazines which trade in huge, bulbous, vein-choked bodies one can see samples of chronic overdevelopment. 

Oh-oh . . . 

But don't be put off. Chances are you couldn't overdevelop your lower legs if you trained them from now till doomsday. To become overdeveloped in this area you would have to have:

1) Have natural size to begin with

2) Train your calves excessively

3) Use juice

What then is the ideal calf size and shape? 

This is difficult to say. Some authorities feel that the calf muscle should measure two-thirds of the thigh. In other words if a fellow had 24-inch thighs his calves should measure 16 inches and I don't mean measured from origin to insertion. 

However, ideal statistics laid down through numerical formulas are not really a safe and sure guide to how you should look. Your guide has to be "appearance." If you calves look good then that's it! There is no such thing as an ideal measurement of calf for a certain height. One man at 5'10" may look good with a 16" calf (that was neither defined or well shaped); another with a 16" measurement could look totally undeveloped in the lower leg region. Appearance. 

One point that may be raised in your mind is . . . 

"Can basic calf shape be changed?" 

The answer to this is NO! Not significantly . . . but at the same time one should realize that an increase in size in some cases can give the appearance of improved shape. In fact, many extremely underdeveloped fellows are not aware of any calf shape at all. It is only when the muscle starts to build up that they realize that they have a decent "shape" thus dispelling their fears that they had no basic shape to begin with. 

The problems, or lack of problems, of building your calves becomes evident to you over time and consistent training. Depending on whether you are a calf "natural" or not you will find calf-building easy or hard. As we mentioned earlier, Steve Reeves found that his calves responded very well to exercise. In fact he had to work extremely hard on his neck and arms to "bring them in line" with the natural massiveness of his calf development. Don't ya just hate this Reeves guy sometimes. We have to exterminate all genetically gifted calf developers in order to even the playing field. 

Chris Dickerson is another fellow who has utterly phenomenal calf development. In fact if he works his lower legs too strenuously he finds that they can actually become too big. 

I'll stop underlining "in fact" (well that was a quick fail) . . . he uses that phrase a lot in his articles; one of the "tells" to look for in trying to determine which stuff Bob Kennedy wrote for the early MMI under a different name and no, I don't need to get a life, I like my shite just fine. 

And then there are the fellows whose calf development is actually lacking in proportion to the rest . . . 

I can't resist. Another way of guess-determining the real authors of pen-named writing is how often they choose to drop the definite article . . . you know, the word "the". 

Some will choose: "Grasp the dumbbells firmly . . ."

Others go with: "Grasp dumbbells firmly . . ."

"In the starting position prior to the first pull . . ."

or

"In starting position prior to first pull . . ."

and of course it'll be selective and not a necessary constant, so we get something like this as well from the same author:

"In the starting position prior to first pull . . ."

Look at use of the Oxford comma or not, the semicolon, italics? UPPER CASE? 

the Em dash, ellipsis . . . lots of fingerprints! 

Anyhow, the article continues: 

. . . AND THEN there are the fellows whose calf development is actually lacking in proportion to the rest of their bodies. Rick Wayne, Dave Draper, George Eiferman:

I did not notice till now, Bob. 

He has girly calves yet still scores with the ladies! 

16 inch measurement stated. 

Who knows! 

Damn you, Bob Kennedy!

Now I can't stop seeing just those smallish calves. 

No matter

Oi vey, oi vey, always with the goils this one! 

   Yes, unfortunately nature shortchanges some of us even before we are born. No matter, hard or easy we are going to build up our lower legs. 

    What to do? 

   

    If you are a relative beginner at bodybuilding then you should make your calf training no more than a part of your general workout. Three or four sets of calf raises on a calf machine or one legged with a dumbbell should be sufficient to bring them along as your body takes on extra muscle elsewhere. 

    On the other hand if you have worked for some time on a particular routine and have found that your calves are stubborn, then you may care to specialize to some extent on this area.

