As you go about your training program, one muscle group that you must make sure you aren’t overlooking is the calves. Far too many people neglect this smaller muscle group because they are putting so much focus on their quads, hamstrings and glutes.

While those are all major muscle groups and should definitely be focused on, you cannot overlook the calves at the same time. The calves will be guiding you through each and every movement you make, so need to be strengthened properly.

Here are some top calf building tips to help you get the job done properly and see great strength gains.

Go Beyond Parallel

The very first way to help build up your calves is to make sure that you move beyond the parallel. Those who are just going down to parallel are really only seeing half the benefits they could be as they are cutting the movement pattern short.

Going far beyond parallel will have you stretching the calf muscle so you’ll need to generate even more force to rise back up to the top position.

Do your calf raises off a step to achieve this.

Do High And Low Reps

Second, it’s going to be important that you incorporate both high and lower reps into your calf building program plan. Do high reps for standing calf raises as this exercise is great for building muscular endurance and then do heavy-load reps for the seated calf machine exercise.

This combination of movements is what will help you build the highest level of strength overall.

Consider Half Reps

Finally, don’t overlook the benefit of doing half reps. These can really enhance the overall tension being placed on the muscle and help you generate a greater capacity to tolerate fatigue.quo

Move halfway down through the movement, pause, and then rise back up to the top again to complete the rep.

So there you have the top calf building tips that you should keep in mind at all times. If you employ these techniques in your own routine, you should be seeing significant strength progress in no time.