i remmber him saying calves, i doubt he mentioned fore arms getting in the way
That is also my recollection.
would you guys recommend staying away from calf lifts or does cf mean just dont let them get TOO big?
I stopped doing them all together once I read what charlie said. You will get more than enough work for them doing plyos and sprinting. He doesnt want you to add more weight on your calves.
from the picture it seems to me you have pretty defined calves anyways. i remember some picture of dwain chambers where his calves look HUGE (i think its in the analyse this thread). what would you reccommend if someone naturally had very small/undefined calves… worth bulking up a bit?
on deadlifting: According to mike westerdal, you shouldn’t deadlift more than once every 2 weeks. Any more than that and you risk over training. He isn’t a sprinter, but a power lifter. But i wouldn’t think a sprinter should be doing more heavy lifting than a power lifter.
Thoughts? how often do you guys do them during gpp?
Yea I have some pretty defined calves already. I felxed them one day for my therapist (he is also the therapist for many pro athletes including the dolphins and titans last year) He said he had never seen calves like mine. Mine arent huge but they are pretty cut. My training partner is alwyas trying to get bigger calves. He did some calf exercises during the season and had problems running. I dont think it is really worth it imo.
ONe season I did them once a week though the whole season. I also ran my PR that season. But I love deads.
Nothing wrong with doing a couple sets of single leg calve raises on your tempo days…
because i have such undeveloped calves thats what ive been doing. thanks for your input guys
i’d only do calf raises if you have problems with shin splints or other issues. No sense strengthening something that isn’t utilized.
Why isn’t the calf utilized in sprinting
would strengthening the calves improve sprint times?
If you was too take advice on deadlifting, who would you take it from; Mike Westerdal or Andy Bolton?.
There would be no point in me deadlifting once every 2 weeks, I would never adapt.
Would I risk over training; deadlifting 50Kg’s?.
Arguably the most important muscle used in sprinting, by some.
how can you say calves are one of the most used muscles in sprinting? They aren’t even heavily used when jumping! As kelly baggett put it: Try doing a vertical jump without bending your knees and just using your calf strength. how high did you get? 2-3 inches? So, do they play a role in sprinting? Yeah, i’d say about 5% of power output comes from the calves. thus, as charlie would also reiterate- sprint work and plyometrics are enough calf work.
But, some people still have shin splints etc, so I say, yeah, you’re calves are too weak to handle the pounding and intense sprint training-- so do some calf raises to strengthen them.
who does deadlifts with 50kg? my mom?
suggest no:9 should be blue
How can I say that?. Because the diagram I just shown you states that, regardless of %.
Point being made; Deadlifting doesn’t need to relate too CNS fatigue.
Why would we perform calf raises to strengthen the calves causing an even further muscles-strength imbalance between calf-shin muscles?.
It is often consequence of tight calf muscles permanently stressing the shin muscle that causes shin splints.
The calf is the strongest muscle, it is the only one that can lift your bodyweight 50+ times untrained. I agree plyos is the way to go to train them. I disagree that strengthening the calf will help shin splints as it is primarily the muscle that rotates the tibia that gets fatigued not not the part that lifts the heel.
what is that diagram supposed to show? Sprinting involves the entire body. I know that the calf muscles are used, but I disagree on their importance. I said they weren’t utilized because IMO, there is no real need to train them (separately).
Kind of like biceps. They are on your diagram. But how much of a role do they really play?
I guess i needed to clarify. 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps on dead lift. Does this cause enough CNS fatigue to require 14 days rest? Seems excessive to me. 1x week sounds about right imo.-- but that would coexist with 2x week squats
Sprinting involves the entire body like you say. So basically everything is important.
I just downloaded the torrent for Andy Boltons DVD. I’m gonna stick to his template for getting stronger, especially in the deadlift.
Granted, he ain’t no sprinter, but in terms for developing strength in the hips, back & legs, not many can argue with his approach (guided by some of the top S&C coaches in the world).