    A specialization routine for calves can be incorporated into an all-round routine such as the following. You should of course aim to "carry along" the other muscle groups while trying to increase your calf measurement. It is also worth mentioning that if you are considerably underweight then you will not improve your calf development much unless you are prepared to work for additional body weight. 

    Here's a sample routine with the calf specialization exercises at the end: 

Seated PBN, 5x8

Front Squat on Block, 5x10

Incline DB Bench, 5x10

Bentover Row, 5x10

Incline DB Curl, 6x10

Incline Triceps Extension, 6x10

Hanging Leg Raise, 3x20

Standing Calf Raise, 5x20

Donkey Calf Raise, 5x30

Seated Calf Raise, 5x20

   So there you have it. Work hard at the exercises and don't stop the calf movements until the lower legs have become congested with blood and "burn" at the end of every set. 

    Naturally the repetitions suggested are only approximate figures. You may be able to do a few more or less than the suggested figure on some sets, or course. Generally speaking though, repetitions for calf work should be on the high side. 

    This would not be a complete article on calf training if I didn't tell you one or two extra things used by some fellows I've seen train. Little calf-building tales that may help.

    For example, did you know that Steve Reeves studied the action of his calf muscles and redesigned his walk (yes, his walk), so that his calf was put through an almost full range of extension whenever he walked anywhere. Steve practiced this to such an extent that it is now second nature to him. He strides out and raises right up on the ball of his foot each time he takes a step. You'll notice it next time you see one of his films (six different languages, overdubbed English, out of synch lips, for-shit special effects and fight scenes, thin plots, bad acting . . . I can't wait). Actually this bouncy stride gives a great impression of vigor and virility, and it definitely helps the calves by maintaining fullness and shape. 

    An old-time Mr. Britain winner in England was having trouble with his lower legs. He tried all the usual calf exercises but nothing would give him results. Eventually this man came up with what turned out to be a brilliant idea. He searched around his house for an old pair of shoes which he no longer required. He then attached two 3" blocks of wood to the underpart of each shoe. He did this by slamming a couple of nails through the sole and down into the wood blocks, which were placed directly under the ball of the shoe (just where the base of the toes run into the foot) and he would then walk with this rather unusual footwear, the idea being to make the calf muscle work throughout a complete range and thus build up to a larger size. 

    Pretty soon our Mr. Britain winner was walking the better part of a mile in these shoes every night. His regular shoes grew angry that he was stepping out on them and not in them. To avoid embarrassment he would drive out into the countryside after supper and go for his "calf walk" when it was dark so no one would see him. 

    

I should care what anyone thinks?

    I understand that he did in fact have a few embarrassing moments but that his venture did pay off, for after just 35 days our ingenious bodybuilder had gained 1-3/4" of additional gastrocnemius. 

   Okay, this was published in '75, Boyer Coe was promoting those shoes in the late '70s and Strength Shoes were being popularized in the '90s. Some guys went so far as to put cleats on them. There's a lot of conflicting reports but ya gotta admit they'd be great for wax-on, wax-off lessons for armless types out to learn Karate. 

    

    Several similarly kooky ideas have paid off for others. One friend of mine would slip his shoes off whenever he was waiting in line at the movies, at a bus stop or when waiting for a train (I saw a guy take everything off at the train station once and he was definitely not a bodybuilder. The gut on this guy! His calves needed more attention as well) and perform endless heel raises. I shouldn't really make fun of his antics because he really did succeed in building a fine pair of calves from very humble beginnings. The last time I saw him was at the downtown bank lining up to cash his paycheck. He was still doing his heel raises, much to the intrigue of the tellers whom I believed must have felt he needed a washroom or at the very least, had ants in his pants. 

    A calf-training program worth relating because of its unanimous success with those who tested it, appeared in this issue of Iron Man magazine: 

    Sept 71

    Peary Rader liked it . . . "This is the most effective system for developing the calves that we have ever known in our many years in the game." 

    Basically this method involves the use of a calf machine, but you can find a way without one. You will also need a block at least 4" high to do the heel raises. Make sure it's solid and won't move or turn over. For fucksake just nail a length of 2x4 under each end and it won't go anywhere or roll. 

