The calf muscles play a significant role in providing strength and stability during physical activities. It also has a say in the overall body function including pumping the deoxygenated blood from the lower body to the heart.
Strong calves are a prerequisite for any sport or physical exertion. However, developing those muscles take time. They are considered the most stubborn in the body and build at a dishearteningly slow pace. Despite it being the one that invariably gets worked in many activities and exercises. There are several factors including the length of the tibia (shin bone) to genetics and muscle mass that have a say in the pace and shape with which the calves develop.
Physiology of calf muscles
“Calf muscles are one of the few muscles of the body that spans and provides action to two joints,” says Dr Prashant Dhanraj, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Kamineni Hospital, Hyderabad, India. “The calf consists of two muscles named gastrocnemius which is responsible for the knee flexion and the soleus muscles which is responsible for the ankle plantar flexion.”
Muscles in the calf consist of two types of fibres as well.
“The type-1 is the endurance or stamina fibres which are high in mitochondrial activity and use aerobic metabolism for power generation,” says Dr Dhanraj. “The type-1 also contracts slowly and is relatively fatigue resistant. The type-2 fibres are fast-acting, quick-contracting muscles which produce energy through anaerobic metabolism and are designed for a rapid energy output for a short duration. These get fatigued faster.”
The soleus muscles contain type-1 fibres. The soleus is essential for long-distance/marathon runners. Whereas the gastrocnemius muscles have both threads and are key for sprinting and for jumping.
“We can train our calf muscles to increase in size and stamina,” says Dr Dhanraj. “Exercises like running, skipping, and cycling can be beneficial. Fitness enthusiasts can also do heel raises or lifting with weights on shoulders which can tone and shape the muscle. While type-2 muscle fibres will determine the bulk and visible mass of the leg.”
Difficult muscles to develop
There are two major reasons why they are difficult to develop.
“Calf muscles are difficult to develop, one is due to the type of muscle fibres inside,” says Bengaluru-based ACE-certified fitness trainer Sunil Kumar. “The other is due to the uses of the calf muscles extensively throughout life [so muscles get overworked with not enough recovery time which is important for growth]. For developing the calf muscles different methodologies are being used by people where some do a greater number of repetitions and some lift heavy weights.”
The common practice is to incorporate a workout for the calf muscles at the end of the leg day. However, it can be mixed with upper body exercises as well.
“It is not necessary that exercises for calf muscles need to be done with other leg muscles,” says Kumar. “It can be done with upper body workouts as well. So, say if someone is doing a split routine of the chest and back, then exercise for calves can be done in between the body parts. And on the leg day, calves work as a stabiliser.”
While the two most common exercises for calf are seated calf raise and standing calf raises, a combination of both needs to be done as they affect different muscles. The seated exercise works the soleus muscles (responsible for the ankle plantar flexion), and the standing exercises affect the gastrocnemius (responsible for the knee flexion). You can also do variations of these exercises along with jump exercises.
The aesthetics of the calves depends on the length of the tibia bone. As tall people have long legs, the bulk of the leg muscles won’t be apparent. So, tall people, despite potentially having more muscle mass, may appear to have thinner calf muscles. Apart from this, genetics have a say in the circumference of the calf muscle of an individual.
Right way to exercise the calf
It is a common practice to load additional weights while doing calf exercises. No study proves loading extra will lead to faster muscle growth in the calf region. In fact, it could lead to severe foot pain, and in extreme cases can also lead to plantar fasciitis (heel pain).
“A person should always listen to the body,” says Kumar. “If unwanted additional weights are being put on during the exercise of calf muscles, then it may lead to severe foot pain. So, the thumb rule is push but do not break yourself.”
Takeaways
- There are two muscles in the calf – soleus and gastrocnemius responsible for the ankle plantar flexion and the knee flexion respectively.
- The seated leg raise exercise works the soleus muscles while the standing leg raise affects the gastrocnemius muscles. Both need to be done to ensure the overall development of the calf muscles.
- Loading extra weights while performing calf exercises may lead to severe foot pain including plantar fasciitis.
