Tip Finish Your Calf Training With This Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Finish Your Calf Training With This Hitting your calves hard and not getting results Before you gripe about genetics add this to the end of every calf workout by Dr John Rusin August 27, 2016August 18, 2019 Tags Tips, Training Force-Stretch the Pumped Muscle Your normal calf training workout should leave you with a massive pump throughout the entire lower leg. But don't stop there or you'll be missing an opportunity for growth. Directly after your last set of calf exercises, force your calves into a hard, heavy stretch with an extended knee and terminally dorsiflexed ankle joint. You must literally force your calf to stretch with as much tension and force as you can generate. Here are two methods to accentuate this stretch: Forced Single-Leg Bodyweight Calf Stretch This stretch uses a single-leg setup. Alternate between stretches for each side. Machine Loaded Forced-Calf Stretch The one is a machine-loaded stretch through both legs at once. Be sure that the setup allows you to reach terminal dorsiflexion at the ankle and your feet are symmetrical in stance. How Long Do I Stretch For each of these forced stretching techniques, you're going to force the stretch for as long as humanly possible to maximize time under tension. Again, setup is huge on these, as a poor setup will leave you vulnerable to injury. The knee always needs to be in perfect alignment with the ankle and hip. Go through as many rounds as you can tolerate. Usually 2-4 rounds is about all people can take. Many times, forced stretches will span something like 90 seconds on the first round, 60 seconds on the second round, and 30-45 seconds on the last round before the lifter mentally breaks down. You can use those numbers as a starting point. The harder you push it, the more you'll grow. Keep that in mind when the pain from these forced stretches make you want to quit. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip Social Media Workouts vs Real Training Bands, chains, boxes, agility drills. They have their place, but there's some really bad info out there. Here's what you need to know. Athletic Performance, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training TJ Kuster December 15 Training The Squat 10 Damn Good Tips Squats aren't all that simple, but these recommendations are. Get under the bar and squat right with these tips. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Squat, Training T Nation May 14 Training Tip The Next-Level Leg Press Ramp up the tension and slap some new muscle onto your legs with this little trick. Bodybuilding, Legs, Tips, Training Dre Delos Santos December 16 Training Tip The Worst Thing to Say About Training If you want to motivate a client, your spouse, or your training partner, the words you use are important. Here's the latest science. Motivation, Tips, Training Chris Shugart January 4