    The inventor of this calf-training method, Jim McLellan writes in Iron Man, "Follow every instruction carefully." 

    Start with a weight which will permit you to do just 15 repetitions correctly - very strictly and smoothly. Your first exercise is the standard heel raise. Up as high as possible until calf almost cramps - try to get higher, then lower clear down and stretch the calves. Try to go clear down - you may not make it at first, but after a workout or two your calf muscles will stretch so you can. 

    Full-range movements are important, so make sure your movements here are full range without a hyphen. Don't hurry these - feel it all the way. 

    Now stand on one foot and raise the other and shake it with muscles relaxed so they can flop as you shake them. Then shake the other leg, then the first one, then the other - two shakes with each leg. This loosens the muscles and lets the blood flow, so let that feeling grab you deep inside. Just let your blood flow, like a mountain stream, make your calves grow, with the strongest of dreams . . . that's the reason but who needs one. Okay, enough of the Bellamy Brothers doing the Hokey Pokey and shaking their legs all around. This should take no more than eight seconds.

    Immediately do 8 more reps of the calf raises, then the same leg shakes, then 8 more reps and the same leg shakes, then 8 more reps, this time eliminating the leg shakes. 

    Immediately after the last set, and with no rest, do what bodybuilders call "burns". In this instance you do short-range movements in the middle range. These are fast and bouncy. Do this until the calves really ache. In doing these you should actually bounce of the block slightly and come down with the force of the body. Just spring off the block and come down on those calf muscles with a crash until your Achilles tendon near-snaps. 

    Actually (use of "actually" is definitely one of his tells; "naturally" as well) but your weight leaves the toes for a fraction of a second and then it crashes down against those calf muscles. After a little of this your calf muscles will scream for rest, but they don't get it, for without rest, go into the more advanced stages of your exercises as follows: 

    Go up on both feet and while in the high position take one foot off the block and slowly lower yourself on the other foot. In other words you go up on two feet and come down on one foot. Now go up on two and come down on the foot opposite the foot you came down on the first time. 

    Continue this for 10 to 20 reps depending on what you can stand. This is one set. 

   Note: don't take all that "crashing down" stuff too far too fast. 

    After a sort rest go through this whole routine again for another set. I mean from beginning to end. Do not rest over five minutes from one set to the next. During the rest massage the calf muscles lightly and shake the legs to loosen them up.

    Do the above for two weeks. 

    After two weeks add the following to each set: 

    After finishing the above (the two-up and one-down routine) do another set of the burns (the short range, bouncy movements) then immediately go into the two-up one-down routine. This addition to the routines makes this exercise terrific.

    McLellan feels that this 2up and 1down routine right after the burns is the key to the whole thing and must be done exactly as described for best possible results.

    It should be noted that any onslaught on the calves should only be carried out for a period of 2-3 months. After this strenuous training it may be a good idea to reduce your calf training to just a few tough sets a couple of times a week. 

   Naturally should you want to go on another calf blitz at a later time, then this would be fine. The point is, don't try and work the calves on this all out attack system for long periods of time. A rest from excessive calf training can be beneficial and in many cases when severe work if reembarked upon, the results are that much better. 

    For your interest here are a few quotes from some of the authorities of muscledom. Many men have developed outstanding bodies, many know from experience the difficulties of training the calves . . . 

   "I advised Arnold Schwarzenegger on his first visit to South Africa to work his calves twice a day as I had done when trying to build up my own lower legs for the Mr. Universe contest." - Reg Park

    "The best looking calves are those that have "inner peak." That is, development of the inside head of the gastrocnemius. It is the area that gives the so-called 'diamond' shape." - Dick Samson.

   Of all the sword & sandal flicks, the Reeves, Park films and all that, I like this one: 

    Hercules, played by Samson Burke,

pro-wrasslin' name Sammy Berg.

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

No shoes, no shirt, full service. 

How's his calves? 

No shoes, no shirt, no service revolver.