Build Calves With Your Big Toe 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 Build Calves With Your Big Toe Maybe your calves aren' t stubborn Maybe you just haven' t been executing your calf exercises correctly Try this by Gareth Sapstead May 15, 2021August 18, 2021 Before you over-think sets and reps, first make sure your execution is on point. This is especially true for those muscles you think of as "stubborn," like your calves. Apply this execution trick to your calf exercises and you'll see breakthrough results: Simply focus on pushing through your big toe. That's it. Simple, yes, but are you doing it? Here's one exercise to try it with: Why This Works Pushing through your big toe further activates your gastrocnemius. Sure, basic anatomy would tell you that your calves don't insert anywhere near your big toe, but consider leverage. Look at what happens when you calf raise without thinking about your big toe. Your foot will tend to roll a little towards the outside. While the foot might still be straight and you'll see no roll in the ankle, what part of your foot is the pressure actually going through? Usually it's more towards the outside. That's because your body doesn't give a damn that you're trying to build your calves. Instead, it just wants to take the path of least resistance to lift the weight up. Now, try that calf raise again, but this time pushing through your big toe. Your foot should be in the exact same position with the balls of the feet pressing down into the floor. But your focus should be on driving your big toe down as hard as you can while you raise up. Now do you feel the tension you've been missing out on? Your big toe is longest and furthest away (unless you have mutant feet). Pushing through your big toe actually puts you at a mechanical disadvantage since you're pressing down more with the inside of your foot. This prevents your body from taking the path of least resistance (pressure outside of your foot) and forces your calves to work harder. Execute every single rep like this and you'll notice an almost immediate difference in your calves. Simplify and Support Before Adding Complexity Start with basic and more supported calf raises. Do single-leg variations where you can really zone-in on that big toe. Once you've honed your execution with more support, then start integrating your newly-found big toe into more complex variations, like walking calf raises: Alternating each step and pressing through your big toe takes focus. This is especially true if your big toe hasn't gotten much attention previously. Doing calf exercises barefoot or wearing some minimalist shoes wouldn't be a bad idea either. 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 The Most Brutal Lunge Load those glutes with this nasty hip-dominant lunge. Training Gareth Sapstead March 4 Training Tip The 30-Second Rep for Shoulder & Arms Want to build your upper body? Move heavy dumbbells slowly. Try this complex. Arms, Bodybuilding, Shoulders, Tips, Training Tom Morrison January 13 Training Strong Fast and Brutal Learn good techniques in the four big lifts, then just let go and get aggressive. Powerlifting & Strength, Training Jim Wendler June 10 Training Fully Functional Hips in 15 Minutes A program to increase hip strength and mobility that can be done anywhere in a short amount of time. It Hurts Fix It, Training Nick Tumminello December 30