Q: I would like to know why the calves are so hard to develop. I have very small bones and do you think I could ever get decent calves with an eight-inch ankle? You say that walking up stairs should be done whenever possible. Won't the calf muscles get overworked and go stale? I thought that a muscle develops by training one day and resting the next and I don't want to do daily calf exercises and toughen them up more.
A: In a previous reply, I said that the exercises offered would produce concrete results, with HARD WORK, after the orthodox calf exercises had failed. The correspondent himself took care to point out that the usual calf exercises had no effect.
The reason why so many find the lower leg hard to improve in shape and size is because, in my opinion, they do not spend sufficient time nor do they expend sufficient energy on this portion of the body.
It has hitherto been the theory that the muscle fibers of the calf were tougher than those of, say, the arms or the back of the legs. This may or may not be true. Personally, I do not think they are. But I do think that the majority of bodybuilders who are sincere in their efforts to improve the size of their calves use too light a poundage in the chosen exercise and thus treat the calves to what amounts to endurance movements, and that, my friend, does not tend to build up bulk. The calves need heavy work over the complete range of contraction and this complete contraction is not always supplied by the use of a barbell.
The best barbell exercise that my pupils have had the most success with is the one where the exerciser sits on a stool with the toes resting on a block of wood eight inches thick. Thus the heels are clear of the ground.
Take a barbell - you will need a couple of training mates 0 load it up to at least 50 pounds more than bodyweight, and rest it on the knees. It will be found advisable to put some padding on the knees. Then raise the heels as high as possible and let them sink as low as possible. If this doesn't make your calves ache and increase their size, then no other weight exercise will.
It only requires a little intelligent observation [there's that term again] to see that the most outstanding examples of calf development are to be found on (a) Ballet dancers. Get a picture of Nijinsky and you will see what I mean. (b) Sprinters such as Charlie Paddock and Jesse Owens. (c) Mountain climbers, and the only example I can quote here is the late John Lemm who was also a prominent old time strong man and wrestler. His calves and thighs were terrific.
John Lemm, circa 1912.
Hence my advice at times of the sprinting on the beach, walking on the toes, and going up stairs three at a time on the ball of the foot.
Q: I find Iron Man the finest magazine on the market for the bodybuilder and weight lifters and would not miss it for anything. However, I have a question to ask regarding the breathing advocated in one article. Why is it necessary to shrug the shoulders and tense the neck muscles etc. in order to get a large chest while squatting or doing the Hise shrug. I have always thought the pullover and supine press were the best exercises for developing a large, high arched chest.
A: Glad to hear from you and to hear the criticism of the articles. It is true that the supine presses of the west coast - especially on the incline bench do result in a high, arched chest. Both because of a certain muscle pull against the sternum that has a tendency to lift it and arch it. As you perhaps know, the sternum or breast bone is in three parts, although they are closely knit together but they are movable to a certain extent. Constant work on certain types of pullovers, supine presses and deep breathing with squats will eventually cause the sternum to arch through these three sport. The top of one of these can be felt on a person with a high arched chest.
Now, the tensing of the Sterno-Mastoid muscle and pulling the head back also has a lifting effect of this sternum or breastbone somewhat in the manner the supine press works on incline bench but a little more direct. This is one reason for the neck action. Another is that it throws the weight of the bar back on the spine instead of allowing it to sag down and crush the chest - in other words, it permits free mobility of the chest for deep full breathing in the upper chest not possible if you allow the body to sag forward. This is one reason for the potbellies on some squatters - they sag down and their breathing is of necessity in the lower chest and abdomen.
There are other reasons for this type of breathing that we will try to explain in future issues.
Hope this helps some.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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